Printer Recommendation? (And mini-rant)

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Hey all. I need a new printer for work, as the old one has failed me for the last time, and will suffer the consequences.

 

The new candidate is required to:

• Print things. Reliably. Black and white, optionally in colour. 
• Decent quality is fine. It's just for work notes and the odd letter, not presentation quality.
• Scanning would be nice. Preferably one that can scan straight back to a Mac.
• That's it.
• Really.
• Honest. No photos, no auto-generation software, nada. Just. A. Decent. Printer.

 

I do not want it to:

• Freak out if momentarily disconnected from WiFi
• Continually require updates from central servers
• Whinge if use OEM ink cartridges or refills (maybe a tank-based one would be good)
• Submit anything I create for non-optional optional AI analysis
• Require or continually advertise subscription plans
• Brick itself if I do not subscribe to anyone's ongoing service or ink reordering plan
• Display panic/terminal fail errors for no apparent reason and require reboots from scratch

 

...so, not HP then.

 

What's good these days?

Also, could we have things - even ONE thing - in computing that we just buy, and own, not have to become an "ongoing leverageable revenue stream" to keep the damn thing working?

Edited Sunday at 05:10 PM by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[lemming]

I switched to Brother Laser printers some time ago.   Too many issues with Ink and since I don't print that much, I've only had to refill toner a few times.  Current printer is from 2018 though I noticed the prices have shot up since then.

 

I run Linux to avoid most of the revenue stream bits.

[TygerDarkstorm]

I have a Brother MFC-J995DW printer that I have had for at least 5 years, if not longer that has paid itself off well and over again. Don't buy a cheap printer. I kept getting cheap printers for college and inevitably they rarely last a year. I paid around $300 USD for this Brother and it has been an absolute work horse. I have only replaced the ink on it like once even with pretty regular printing. I print via wi-fi exclusively with zero issues (some devices are more picky about it than others, but mostly I can print from my desktop, phone, or tablet reliably). It keeps itself cleaned and updated if I just leave it on all the time, though you can also go in and manually tell it to clean the print heads and such, which I have had to do once after it went a longer period than normal without printing and I noticed it was a bit off.

[Techwright]

2 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

Also, could we have things - even ONE thing - in computing that we just buy, and own, not have to become an "ongoing leverageable revenue stream" to keep the damn thing working?

 

Good luck with that.  I had a nice conversation years back with a printer salesman who admitted the printer companies had bought heavily into the "planned obsolescence" concept.  Therefore, they actually design printers to wear out at some point after 3 years.  They market them cheaper, however, because the gold is in the ink sales.    He advised me (a low-level IT tech) to not buy the $400+ printers, as the same planned obsolescence applied to them.  When I asked why they were even sold, then, he said they were marketed for the small office crowd, who printed more pages and from multiple desks. 

 

I hear ya about HP.  From my experience, both home and as an IT tech, HP has a problem with their rollers wearing out too fast.  That leaves the printer either with a very annoying squeak, possibly with sticking pages, or in need of a roller replacement, which for the home crowd often means "chuck it and buy another".

 

I've not had a need to look at the home printers for a while, but Epson used to stand out to me because, unlike HP, you could buy individual colors for those times you use colored inks.  With HP and several others, you waste ink because their tri-color packs wear out of one color faster than the other two.  Epson's system allows you to fully use a color before replacement.  Last I knew, they also had premium cartridges that delivered ink preventing running in case the papers got wet.

 

Brothers were fine printers, but I've only worked with them in an office setting.  I recall them having a higher up-front cost, but being more durable in the long run.  I've not encountered an office one, however, in a few years, so things might have changed.

 

PC Magazine just updated their home printers list for 2025.  Because of their research and reviews, I often use them as a starting point for my own equipment research.

[WanderingAries]

If you want a simple UI / setup, then stick with Canon (if you don't go Brother). After that, then it depends on how much you print and what you want it to do (IE: Make a requirements list!). For example, here's what I wanted and what I ended up with: Canon MAXIFY GX7021 Wireless MegaTank Small Office All-in-One Printer

 

• Don't make me sign into a web portal to use the bloody thing!
  • If I don't use it for say a month, then I should be able to just hit Print and it prints.
  • I was already THIS close to literally throwing my HP either against the wall or out the window over this.
• Capacity, do you got it?
  • I previously had a basic AIO HP printer because I didn't need the photo quality of the Canon PIXMA anymore, but when I suddenly went from printing a few times a year to dozens of pages a Day, then I knew I needed something more business class (without being business price!). My last cartridge on that thing ($20) lasted exactly 1 day before it complained about being out.
  • I had previously considered the differences between Cartridge and Tanks, but decided to see just how close to accurate their quote on print quantity truly was.
  • I Also wanted to Not have to refill the tray as often as well since most printers barely hold like 50-100 sheets of paper now a days on consumer printers.
• Flip that thing and print / scan it
  • I learned long ago that if I wanted to save $$ on paper, then double-sided was the way to go. But I Also learned that the ability to Scan double-sided (when needed for archiving) was just as important. Irony being that I don't do the latter often it seems, now that the bulk of my archiving is done.
• Can you hear me now?
  • Wireless, if you can't do all of the above AND be wireless, then what are you even?
  • Now a days, that Also includes full remote printing, but you gotta be comfortable with that going through Their servers (to your house).
  • I also wanted a backup option for sending stuff in (financials), so the ability to remote fax needed to be a back-burner option as well (but I think that's over with as a need)
• Don't make me come in there!
  • Please just bloody work!
  • I understand that periodically I'll have to refill paper / ink, but otherwise just work.
  • Don't be Reggae either or you'll get ME Jammin' something where you don't want it.
• PLEASE don't break the bank >.<
  • Ok, so this one's pushing it, but I Did get it really 'cheap' for the quoted retail price. That and via reimbursement, I'd eventually get it back. Granted, had a certain Cheeto-Head not filed something back in 2018 (getting rid of non-1099 tax credits), then I could have just written it off, but I'm not salty. /s

So I ended up going Back to Canon and trying their Tank series. It quoted that it would get THOUSANDS of pages before needing refilling and it wasn't kidding. IDK exactly how many I printed, but I'm pretty sure that I went through a case of paper (5k~7k sheets) before needing more ink. I forget how much paper I had started with as I always buy in bulk for Any paper product, so assume I may have had a single, 500 sheet ream to start with (or possibly had purchased one before the new printer), but the printer came with FULL capacity bottles (unlike the trial size you get with regular printers!).

 

For reference, I purchased:

• New Printer on 8-14-2023
• New case of paper (2.5k ream) on 9-20-23
• Just in case bottle of Black ink on 10-9-23
• Next case of paper on 10-3-24

Current supply status: (Note: I print full color and on the Economy + double sided settings)

• Just over 1.5k sheets left (just opened ream 3 / 5)
• Black still has some in the bottle and the tank is full
• Blue is almost down to a quarter full
• Red & Yellow are steady around 3/4 full

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Thanks all. After some consideration and review checking, went for the GX1050, which appears to be the 5020 and 7021's little sister (and is also available as a UK model). Hope it works out OK.

 

May livestream the HP's execution, if I can find a big enough catapult or industrial shredder.

 

 

[Techwright]

3 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

May livestream the HP's execution, if I can find a big enough catapult or industrial shredder.

 

 

 

 

[WanderingAries]

17 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

Thanks all. After some consideration and review checking, went for the GX1050, which appears to be the 5020 and 7021's little sister (and is also available as a UK model). Hope it works out OK.

 

May livestream the HP's execution, if I can find a big enough catapult or industrial shredder.