Author Topic: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?  (Read 15842 times)

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Offline shapirus

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #75 on: February 05, 2023, 08:08:55 pm »
The trouble is... one of those A4 photo prints on the HP Inkjet took over an hour and used 10% of a cartridge.
that's where Epson printers, such as L800/L805, with integrated (or separate, depends on how you look on it) 6-color ink tank shine.
 

Offline pcprogrammer

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #76 on: February 05, 2023, 08:10:21 pm »
Edit: A bit of a peeve is all the different models of cartridges these manufacturers develop. Makes finding the matching one a bit of a job.
How about reading the manual?  >:D  And some websites make it simple by allowing to select the printer for which you want to buy a cartridge.

I just opened the tray and found the number I needed. HP 216A  :-DD

Was doing the search to find the prices for replying here and just used the printer model number and google returned the one I linked. To bad, definitely not the correct ones  :palm:
The correct compatible ones are 150 euros. But hey still better then the original HP ones at > 240 euros.
Don't know if I will ever need them.

Offline SiliconWizard

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #77 on: February 05, 2023, 08:42:11 pm »
The Brother HL-L2300D ($120) that I linked to on page one has a $60 toner cartridge that prints up to 2600 pages. That's $0.02 per page.  :-//

I have a 15-ish year old Brother laser printer that I still use. You can't beat the cost of ownership of that. :popcorn:
 
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Offline tooki

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #78 on: February 05, 2023, 08:47:07 pm »
The trouble is... one of those A4 photo prints on the HP Inkjet took over an hour and used 10% of a cartridge.
Crikey! My 15 year old Canon (7 inks: CcMyYKK — CMY + light cyan and magenta, photo black, and pigment black) prints an A4 photo in around 4 minutes.
 

Offline MarkS

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #79 on: February 05, 2023, 09:12:15 pm »
The Brother HL-L2300D ($120) that I linked to on page one has a $60 toner cartridge that prints up to 2600 pages. That's $0.02 per page.  :-//

I have a 15-ish year old Brother laser printer that I still use. You can't beat the cost of ownership of that. :popcorn:

They really do seem to last forever!
 

Offline SiliconWizard

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #80 on: February 05, 2023, 09:27:31 pm »
Yes, the only annoying thing it has developed is a tendency to warp paper sheets a bit (which it wasn't doing before.) Not sure what's the cause. Has the fuser temperature gotten higher maybe?
 

Offline tooki

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #81 on: February 05, 2023, 09:36:29 pm »
I was going to say that this is more likely a difference in paper and/or humidity, but it occurred to me that it maybe could happen if one fuser fails (so the paper is only being heated from one side instead of both).

FYI, as a general rule, fuser temperatures have gone down, because that makes it easier to only heat up the fuser when needed, as opposed to keeping it constantly hot like in old laser printers and copiers.
 

Offline tooki

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #82 on: February 05, 2023, 09:52:30 pm »
I never heard anyone praise a Lexmark inkjet (a market that company exited a decade ago). You do, on the other hand, find plenty of people who bought higher-end Canons that love them, and a lot of people who like Epson (particularly for very frequent use). In other words: don’t condemn an entire product type just because one brand sucked.
 

Online ejeffrey

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #83 on: February 05, 2023, 10:17:17 pm »
aftermarket cartridges that work just fine are available for every laser printer I've ever had.

I've had extremely bad results with after market toner for brother color laser printers.  Random streaks, permanent bars on the paper edge, and one that appears to also break the drum unit, coating more to replace than it was supposed to save.  Some are fine and some are garbage, but the problem I have is that it's hard to tell which is which in a sea of fly by night rebadged vendors.  So I have pretty much given up buying after market toner

I still prefer laser printers, but if you buy OEM equipment at retail prices the cost per page of even a mid range SOHO laser printer is pretty high.  Even B&W is moderately expensive and color is much higher.
 
