Printer Buying Guide (Summer 2016)

Hello everyone!

I previously owned an Epson printer equipped with a scanner and copier, but since I rarely used it, the ink ended up drying out and clogging the heads—as you might expect. To be honest, I wasn't particularly fond of the design anyway; I found it frustrating that if even one color runs out, the entire machine refuses to print anything at all.

My needs have changed, and I now find myself needing a printer for almost daily use, so I am currently on the hunt for a replacement. I’ll admit I'm a bit out of my depth here and could really use some guidance. My primary requirement is consistent black printing. I’ve considered moving to a laser printer, though the cost of replacement toner is giving me pause. If I decide against a laser model, my main priority is finding one where the individual ink colors aren't interdependent.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Laura Stewart said:Hey everyone!

I used to have an Epson printer (with a scanner and copier), but I didn't use it much, so naturally, the ink dried up and clogged everything. Honestly, I wasn't a fan anyway because of how they work—if you run out of one color, nothing prints at all.

Now I need to use a printer almost every single day, so I'm hunting for a new one. I don't know the first thing about this stuff, so I could use some help. I mostly just need to print in Black constantly, so I was thinking about getting a laser printer, but the cost of replacement toner gives me pause. If I don't go the laser route, my main requirement is that the colors shouldn't depend on each other.

Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!

If you go with refillable cartridges, you can print as much as you want. When one runs dry, it’s fine because those cartridges have an Automatic Resetting Chip built right in.

The catch is that manufacturers are always changing their printer models just so they can force new cartridges onto the newer versions. There's zero incentive for them to make the latest ARC cartridges if they're sitting on a mountain of unsold stock from the previous series.

Basically, if you want that specific functionality, you have to look for printers that aren't the "latest and greatest" anymore.

That’s actually why you often see those types of printers sold in bundles that include the ARC cartridges plus the ink needed to refill them.

Otherwise, if you don't care about that, you can just pick whatever model you like and pay full price for the ink or toner.

What’s your monthly print volume looking like, and what kind of budget are we talking about here?

Jeffrey Chavez6 said:How many pages are you looking at printing per month, and what’s your budget?

Do $333.

I don't need anything fancy; I have no intention of printing photos or anything along those lines. My main focus is printing presentations. I'm looking at roughly 100 pages a week—sometimes fewer—but it just isn't practical for me to run out to a local print shop every single time I need something done.

My only real requirement is that if I ever decide to print in color, the colors shouldn't bleed into one another or look muddy, as I've dealt with that frustrating issue before.

Printing 100 pages a week falls squarely into office territory, and honestly, you won't find any luck with those cheap consumer printers. You might be thrilled if one of those budget models actually survives 10k pages, but at your volume, you'll hit that limit in two years tops.

For example, something like this is perfectly fine for home use—say, 50 pages a month. It’ll probably last 5 to 10 years without breaking a sweat, and third-party toner is dirt cheap.
http://www.nabava.net/search.php?q=LBP6230dw
If you don't strictly need duplex printing or Wi-Fi, there's an even cheaper option.
http://www.nabava.net/pisaci__110/hp...r-c-b__3908671
We have a few of these running at our office; they've swallowed plenty of random off-brand toners without a single hiccup, and they've all cruised past the 5,000-page mark without failing.

Jeffrey Chavez6 said:Printing 100 pages a week falls squarely into office usage territory, and you won't find much luck with those entry-level consumer printers. You might be pleasantly surprised if they manage to hit the 10,000-page mark, but at that rate, you'll reach that limit in about two years.

For instance, something like this would be perfectly fine for home use—maybe 50 pages a month—and it should last five to ten years without issue. Plus, the third-party toner cartridges are quite affordable.
http://www.nabava.net/search.php?q=LBP6230dw
If you don't strictly require duplex printing or Wi-Fi, this model is even more budget-friendly.
http://www.nabava.net/pisaci__110/hp...r-c-b__3908671
We have several of these units at our office; they've handled various off-brand replacement toners without any complaints, easily clearing 5,000 pages before seeing a single glitch.

I actually spotted that second one on the Best Buy website just yesterday. It looked like a solid option.

