Printer recommendations?

So, I am looking for some serious advice! Does anyone have any killer recommendations for a printer at Best Buy for under $200
?
Here is what I am thinking about: 1. Just a basic, standard printer
2. Something with a laser setup
3. A full-on all-in-one multifunctional unit

But honestly, I have to ask—does it even make sense for an average person like me to bother with a laser printer at all?

Steven Hall10 said:So, I need some advice. Looking for printer recommendations at Best Buy under $200
.
1. A basic printer
2. Laser
3. All-in-one

Does it even make sense for an average user to bother with a laser printer?

Just grab a nice little 600W space heater and rest a scanner on top of it. You'll have the same all-in-one setup, and hey, at least it'll work 12 months out of the year.

Hey, no need to get all aggressive right out of the gate!

Look, I’m definitely no tech guru or anything, I was just throwing my question out there because I really wanted to hear what you guys actually think about this stuff.

I’d mostly be using the printer for basic everyday stuff—you know, things like school assignments, college papers, and all that kind of thing.

It’ll mostly be black and white prints, maybe the occasional color page here and there, and I'll probably just hit up a local FedEx Office if I ever need to run off some quick scripts or copies.

Steven Hall10 said:you don't have to get aggressive right away

look, I'm no tech expert here. I just asked a simple question because I wanted to hear what actual users think.

The printer is just for basic stuff—college work, school projects, you know the drill.

Mostly black and white, maybe some color here and there. If I need to make copies of small handouts, I'll just hit up a FedEx Office or something.

It might be better if you phrased it like this:

Which monochrome laser MFP can you buy that actually lasts more than 18 months$200 and keeps running even after the warranty expires?

I bet that's the kind of info you're actually looking for.

Hey, can you please just recommend some basic printer under $200 so we can finally put this whole thing to bed?

Look, I never said it had to be some high-tech beast with every single feature under the sun, I just want a solid recommendation for something that actually works for a regular person like me.

Look, it really boils down to whether you actually need the scanner and copier functions or if you’re just gonna let them collect dust, plus how much you're planning to print.
You aren't going to find everything bundled together for $200. If you want a laser printer, a scanner, and a copier all in one without the whole thing being total junk, you'll pay for it.
Your options are basically either a dedicated laser or an all-in-one inkjet.

Personally, I've always been a huge fan of lasers 😁
900

Kyle Davis6 said:Look, it really just comes down to whether you actually need the scanner and copier functions or if you can live without them, and how much you're actually using it.
You can't have everything for $200. You want a laser printer, a scanner, AND a copier, all while keeping the price low? It’s not happening.
It's either a laser or an all-in-one inkjet.

Personally, I've always been a laser guy.😁
900

That's not even the point though.

The real deal is usually that someone grabbed a flyer in a doctor's waiting room offering exactly this kind of thing, and now they're hunting for a recommendation for that specific brand.

Or maybe they were just assigned to go out and promote whatever was in that flyer.

Look, I didn't get some fancy sponsorship deal or anything, and nobody paid me to hype up any specific brand here!

I was just asking for some solid Best Buy recommendations from you three, and I definitely never said everything had to be bundled together in one package.

But hey, let's just cut to the chase—can someone please just give me a recommendation for an all-in-one printer/scanner setup for under $600?$233

Steven Hall10 said:I didn't get assigned some specific product to push or anything.

I was just asking for a Best Buy recommendation from you three. I never said everything had to be all-in-one.

But look, let's just cut to the chase: give me a solid recommendation for an all-in-one printer for under $600.$233

1. Option one: Get a scanner and a laser printer separately. You can find tons of software online that basically mimics an all-in-one setup.
2. Option two: Grab an Epson model that uses those T701 cartridges. There are plenty of third-party replacements out there, and they don't have that battery headache.
3. Option three: Look for a refurbished laser all-in-one that originally retailed for something like $2,000. Just stay away from HP or Canon. Why? Because their scanner head capacitors tend to dry out right above that "IC oven" near the 600W component, and then the whole thing loses its positioning.

I figured I'd just post this here instead of starting a whole new thread.

Right now, I’m stuck using a Canon Pixma iP1600. The thing that drives me absolutely insane is how much it constantly whirs and grinds before it actually does anything; it takes forever just to get started. I’m looking to pick up a new printer that won't break the bank—something that starts printing immediately without all that useless pre-print noise/preparation, and ideally, something with affordable ink or replacement cartridges.

I’m not sure if I’m explaining the constant spinning/noise issue clearly enough. If you guys aren't following what I mean, I can just grab my phone and film it for you.

Samuel Anderson34 said:Anyway, instead of starting a whole new thread, I'll just drop this here.

Right now I’m stuck with a Canon Pixma iP1600. The thing that drives me crazy is how it constantly makes all this noise—just spinning and whirring—before it actually starts printing. It takes forever to get going. I want to pick up something that isn't crazy expensive, starts printing almost instantly without all that useless prep work, and ideally has cheap ink or toner replacements.

I don't know if you guys get what I mean by "spinning and whirring" or whatever. If not, I can grab my phone and film it for you.

It's really not that deep, honestly.

What you actually need is a laser printer that isn't GDI.

Here's the catch.

An InkJet is basically a line printer. It prints line by line. So, before it can even start, it has to go through its little routine—cleaning nozzles, warming up the print head, etc. It can't skip that.

But lasers aren't much better if they're GDI printers. Instead of waiting for heads to clean or positions to shift, you're stuck waiting for your computer to render the entire page as pixels before sending it over to the printer. Sometimes that feels like an eternity. With an inkjet, it can kind of multitask—it starts printing while the rest of the page is still being processed.

However, if the laser *isn't* GDI, your PC just sends the text codes you want to print, and the printer handles the interpretation itself.

Now, when you look at the cheap new lasers out there, you'll notice they're all Win or GDI based. PCs that communicate via code are easily 100% more expensive.

If you're looking for cheap toner and instant printing, your best bet is a refurbished PCL printer. Because of that PCL interpreter, those used machines cost about 100% more than the cheapest modern lasers. But because of that same reason, you get way more toner capacity for the same amount of money.

So, you've gotta decide. Do you want to spend $800—$333 plus tax—on a refurbished model that can handle 6,000 to 14,000 pages, or do you want to spend maybe $1,500 to $2,000 on a brand new one that comes with some pathetic starter toner that only lasts for about 1,500 pages?

There's no other way. You can't have your cake and eat it too.