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Online themadhippy

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #84 on: February 05, 2023, 10:50:28 pm »
Quote
plenty of people who bought higher-end Canons that love them, and a lot of people who like Epson (particularly for very frequent use). In other words: don’t condemn an entire product type just because one brand sucked.
had cannon,epson and hp  printers or multifunction devices over the years and they all suffered from constipation of the print head,even my ole star dot matrix was more reliable.
 

Offline MarkS

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #85 on: February 06, 2023, 04:31:18 am »
Yes, the only annoying thing it has developed is a tendency to warp paper sheets a bit (which it wasn't doing before.) Not sure what's the cause. Has the fuser temperature gotten higher maybe?

Brother recommends replacing the drum unit every 12,000 pages. That may be it.
 

Offline james_s

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #86 on: February 06, 2023, 07:35:13 am »
I've had extremely bad results with after market toner for brother color laser printers.  Random streaks, permanent bars on the paper edge, and one that appears to also break the drum unit, coating more to replace than it was supposed to save.  Some are fine and some are garbage, but the problem I have is that it's hard to tell which is which in a sea of fly by night rebadged vendors.  So I have pretty much given up buying after market toner

I still prefer laser printers, but if you buy OEM equipment at retail prices the cost per page of even a mid range SOHO laser printer is pretty high.  Even B&W is moderately expensive and color is much higher.

YMMV but I know of a local business that ran aftermarket remanufactured cartridges in one of the small mono Laserjets for around 10 years and tens of thousands of pages without a hitch. They gave me the printer when the fuser failed, I put a new heater in it and sold it to a friend that is still using it as far as I know.

Personally I've mostly been lucky enough to find NOS OEM cartridges on ebay for about the price of aftermarket so I took that route. I've very rarely had to replace one anyway though, I print a couple hundred pages a year on average, one toner cartridge lasts me a very long time since they don't dry out.
 

Offline james_s

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #87 on: February 06, 2023, 07:38:48 am »
Laser photo printing isn't exactly great compared to an inkjet though.

I have photos printed by InkJet in frames on my wall and holding a similar print from the laser up beside ... there is no comparison.  I tweaked every setting I could, even ran it through various optimizers.

"Good", yes, the same quality as an Inkjet in photo mode on photo quality paper, no comparison.

I can print out a demo page if anyone really wants to see, but I was stunned by the photo quality from the M254dw I have. I don't have any modern inkjets to compare it to, but it is definitely superior to what I could get from an inkjet printer on good photo paper the last time I had one, circa 2006. The old Xerox 6100 I had didn't do a great job at photos but this one really does look nice.
 

Offline tooki

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #88 on: February 06, 2023, 08:17:38 am »
They’ve gotten much better for sure, and for printouts onto plain paper, will certainly be more vibrant and sharp than inkjet.* The very best photo quality is still from dedicated photo inkjets onto photo paper, since they use many inks (light cyan, light magenta, and some selection of the following: one or more shades of gray, red, blue, green, violet, or orange). And inkjets can print onto a multitude of textured photo papers (or other coated substrate, like canvas or plastic film), matte or glossy (or my favorite, satin), which is why they’re so popular for art prints. Laser can only print onto smooth matte paper, usually not even glossy paper.

*For documents on plain paper, I’m still partial to inkjet because I hate how toner reflects light on its glossy surface, reducing contrast if light hits it at an inconvenient angle — I prefer the matte output of an inkjet. But that’s really a personal preference, not a quality criterion as such.
 

Offline jfiresto

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #89 on: February 06, 2023, 08:32:48 am »
I got 10 and then 20 years service out of my first two laser printers. The motor control electronics failed on the first one, perhaps from years of moderate mains over-voltage. I retired the second after the rubber rollers had hardened and no longer consistently picked sheets out of the main paper tray. Around year 18, I did not completely latch the top part after clearing a jam and "burned" lines into the imaging drum, but by then NOS drums and toners were going for cheap on ebay; 45 euros later and I had a new pair.

