Printer Buying Guide (Summer 2016)

Is it actually possible that the old rule still holds true? The more expensive the printer, the cheaper the ink.

Greetings.
I’m looking to pick up a printer for home use—mostly just churning through documents, though I might print out a photo every now and then. To be honest, I don't know much about this stuff, so I suppose I could use some advice from those who do. My budget is sitting around $333. One thing that matters to me is keeping the cost of ink relatively low. I’ve been looking at the Pixma G series where you refill the tanks directly; does that actually mean I can just grab cheap third-party ink bottles, or am I stuck buying expensive branded stuff? Also, I'd definitely want WiFi capability.

Alexander Williams512 said:Hey there!
I'm looking for a printer for home use—mostly just printing documents, but I'll do some photo printing every now and then. Honestly, I don't know much about this stuff, so I could really use some advice. My budget is around $333. It's pretty important to me that changing the ink isn't super expensive. I kind of like how those Pixma G series printers work where you just pour the ink in directly (does that mean I can just buy cheap ink in bottles, or does it only take specific branded stuff?). Oh, and I'd definitely want Wi-Fi too.

I'm guessing (just from what you wrote) that you're only looking for a printer and not a 3-in-1 all-in-one device, which actually makes things easier. I can't tell from your post exactly how many pages you'll be printing weekly or monthly, but I assume it won't be a ton since it's just for regular home use, not an office. So, if you just need a printer (and not a 3-in-1), a solid choice would be the Canon Pixma IP7250—it's an inkjet, A4, has Wi-Fi, 9600x2400 dpi, and duplex printing. It goes for about $173. The replacement inks with the microchips are under $6.75 (you can find them on Amazon using their search tool), so altogether (printer plus the extra ink) it's a pretty affordable option for printing a moderate amount of little fuzzy animals.🙂

I’m looking for a color laser printer. I’ve ruled out inkjet because I don't use it enough to justify the hassle. Duplexing is a non-negotiable, and I’d love one with a scanner and Wi-Fi, though I know that adds to the price tag. My main gripe is the standby noise—it needs to be quiet. Page speed isn't my priority, but first-page latency is huge for me. I usually print just one or two pages every 15 minutes or so, which is just enough time for the machine to slip into standby mode, only for it to make a massive racket when I actually need to print. My old Samsung scx 4521 is basically a jet engine during that wake-up phase. 🙂
Budget is around $1.00, and I need something built to last longer than two years.
Laser or LED? I’ve noticed LED models tend to be a bit cheaper. I was eyeing some options from Brother and HP, but after reading through some of the previous posts here, I'm feeling pretty discouraged about them.
Any recommendations or advice would be much appreciated.

Hey everyone, I’m looking for some printer recommendations. I need an all-in-one unit for home use and a small home office, capable of both color and black-and-white printing. While I might need more color down the road—mostly for graphics and drawings rather than high-end photography—it's a factor. I have a set budget to work with, so I'm looking for something priced between $333 and $1,500. My main priority is low running costs per page.

The two models catching my eye right now are the HP OfficeJet Pro 8710 (I've heard great things about its predecessor, the 8610) and the Canon Pixma MX925.

Quick side question: is it actually possible to print A) black-and-white documents and B) photos at home for less than what a local print shop or studio would charge?

I’m looking for a solid Best Buy recommendation by $167. I'll probably only be printing about 50 pages a month, but most of my work involves scanning.

coppermoose11 said:I'm looking for a Best Buy recommendation. $167I guess we’re looking at maybe 50 pages a month for printing, but honestly, there'll probably be more scanning than anything else.

Inkjet versus laser... man, that's always the big question, isn't it? If you're leaning towards an inkjet, honestly, the best deal out there right now—probably the most popular all-in-one printer in the country—is the Canon Pixma MG5750. It’s got Wi-Fi, handles standard letter size just fine, and hits those 1200x2400 dpi / 4800x1200 dpi specs. It does duplex printing too, which is handy, and it's a solid little multi-function setup. Right now, I think it's going for about... $190As for those replacement ink colors, they're currently... $13 It's per piece, usually located underneath. $167 When you're looking at inkjets, man, it’s honestly such a struggle to find a decent all-in-one that doesn't absolutely bleed you dry when it comes to replacement ink costs. It’s tough, I guess.

wireddrifter34 said:Inkjet vs. laser—it’s always the same dilemma. If you’re leaning toward an inkjet, honestly, the best move right now is to grab the Canon Pixma MG5750. It’s basically the gold standard for all-in-one printers in the US and consistently tops the best-seller lists. You get Wi-Fi, standard letter-sized printing, 1200x2400 dpi/4800x1200 dpi resolution, and duplexing. It’s a solid, reliable multifunction unit, and if you catch it on sale, it’s currently sitting at a pretty reasonable price point. $190Right now, I'm running on replacement inks. $13 Per unit, usually underneath. $167 When you're shopping around for inkjets, it’s a bit of a struggle. Finding a solid all-in-one that doesn't absolutely bleed you dry on replacement ink is harder than it should be.

Ordered.

I'm hoping everything works out fine.

Hey everyone, I'm looking to pick up a printer for my kids for Christmas—they're seven-year-old twins. Nothing fancy at all; they’d just be printing school stuff, maybe some pictures from the internet or whatever. It won't be professional use by any means. We're talking a few dozen pages a month, tops.

So, I'm basically looking for what most people ask for: a cheap printer that also has cheap compatible ink. I noticed that wireddrifter34 suggested these two to someone else earlier:
1. Canon Pixma IP7250 - $176 over at Best Buy
2. Canon Pixma MG5750 - $190 at www.amazon.com

The first one doesn't do scanning or copying, while the second one does. Those features aren't my top priority, but hey, if the printer has them, great. But again—printing is the main thing! Given how small the price gap is, it seems logical to go with the second one. However, I have to factor in the replacement inks. From what I can gather (and I'm a total amateur here), I'll need to buy four cartridges (Magenta, Cyan, Yellow, Black). The first printer has compatibles for $4.00 each (over at a local tech shop), whereas this second one has them for $13 per unit (at www.walmart.com). That difference isn't exactly negligible $36 when you add up all four. But since I don't really know what I'm doing, it's hard to say how often I'd actually need to swap them out. That $36 might not matter much if I'm only replacing colors once or twice a year, but it definitely matters if I'm doing it every single month. Since I haven't really used printers in the past, I honestly have no clue how fast the ink runs out. I don't even know if these two printers consume ink at the same rate—maybe the second one is more efficient, which would mean the replacement costs aren't actually that much higher (like, if the ink lasted twice as long).

Basically, what would you recommend for the kids? (Again, usage will be low, probably anywhere from a few pages to a MAX of 40-50 pages a month). Printing is the priority; scanning and copying is a nice bonus, but cheaper ink is the biggest plus. Meaning, a multifunctional printer is only worth considering if it won't absolutely murder my wallet with ink costs. Of course, I'm not limiting myself to just these two; if you have suggestions for something else (budget is max around $110), please let me know. I only mentioned these two because they popped up in a couple of posts above.

Also, I'm open to the idea of refilling the ink manually—I saw you can get pretty cheap compatible ink in bottles on eBay. I'd only mess around with that if I absolutely had to. If I can get by cheaply enough with standard replacement cartridges, I'd rather not deal with the hassle of manual refills.

Thanks in advance!

I'm looking for an all-in-one printer/scanner for my office. I usually pull under 1,000 pages a month. What’s actually worth the money here?