Truscifi Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 We have bad luck with printers. We have never had one last more than 6 months, of any brand, any type, new or used. We have just used the library or Office Max for the occasional printing needs for several years because of our rotten luck with printers. But. Ds10 is getting to a point with his school work where it would be helpful for him to be able to print things as needed. There are things it would be easier or me to be able to print at home too. So we have decided to try again. My must haves: reliable!!!, easy to use, small, not terribly expensive (the printer itself or the ink for it), and have wifi capabilities. Not at all important, but ok if it has them: color printing, and other capabilities like scan/fax/copy. So, fellow Hivers, what should I get? :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Now that I have a Brother laser printer, I'll never use anything else again. It's amazing. I have the cheapest model, but it never jams, never has any issues, and prints insanely fast. The name brand ink is pricey, but you can buy generic ink through Amazon for a steal, and one name brand ink cartridge usually lasts me a year or so. I've had it for two years now, use it nearly every day, and it's still working perfectly. ETA: This is the one I have: http://www.amazon.com/Brother-HL2230-Monochrome-Laser-Printer/dp/B004H1PB9I/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1388606058&sr=8-7&keywords=brother+laser+printer If I had it to do again, I'd probably go with the wireless model. Places like OfficeMax often have this one on sale for as low as fifty bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angie in VA Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 ITA w/ Mergath. What she linked looks like what dd took to college. Our Brother laser printer at home is bigger. I wanted wireless for dd, but when it came time, the non-wirelss version was cheaper, so got that. (DD didn't care.) I *heart* our laser printer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamajag Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 I second the recommendation for a Brother. We had our first Brother for years and only upgraded because I wanted a color laser with duplex scanning and printing as well as wireless networking. We went with another Brother and have been happy. We tried an HP in between but the software was buggy and it kept getting disconnected from the network. A laser looks more expensive, but if you get the one Mergath recommended, you'll half your paper usage and toner generally lasts me an entire school year. It is much cheaper than inkjet in the long run. Oh, and do NOT replace toner until the printer stops printing. They warn you toner is low when there is a lot of toner left in them. Just keep printing until you come out with a blank page. I usually spend the spring cancelling "toner is low' messages. I order it to have on hand, but I always finish the school year with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Oh, and do NOT replace toner until the printer stops printing. They warn you toner is low when there is a lot of toner left in them. Just keep printing until you come out with a blank page. I usually spend the spring cancelling "toner is low' messages. I order it to have on hand, but I always finish the school year with it. You can do something to the cartridge to get it to stop doing that. ;) You have to flip the little metal clip thing around, and it'll go until it runs out of ink after that without the message. I have no idea how to explain it, but there are videos on youtube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtnTeaching Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 I had a Brother several years ago and loved it! Then, dh decided we needed something with more "bells and whistles". He is a manager with a large computer-related firm and even though he has a good printer in his office, he decided that the kids moving into high school needed wireless, scanning, etc. We went through two HP's (pieces of junk), then he finally bought me this beast . It can be a little slow for me sometimes, but it really is a work-horse. Expensive, BIG, loud, and the ink cartridges are huge and budget-busting. Otherwise, I like it. The scanning capability is easy and works great. It sounds as if you might like to try something like the Brother, though. I really did like my little Brother when I had one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted January 2, 2014 Author Share Posted January 2, 2014 I had a Brother several years ago and loved it! Then, dh decided we needed something with more "bells and whistles". He is a manager with a large computer-related firm and even though he has a good printer in his office, he decided that the kids moving into high school needed wireless, scanning, etc. We went through two HP's (pieces of junk), then he finally bought me this beast . It can be a little slow for me sometimes, but it really is a work-horse. Expensive, BIG, loud, and the ink cartridges are huge and budget-busting. Otherwise, I like it. The scanning capability is easy and works great. It sounds as if you might like to try something like the Brother, though. I really did like my little Brother when I had one. :scared: That thing is huge! I'd have nowhere to put it, and if I did manage to squeeze it in somewhere I can just imagine babyman using it as a jungle gym. :svengo: I'm off to look at Brother printers now. :thumbup1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamajag Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 You can do something to the cartridge to get it to stop doing that. ;) You have to flip the little metal clip thing around, and it'll go until it runs out of ink after that without the message. I have no idea how to explain it, but there are videos on youtube. I'm lazy and tend not to look up that trick. ;) Most of the time it's my kids printing anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamajag Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 :scared: That thing is huge! I'd have nowhere to put it, and if I did manage to squeeze it in somewhere I can just imagine babyman using it as a jungle gym. :svengo: I'm off to look at Brother printers now. :thumbup1: This one is mine. My DH had to move shelves on the wall to get it to fit and the UPS man asked me if I asked for the biggest printer ever made when I picked it up. The cheaper Brothers are still good printers. They are what got me into buying a big, bad monster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msrift Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Agreeing with others that a brother laser printer is the way to go. We have this model that duplexes (love!) and is wireless. We do the vast majority of our printing on this one, but since I've been needing the ability to scan and copy, we also purchased a Canon Pixma recently. So far, so good. To save room, we stacked them using a cheap wooden shoe rack (minus the middle shelf). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 I went to Office Max to look at a printer for school. I'm just looking right now. | went looking for a Brother. However, a "printer guy" there showed me that one of the all in one kodak printers that he had cost much less per page than the cheap brother laser that I was going to get. It was an inkjet, though. Any experience with this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 http://www.pcworld.com/article/252967/the_best_deals_on_printer_ink.html This article was interesting. Thoughts? When I looked at the page yield stated by both manufacturers and cost to print the inkjet Kodak clearly beat the brother laser. I'm wondering if the Kodak is just poorly made and so that's why others choose the brother even though the cost per paage is much higher or if Kodak has just come out with a new model that is now cheaper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Bump for added questions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 http://www.pcworld.com/article/252967/the_best_deals_on_printer_ink.html This article was interesting. Thoughts? When I looked at the page yield stated by both manufacturers and cost to print the inkjet Kodak clearly beat the brother laser. I'm wondering if the Kodak is just poorly made and so that's why others choose the brother even though the cost per paage is much higher or if Kodak has just come out with a new model that is now cheaper? In the article you linked, the Brother printer they reference is an inkjet, not a laser. That makes a huge difference. I've used a few different brands of inkjet printers in the past, and I spend far less money on my laser printer. And even if the cost was about the same, I'd still go with a Brother laser because with an inkjet I was running out every few weeks to get a new ink cartridge. When I stick a new cartridge in my laser printer, I'm good for the year. Also, according to this you can't even buy Kodak printers anymore: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2011054/kodak-printers-are-gone-but-the-ink-sells-on.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatHomeschoolDad Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 We've had an HP Laserjet 1300 for years and it just keeps kicking. Not fancy, but fewer things to go wrong. I think the model might be dicontinued, but should be an eBay thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 In the article you linked, the Brother printer they reference is an inkjet, not a laser. That makes a huge difference. I've used a few different brands of inkjet printers in the past, and I spend far less money on my laser printer. And even if the cost was about the same, I'd still go with a Brother laser because with an inkjet I was running out every few weeks to get a new ink cartridge. When I stick a new cartridge in my laser printer, I'm good for the year. Also, according to this you can't even buy Kodak printers anymore: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2011054/kodak-printers-are-gone-but-the-ink-sells-on.html Interesting. Hmmm.... the in-store comparison that I did left a huge (favorable) margin for the inkjet per page vs. the brother laser. Sigh. I'm wondering if maybe there is a new model out that is printing more efficently? That's all that I can think of, because for all of the years that I've been on the WTM boards everyone has always stated that their laser printer has a much better cost per page yield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.