Quick rec's for a basic printer

[Liz CA]

Title says it all - I think.

[Liz CA]

Bumping for the morning / midday people. ? 

[WendyLady]

Two years ago we moved and our printer stopped working.  We had a hp all in one something from Costco that I bought on sale for around $70. I think there's something about moving that causes printer problems, because we seem to need a new printer every time we move.  I had bought that printer at Costco, thinking that when it died, we could get our money back.  So that was great!  But, we moved to an area without a Costco, and I needed a printer that weekend.  (I was eventually able to return my printer for a refund, but it took a couple months)

I went to my local walmart and bought the next to cheapest printer they had - it was right around $40, thinking that I could buy another printer if I need to and not feel too guilty about the cost.  It is an Epson all in one.  I liked my previous printer better, but this cheap printer has worked fine for the last two years. We use it pretty heavily and it is still working.  The ink is expensive, but it seems like ink is always expensive.  (It is also irritating that it won't print if one of the ink colors is out (ie, out of yellow, still won't print black.) that is frustrating, but I try to have a stash of ink on hand...

So, not an actual printer recommendation, but I just wanted to you know that even the cheapies work okay.  If I had a Costco near me,  I would always plan to buy a printer from them for the ability to return for a refund, because it seems like printers only last about 2-3 years for me...  

 

[Lanny]

We have a very low end EPSON ink jet printer. It is 5 years old. We don't use it a lot but it does a very nice job of printing and when DD scans something in (it is her printer) it does a beautiful job.  It has WiFi, but for Security reasons we have never tried to use the WiFi.  (Sometimes when I am out somewhere I see open networks and they are Printers...) This one has 4 ink cartridges. We replaced the Black one this morning and I discovered it also needs a Yellow one. The only problem with an Ink Jet printer is the cost of the cartridges...

We also have another low-end EPSON ink jet in the house, probably a more recent model, but that one is for my Stepson and his wife.

Our previous Printer was a mid to high end EPSON printer. It had 6 ink cartridges and was much more heavy duty than the ones we have now. I bought 2 of them directly from EPSON in the USA. They were Remanufactured or something. One had an issue and the other was perfect until we could not get the Ink Jet cartridges for it here in Colombia.  ETA: I did buy some non OEM cartridges for it from an Amazon Seller. Some of them worked fine and some did not work)

The Printer before that was an HP Ink Jet. It was junk.

The Printer before that was an HP 6L LaserJet.  A workhorse of a machine that never received one cent of maintenance or repair. The Toner Cartridges are expensive for those.

If we go into the Superstore to buy a TV, we go for Samsung. If we go there to buy a cell phone, we go for Motorola. I guess if we go there to buy another Printer it will be an EPSON.

Good luck with whatever you buy!

[Liz CA]

I got the Brother HL-L. When I saw it, I realized I had one years ago at work and it was a workhorse just like Patty Joanna said.

It's a Laserprinter (black only) and was $85 at Staples online. I only need black printing for work reports and dh mostly prints plain black as well but can print at work if he needs color.

[Um_2_4]

I worked 5 years repairing printers (and computers). I will only buy Brother. Canon and Epson are junk inside if you saw the parts they use. Plus I have had good luck using "copycat" ink refills with Brother. My current one is this one that I bought in 2013 for about $80. There are of course newer ones...like this from the same line.