I am into the fourth year of my current P2040dn, Kyocera's second cheapest B/W, business network printer. An original, 7000 page toner cartridge works out to about 1½ cents per page, about what I spend on paper. IIRC, the drum is good for 100 000 pages so that should not be an expense – as long as I make sure the printer is latched after I muck with it. ::) Kyocera's cheapest printer uses a smaller, 3000 sheet toner that costs ca. 60 rather than 100 euros, which gives you an idea of where customer and manufacturer try to save or make money.

The new printer is considerably bigger than the two it replaced, with lots of internal, thin stiffening ribs to use less material.
-John
 
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Offline tooki

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #90 on: February 06, 2023, 08:59:33 am »
Edit: A bit of a peeve is all the different models of cartridges these manufacturers develop. Makes finding the matching one a bit of a job.
I 100% agree.

Sure, I recognize that they need a few different sizes for various size (=print volume) printers, and that ink or toner formulations get improved over time (but as a consequence, can’t be used in older printers). But so much of it is gratuitous. I mean, the nonsense of manufacturing 3-4 capacities of the same cartridge (starter, standard, XL, and sometimes even XXL)… And then they region-lock them, so take all those SKUs and multiply them by 2 or 3. What a logistics nightmare.

I loved it when Canon, for example, used three series of cartridges for all its inkjets: one series of little tiny integrated-head CMY and K for its portable model, one series of normal integrated-head CMY and K for entry level desktop models, and then one series of individual ink tanks for all its midrange and higher printers (with basic models using just CMYK, advanced ones using up to 11 different colors.) And they kept those series around for years at a time, so tons of models used a given series. Eventually they’d update all the models to an updated series, but keep it around for years.

Over time, they started making separate versions for different regions, and the lifespans of each ink series got shorter. Some to split up and differentiate between lines with pigment color inks instead of dye, different sizes, etc etc etc.

Same with lasers: the old HP LaserJet 2300 I have uses a toner cartridge not shared with any other model.  |O It’s almost unchanged from the cartridge for the 2100/2200, with the conspicuous addition of a chip.  ::)
 

Offline westfw

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #91 on: February 06, 2023, 09:06:36 am »
The problem with Inkjet printers for "minimal usage" is not the rated "prints per (expensive but cheaper than toner) artridge, it that you don't get anywhere NEAR the rated number of prints before your cartridges dry up, clog (if they have built-in heads), or the printhead clogs.


I've gotten a couple dozen pages from the cheap inkjet all-in-one, and many, many, more from the cheap laser (with its starter cartridges.)


OTOH, the last set of 3rd party color laser cartridges I bought for my most recent color laser (A Brother) were essentially inoperable.  Streaks all over! :-(



 

Offline tooki

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #92 on: February 06, 2023, 09:11:25 am »
The problem with Inkjet printers for "minimal usage" is not the rated "prints per (expensive but cheaper than toner) artridge, it that you don't get anywhere NEAR the rated number of prints before your cartridges dry up, clog (if they have built-in heads), or the printhead clogs.
Everyone here agrees that inkjets are not recommended for sporadic use, including me, who is probably the biggest proponent of inkjet. For sporadic use, laser is better.

AFAIK, the cartridge yield numbers (which are done with ISO test pages) are calculated from printing all at once until they go empty, so they will include normal periodic head cleaning, but not extra cleaning from sitting idle for long periods of time.

I've gotten a couple dozen pages from the cheap inkjet all-in-one
Which is why I don’t recommend cheap inkjets to anyone for any purpose.

Back when I sold computers at retail, there was the ongoing offer of $100 off a printer when buying a computer, making the cheap $100 HP model free. Most customers, left to their own devices, would buy that crap, with its low capacity integrated-head two-cartridge system. I always suggested spending $50 more for the $150 Canon that used inexpensive individual ink tanks. I’d explain that one single set of inks would already make up the added upfront cost. Those customers invariably were much happier with their printers in the long run, with much lower running costs and enjoying a far, far faster, more capable printer with duplexing, color LCD, and better print quality.
« Last Edit: February 06, 2023, 09:20:26 am by tooki »
 

Offline magic

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #93 on: February 06, 2023, 09:18:18 am »
all-in-one
OMG, don't mention these horrible things unless you want me do derail this thread with my rants about how much I hate it when they refuse to scan because the ink ran out :rant:
 

Offline tooki

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #94 on: February 06, 2023, 09:20:50 am »
all-in-one
OMG, don't mention these horrible things unless you want me do derail this thread with my rants about how much I hate it when they refuse to scan because the ink ran out :rant:
Not all models do that.
 