Do you happen to know roughly how much a replacement toner cartridge costs for it?

Laura Stewart said:I actually spotted that second one on the Staples website yesterday. Seemed decent enough!

Any idea roughly how much a replacement toner runs you?

Take a look at the Brother HL 1110 instead.
You can grab replacement toners for it for about 50 bucks—$33 which gets you maybe 1,000 to 1,500 pages.

Or, for that exact same amount of cash, you could snag an HP LaserJet 1200 with a toner that hits 4,000 pages.

The only real catch is that the Brother barely makes it to 10k, while the HP is proven to handle 200k.

Keep in mind, both end up costing you the same per page. It’s just a matter of whether you want a toner that lasts 1,000 pages or one that does 4,000. Basically, one cartridge has 35–45 grams of toner, while the other packs 135–150 grams.

It's the same deal with most other similar lasers.

Are those B/W printers or color?

Greetings, everyone!
I was wondering if I might be able to solicit some advice from you all? (Please bear with me, as I am a complete novice in this particular area.) I have been contemplating whether it would actually be a wise investment to pick up an Epson XP 225, which is currently retailing for about $200. From what I can gather, the third-party ink cartridges seem to be quite affordable. My primary requirement involves printing in Black, though it would mostly be for specific periods—you know, during those intense exam seasons when I need to churn out papers, study guides, and various other documents—otherwise, my usage remains incredibly minimal. Do you suppose a printer like this would remain functional and reliable for a few years?

Donna Sullivan80 said:Hey there,
Can I get some advice? (I’m a total novice here.) Is it actually worth picking up an Epson XP 225? It’s sitting at about $200 right now, and from what I can tell, the third-party ink is pretty cheap. My main thing is printing in black—mostly just during finals week when I'm drowning in term papers, study guides, and all that stuff—otherwise, I barely touch it. Do you think this printer will actually hold up for a few years?

If you're mostly just printing black text every once in a while, honestly, a monochrome laser printer would be a much better move.

Donna Sullivan80 said:Hey there.
Can I get some advice? (I’m a total newbie here.) Is it worth grabbing an Epson XP 225? It’s sitting at about $200 right now, and from what I can see, the refill cartridges are dirt cheap. My main thing is printing in Black—mostly just during finals week for papers, study guides, stuff like that. Otherwise, I barely touch it. Will this printer actually last me a few years?

With the XP 225, you can't just run on one color unless you use permanent tanks. Or use a resetter.
Check if those are even available in the States. No clue myself.

If you go that route, you’re either buying new ones or just refilling the Black cartridge and resetting the others.

Replacing just the Black cartridge won't work because every time the printer runs a head cleaning cycle, it flushes all the channels and uses up all the ink equally.

Obviously, that means your CYM channels are going to dry up. But hey, that’s what you asked for, right?

So, honestly, the smartest move for you is picking up something from the HP DeskJet 900 series. You could probably find one on eBay for maybe 50 bucks $33. Grab a replacement for $33 and for $33 you get 40 ml. Plus, you basically get a fresh print head every single time. You also need to have an HP 78 in the machine, but it can be empty.

Basically, for roughly $50, you get about 1,000 prints, which is pretty much the same as if you spent $200 on a new Brother HL 1110 or some other laser printer.

But, if you grab an HP laser that takes a 135g toner, you could shell out 500 - $267 upfront and get 3,000 to 4,000 prints right out of the gate.

Bottom line: the HP DeskJet 900 is the winner here. That’s exactly why I shared that story earlier.

Now, ask yourself this:

Who benefits from you solving your problem for just $50 when you're actually willing to drop $200 right at the start? And for that money, you get 100 - 200 B&W prints.

Of course everyone is going to suggest and push that first option on you.

Laura Stewart said:I actually spotted this second one yesterday on an office supply site. Seemed decent enough!

Do you have any idea how many pages a replacement toner actually gets out of?

