I am looking to get a new printer print off stuff, and i have to say a lot of printers are not fit for purposes. Epson, Canon, HP etc all want you to download useless software on to your computer even before set-up of the bloody printer.
And thats if it even works!
And then they want you to fork out close to under $100 for ink cartridges, that purposely run out too quickly.
I ain’t a boomer but Iv never heard of laser printing. Then again I broke my last printer cause I left a fork on the paper tray when I tried to use it
I have a graveyard of inexpensive cannon, brother, HP printers in my basement that worked thru one or two toner cartridge replacements then stopped functioning. Cheap crap. Cartridges were as expensive or more than the printer.
The problem with all those cheap printers is they literally fail before the first or second toner replacement and you end up throwing on the pile of cheap dead printers.
I got a Pantum B&W wireless printer free with each of my monitor purchases. I don't print a lot, but that was over 10 years ago, and I still haven't gone through the second cartridge. YMMV I guess.
The business model was the same as heroin dealers. They sell you the printer at a loss because they know they make it all back selling you their proprietary ink cartridges that 1) come with very little ink in them, and 2) the printers will actually lie about the remaining level of ink in the cartridges, so you'll think you need to buy more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOMjeCiMn8g
The Epson EcoTank ET-4850 has a window on the side of the ink resevoirs so you can see the actual ink level for yourself, and I refill the "refill" bottles with bulk ink I buy in gallon jugs.
Just make sure you can replace the waste pad. All inkjet printers have these. It's basically like a diaper for the printer and it absorbs ink used during print head clearing and other non-printing cycles.
Once a certain number of pages has been reached, even the printers that don't use cartridges will stop working until you replace the pad, and also go through the correct combination of buttons to reset the counter.
I own an Epson EcoTank and it's been great. Easy setup and use, software that works properly on the wifi and anyone on your local wireless can use it pretty easy (including printing from phones), you can see visually when it needs refilled, and pretty good quality printing in color.
If you don't need color and just need to print a large volume of stuff with printer supplies that never dry out over time, you can pick up a Xerox B230 for $150 and buy an extra large capacity toner for another $170. For $320 you would get just over 6,000 pages of black & white prints, do the math to see if something else is a better deal.
Those are some pretty impressive stats for a home office/small business printer. 2500 page cycle and 36 ppm. That's better than most single function printers you'll find at just about any of the major office supply stores.
The last printer i bought would not print after a week because it was not connected to the internet. I am still looking for a printer that does not attempt to spy on the things i print, seems impossible.
So you can sign it, photograph it, and email the picture of the document with your signature. Then Shaniqua will email you back saying she'll only accept scanned documents not photographs, so you bring the photo into a paint program, add noise, and convert to black and white, then email it to her again. That is why we print things.
I bought a cheap Canon and only buy knock-off 3rd party ink cartridges. Also you don't need any of their software in 99.9% of cases. On Windows either your existing drivers will work just fine, or it will automatically find useable ones during setup.
Laser printing is another option but the upfront cost is much much higher, so it really depends on your needs and printing volumes.
[ - ] beece 1 point 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 12:46:07 ago (+1/-0)
Just buy a laser printer. Amazon search "Brother HLL2305W Compact Mono Laser Single Function Printer with Wireless and Mobile Device Printing". $119. No "ink" cartidge and it will last forever. All it does is print, doesn't scan, fax or other bullshit. Your buddy shows up and as long as he can log into your wifi, he can print shit off his phone onto your printer. Or you can.
Cheapest printer to run and they last near forever.
I used to work as a temp at the Hewlett Packard facility that made ink jets. Grossly overpricing the ink jet cartridges has been a strategy since day 1. I was in the R&D department. One day someone asked me to test a new cartridge refiller that had the potential to make the cost of owning a printer much cheaper. It was a small round device with a plastic tube that connected it to the refiller port on an HP cartridge. The instructions were crystal clear and the refiller worked flawlessly.
The fact that HP decided not to pursue that great little product speaks volumes for them.
Don't change the print cartridge when it says it's low, change it when a page comes out fucked up because it's low. You'll get an extra 20-50 pages that way.
[ + ] ModernGuilt
[ - ] ModernGuilt 15 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 07:39:23 ago (+16/-1)
[ + ] TheGreatWar
[ - ] TheGreatWar 12 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 08:21:25 ago (+12/-0)
[ + ] Belfuro
[ - ] Belfuro 2 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 18:15:06 ago (+2/-0)
Before long we were selling the printers below cost and the consumables, of which there are many not just toner, at 300% markup.
They made a killing
[ + ] HonkyMcNiggerSpic
[ - ] HonkyMcNiggerSpic 2 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 10:28:05 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] GreenSaint
[ - ] GreenSaint 0 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 09:14:38 ago (+2/-2)
[ + ] dosvydanya_freedomz
[ - ] dosvydanya_freedomz 9 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 06:48:46 ago (+9/-0)
yup its an open secret. everybody knows its a scam
[ + ] RabbiKinderschtupper
[ - ] RabbiKinderschtupper 7 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 07:28:35 ago (+7/-0)
[ + ] PotatoWhisperer2
[ - ] PotatoWhisperer2 6 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 08:02:02 ago (+6/-0)
Too many printers I ended up having to repair before each infrequent use until the thing finally gave up after printing less than 50 pages or so.