Offline pcprogrammer

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #95 on: February 06, 2023, 10:25:02 am »
You can better start a rant about the ID chips they stick into the cartridges and force using the manufacturers cartridges only and then fail to even work with official ones due to what ever. Wasted good money on buying a new color cartridge to find it not working. Ditched one HP inkjet printer due to that. It would still scan and with some fiddling print in black and white, but the hassle to get it working even when only using it once in a while is still aggravating.

The new laser is doing what I expect from it and hope it keeps on doing it for a long time. Bought it in 2021 and when I turn it on it prints or scans what it needs to print or scan. Use it maybe once a month or even less.

Offline EPAIII

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #96 on: February 06, 2023, 10:37:35 am »
First fact: printer companies do not make a penny on low end printers. If you watch for sales they almost give them to you. They make their profits on ink or toner cartridges. That is a fact. In fact one of my printers did cost me under $10 after coupons and a sale price.

I have gone through a number of printers for personal use. I don't print a lot, but I do print a variety of things, like schematics, drawings, larger format (11" x 17" and larger), etc. At first I bought 24 pin dot matrix ones. They worked fairly well and the ribbon costs were OK. But the quality level was surpassed in time and I just wanted better. My last one was a HP inkjet but the cost of HP ink was staggering.

My present printer is a Brother, large format (11 x 17), four in one, ink jet and I love it. The cost of ink is reasonable and I can buy individual colors. B & W quality is good and color is OK, but not real photo quality. I still have the HP that I can use for photos. The Brother also does faxes, 11 x 17 copies, scans, and more. I have used it for several years now and it is great - IMHO. I paid under $175 for it a few years ago. But I am sure there are less expensive Brother printers available.

As to the cost of the ink, I saved enough in about 18 months to pay back the full price of the Brother.
Paul A.  -   SE Texas
And if you look REAL close at an analog signal,
You will find that it has discrete steps.
 

Offline tooki

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #97 on: February 06, 2023, 11:00:19 am »
How has clogging been on the Brother? I’ve been considering a Brother precisely because of the large-format capability. But since my print volume is going to plummet once I finish school this summer, I don’t want something that’s going to suffer from infrequent use. (My Canon has had no trouble at all going weeks between uses.)
 

Offline JohanH

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #98 on: February 06, 2023, 11:15:12 am »
Laser printer with ethernet port that supports PostScript. PostScript is the common standard for "better" printers. Cheap ones might not support it and then you have to mess with drivers that stop working after a couple of years (guaranteed). PostScript works with all operating systems including Linux without messing with any drivers. I have a Brother HL-2250 many years old, before that had another Brother. I'm probably on my third toner cartridge. There are relatively cheap aftermarket toner cartridges available for these printers (in theory you could fill up powder yourself; haven't tried to mess with that).

For scanning I use an old HP ink jet (only using the scanner part), works nicely in Linux with HPLIP/Xsane software.
 

Offline jfiresto

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Re: What's a good printer for minimal usage ?
« Reply #99 on: February 06, 2023, 01:00:19 pm »
I fully agree: getting Postscript on a printer generally means you can just plug it in and expect it to work. I can not remember an exception – surely there must have been one – which probably means that what few issues there were were trivially dispatched, for example, to get model specific features.

I do remember that outputting to a Postscript printer through a Centronics (parallel) port can be really slow, but I suspect that no longer matters.

EDIT: Now that I think of it, I have been getting network printers which have required perhaps an hour or two, total, setting them before first use. I go through many more computers than printers!
« Last Edit: February 06, 2023, 01:25:13 pm by jfiresto »
-John
 


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