The 85A toner from $22 yields about 1600 pages.
http://www.nabava.net/search.php?q=85a+toner

Donna Sullivan80 said:Hey there.
Can I get some advice? (I'm a total newbie here.) Is it worth getting the Epson XP 225? It’s currently around $200, and looking at the prices, the replacement ink seems pretty cheap. I mostly need it for printing in black—mostly just during finals week for papers, study guides, etc. Otherwise, I barely use it. Do you think a printer like this will actually last me a few years?

Don't bother with an inkjet if you're mostly doing black and white.

Since you aren't printing much, something like this would be perfect for occasional use.
http://www.nabava.net/pisaci__110/ca...r-c-b__7711641
Or its HP equivalent.
http://www.nabava.net/pisaci__110/hp...r-c-b__3908671

It uses the same 85A toner I mentioned earlier.

The Brother HL 1110 is cheaper upfront, but the toners cost more and have a smaller capacity.

By the way, just ignore all the nonsense hollowmarlin27 is preaching. He's just a guy selling used printers, and every single one of his "tips" is just a sales pitch to get you to buy from his wholesalers. Unless, of course, you want to buy from someone whose website looks like this.

Mark Hill90 said:If you're just doing occasional black printing, a monochrome laser printer would probably be the smarter move here.

You should also check out the Ricoh SG 2100

It's an incredibly cheap, workhorse printer— $133 Honestly, it's right up there with some Epsons when it comes to $667 nozzle count.
Refilling the ink is easy, and there's even a way to bypass those annoying chip restrictions via service modes.

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I finally decided to go with an HP LaserJet 1102. The toner usually goes for $33, but since it was on sale for $22, I figured I’d grab a few extra cartridges while I could.

I’m quite happy with it so far; I've already put it through its paces with quite a bit of printing. Thanks again! 🙂

Hey guys,

I need some solid advice on picking up a new printer—ideally something that won't absolutely wreck my bank account. 🙂 Here’s what I'm looking for:

- Just basic Black and white printing
- High volume, roughly 5,000 pages a month
- Don't care about WiFi, scanners, or any of that extra junk

Thanks!

How "cheap" are we talking? If you actually need a professional-grade machine, you aren't going to find happiness without dropping a serious amount of cash. Honestly, I wouldn't dare recommend anything else.

Jeffrey Chavez6 said:How "cheap" are we talking? If you actually need a pro-grade machine, you aren't gonna find happiness without dropping a serious chunk of change, and I wouldn't dare suggest anything budget here.

Fine! Thanks for the lecture. 🙂

Honestly, for what I need right now, I'll probably just hit up a local FedEx Office or a print shop where they charge like a dime per page. It's easier.

BTW, why on earth don't printer prices just be based on a simple cost-per-page metric?! 🎉

Nathan Wells74 said:By the way, why aren't printers valued based on a simple metric like cost per page? 🎉

Because calculating that accurately is basically impossible.

It’s like how two identical cars driven by two different people will have completely different fuel efficiencies—printers work the exact same way.

There are actually companies out there that specialize in printer leasing; you just pay them a flat monthly fee, and they handle everything—the hardware, the toner, maintenance, making sure the damn thing actually works.

It all boils down to how much you're actually printing. All those fancy estimates manufacturers throw at you are based on a measly 2% page coverage. But let’s be real—if you’ve got small fonts, bold text, images, or graphics, you’ll hit 5% or 10% coverage before you know it, and suddenly every single calculation goes right out the window.

Look, if you just want something on hand, you can grab a cheap laser printer for maybe $50 or $60. You might even get the cost per page down under $0.07, or perhaps even lower than $0.05, and the machine will probably last you somewhere between two and five years. Honestly, you won't do better than that.

But trying to compete with a local print shop charging $0.03? Yeah, forget it. 😬 That's still going to be your cheapest option by far.

Hey guys, first off, let me just say I’m a complete amateur here and I seriously need some help 🙂
So, my girlfriend is pushing for us to pick up a photo printer, right? But honestly, I’m looking to keep this whole process pretty budget-friendly—I'm definitely not trying to drop an insane $1,000-$667
on something. Is there anything decent out there for maybe under $500-$200? Also, if we can find one where the ink isn't going to break the bank, that would be huge
. As far as the actual printing goes, we're probably looking at maybe 20 to 30 pages a month
.