[ + ] Outlaw_Aryan
[ - ] Outlaw_Aryan 3 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 09:00:09 ago (+3/-0)
[ + ] bobdole9
[ - ] bobdole9 5 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 07:27:28 ago (+5/-0)
I bought a cheap HP lazer printer...toner is a bit much ($40) but it lasts longer than ink if all you need is documents printed.
[ + ] Outlaw_Aryan
[ - ] Outlaw_Aryan 4 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 09:19:16 ago (+4/-0)
[ + ] Outlaw_Aryan
[ - ] Outlaw_Aryan 1 point 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 09:16:50 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] InYourFaceNancyGrace
[ - ] InYourFaceNancyGrace 1 point 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 10:20:08 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] KyleIsThisTall
[ - ] KyleIsThisTall 2 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 19:08:16 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] bobdole9
[ - ] bobdole9 1 point 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 10:59:58 ago (+1/-0)
No firsthand experience with other brands, though.
[ + ] BulletStopper
[ - ] BulletStopper 5 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 06:55:11 ago (+5/-0)*
https://www.amazon.com/Epson-Wireless-Cartridge-Free-Supertank-Ethernet/dp/B096N9JMXF?th=1
The business model was the same as heroin dealers. They sell you the printer at a loss because they know they make it all back selling you their proprietary ink cartridges that 1) come with very little ink in them, and 2) the printers will actually lie about the remaining level of ink in the cartridges, so you'll think you need to buy more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOMjeCiMn8g
The Epson EcoTank ET-4850 has a window on the side of the ink resevoirs so you can see the actual ink level for yourself, and I refill the "refill" bottles with bulk ink I buy in gallon jugs.
[ + ] zongongo
[ - ] zongongo 5 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 08:05:24 ago (+5/-0)
[ + ] uvulectomy
[ - ] uvulectomy 3 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 08:32:56 ago (+3/-0)
Once a certain number of pages has been reached, even the printers that don't use cartridges will stop working until you replace the pad, and also go through the correct combination of buttons to reset the counter.
[ + ] xachariah
[ - ] xachariah 2 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 15:02:56 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] Swej_Ehtsag
[ - ] Swej_Ehtsag 4 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 08:51:45 ago (+4/-0)
[ + ] Outlaw_Aryan
[ - ] Outlaw_Aryan 2 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 09:13:04 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] HonkyMcNiggerSpic
[ - ] HonkyMcNiggerSpic 2 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 10:27:31 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] germ22
[ - ] germ22 2 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 09:22:08 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] Sheitstrom
[ - ] Sheitstrom 2 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 08:25:07 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] Wahaha
[ - ] Wahaha 2 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 07:58:44 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] TheGreatWar
[ - ] TheGreatWar 7 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 08:16:44 ago (+7/-0)
[ + ] JudyStroyer
[ - ] JudyStroyer 2 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 08:38:12 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] KyleIsThisTall
[ - ] KyleIsThisTall 1 point 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 19:05:06 ago (+1/-0)
even the MFCs are less than $200
[ + ] Kozel
[ - ] Kozel 1 point 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 13:10:47 ago (+1/-0)
I just bought an cartridge for $12 on ebay (I needed a yellow one so I could print in black)
You can also just buy the chip and the powder and service your existing cartridges.
[ + ] Whatthefuck
[ - ] Whatthefuck 1 point 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 12:56:45 ago (+1/-0)
Laser printing is another option but the upfront cost is much much higher, so it really depends on your needs and printing volumes.
[ + ] KyleIsThisTall
[ - ] KyleIsThisTall 2 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 19:10:56 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] beece
[ - ] beece 1 point 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 12:46:07 ago (+1/-0)
Cheapest printer to run and they last near forever.
[ + ] psykx
[ - ] psykx 0 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 23:19:14 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] Deleted
[ - ] deleted 1 point 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 10:52:28 ago (+1/-0)*
[ + ] Jinglebanger
[ - ] Jinglebanger 1 point 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 11:50:02 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] Deleted
[ - ] deleted 0 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 16:27:46 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] Lost_In_The_Thinking
[ - ] Lost_In_The_Thinking 1 point 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 09:34:20 ago (+1/-0)
The fact that HP decided not to pursue that great little product speaks volumes for them.
[ + ] NaturalSelectionistWorker
[ - ] NaturalSelectionistWorker 1 point 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 09:27:00 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] registereduser
[ - ] registereduser 1 point 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 08:47:25 ago (+1/-0)
Light a checker on fire holding under a piece of paper so the paper catches the soot. Mix the soot with cheap shampoo. Jailhouse ink.
[ + ] Conspirologist
[ - ] Conspirologist 1 point 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 07:01:11 ago (+3/-2)
[ + ] jigganiggaboo
[ - ] jigganiggaboo 0 points 1.5 yearsNov 7, 2023 21:52:27 ago (+0/-0)