printers another pandemic shortage?

[ktgrok]

Our current monstrosity of a printer has issues, probably from me damaging it by using heavier cardstock than it is rated for. 

So I want another one. I have curriculum I want to print, and I don't want it to look crappy. 

There is NO printer that does EVERYTHING well, and i finally accepted I probably need two printers - one for crafting/art stuff that does photos well, and can print on cardstock and on vinyl (for the cricut), preferably can print large format, tabloid size.  A second that can handle large volume stuff - so when I print out a 150 page curriculum packet or whatever I'm not standign there having to feed in paper every 50 pages, or remove pages every 2 minutes because the output tray is tiny. This one would also be something that prints quickly - the photo/craft printers are very very slow, and have very small output/input trays. 

So, okay, I can use the scholarship funds my kids recieve on these, I use it for their school and artwork mostly, so I'll buy one with one kid's money and the other with the other kid's money. (art one for the crafter, volume one for the kid that I print all his pages single sided, one at a time, as that works best for him, and he can't do work on the computer without getting distracted). 

Figured I'd get a color laser for the volume/quick one, and then whatever is best for large format and cardstock (there are some nice crafting ones now) for the other. 

Yeah...y'all, there are NO home office sized/priced color laser printers available! I keep reading reviews, picking one, and then finding out it isn't available. I found one on amazon, but it ships for another $60 in a few weeks from some no name seller...that's not something I want to risk with such a big purchase. 

I can probably find the craft one, but the immediate need is the curriculum printing, and that would be expensive to print on the photo/craft one. Plus take FOREVER. 

So fine, decided instead of a color laser, I'd get the HP Office Jet something or other, for now. It can do normal sized cardstock (but not vinyl) so I could even print out the flash cards and stuff for now on it, it is almost as fast as a laser printer, and has a dececnt input capacity and a livable amount of output capacity with a 100 page output tray (likely less if I use high weight paper). It's an all in one, so I could get just a photo/craft printer, not all in one, for the other one. Great. Okay. Has instant ink, which I liked when I had it before. Wonderful. 

Except, now instead of just the OPTION for instant ink, they have this HP plus thing, where you HAVE to use their ink. And I don't know what that is angering me so much, but it is! I mean, i was going to use their ink anyway - the scholarship pays for it, and as I said I love instant ink subscription because with my ADHD I never actually buy ink until I'm out of ink and staring at a page I can't print. But, along with the ADHD trait, I'm also stupidly rebellious ( not full on pathological demand avoidance, but I hate being told what to do, and will sabotage my own well being out of spite, subconsciously). So, now what? I feel like this HP plus thing is a bit too....I don't know...sci fi dystopian? Plus, what if HP has supply chain issues and can't get me ink? (ok, so I'd have the back up craft printer, plus we have a black and white laser...but still)

AND I know DH would HATE the idea of being locked in. He still refuses to buy the fancier keurig because it requires proprietary k-cups. But, he also isn't the one using the printer. He does everything electronically for work, and if he is printing stuff for a presentation just has it printed at a Kinkos in the town he's going to. Plus, he has Covid and is basically non functional right now. (Covid brain fog is REAL)

So, I can print the curriculum I need to print (unit study stuff, in color) on the printer I have, that will print ugly lines on it all and annoy me and kick the can down the road. Try to buy a color laser from a shady person on amazon. (no actual stores have them even for shipping). Get the crafting/photo printer and spend an hour or two standing over it feeding it paper and taking paper off (assuming that one is available, didn't even get that far), or bite the bullet and get the stupid HP one with the HP plus. 

Thoughts? (and yes, I'm likely putting too much emotion into this because I'm stressed about Covid and stuff)

[cintinative]

I'm not sure if this will meet your needs or not, but a few years ago we bought an all in one color printer (ink jet) that has scanning/copying capability and can print photos, etc. and we also bought a Brother black and white laser printer. I mostly always print from the laser printer, but I needed something for scanning/copying and for occasional photos. It seems like it would be really expensive, but doing it this way was cheaper than trying to get a color laser printer with copying/scanning options.  I also wanted double sided printing out of the laser printer.  

Anyway, not sure if it answers your question, but for us, the solution was two printers, not one.  A pain for space, for sure.

[TheReader]

As I'm currently fuming at my HP printer, b/c while I don't yet have the instant ink thing, it *does* lock up when it decides my cartridge is at the end of its life, and continued use will do irreparable harm to the printer, I say -- do not go with an HP. 

Now, that's my bias showing, because the change in error code annoys the ever livin' heck out of me, and a call to the help center did  nothing. In the past, it would tell me "you are out of toner, do you want to keep printing anyway?" and I could do so, and it would keep printing until the print quality *actually* deteriorated and starting being streaky, and *then* I would buy a cartridge & replace it. 

But NOW, it gives me that warning, and after 2-3 days of printing with that warning on, it changes to "you are about to kill your printer, and so I'm overriding your good sense and will.not.print.again.ever. until you replace the cartridge" (or similar, but the end result is, it steadfastly refuses to print once it believes you've truly, really, for real, run out of ink/toner....even if you are seeing stuff still printing with zero issues whatsoever. 

Then I'm held hostage, forced to buy toner that I don't need yet, and put it in, when I don't need it yet, because the printer thinks it is smarter than me. Being a color laser printer, those dumb things are not cheap at all, and it's highly highly highly annoying. So, the scenario you describe, of *having* do their instant ink.....no thank you.  Like, I'm annoyed enough by it, that even though I *love* this printer most of the time, that one thing is ticking me off enough I'm about to buy (or apparently, not, since none are available) a new one just to try and get around this annoyance.  

[TechWife]

Can you send your curriculum printing out to Office Max or Staples until printers are more widely available? I realize it's expensive, but it might be better than being frustrated with printing in the meantime.

ETA: I wouldn't buy from the shady person - wait until you have a reputable seller. I actually like to buy this type of thing locally, even if from a chain retailer. It makes returns easier if they are needed.

ETA: Our HP LaserJet Pro 300 has been a workhorse for years. I highly recommend it - though I'm sure there's an updated version by now.

Edited June 15, 2022 by TechWife

[Katy]

I also would look into paying to have stuff printed at a shop instead of buying whatever sub-par printer is available. 

[ktgrok]

2 minutes ago, TechWife said:

Can you send your curriculum printing out to Office Max or Staples until printers are more widely available? I realize it's expensive, but it might be better than being frustrated with printing in the meantime.

yeah, but then I'd have to drive somewhere, go inside, etc. (covid rates are well over 20 percent now, plus currently I'm quarantining anyway). 

 

[TechWife]

Just now, ktgrok said:

yeah, but then I'd have to drive somewhere, go inside, etc. (covid rates are well over 20 percent now, plus currently I'm quarantining anyway). 

 

Are they electronic files? With Office Max you can send the files electronically and then do curbside pickup. That might help.

[ktgrok]

9 minutes ago, cintinative said:

I'm not sure if this will meet your needs or not, but a few years ago we bought an all in one color printer (ink jet) that has scanning/copying capability and can print photos, etc. and we also bought a Brother black and white laser printer. I mostly always print from the laser printer, but I needed something for scanning/copying and for occasional photos. It seems like it would be really expensive, but doing it this way was cheaper than trying to get a color laser printer with copying/scanning options.  I also wanted double sided printing out of the laser printer.  

Anyway, not sure if it answers your question, but for us, the solution was two printers, not one.  A pain for space, for sure.

Well, I mean, I am looking at two printers - one for cardstock and vinyl craft stuff, and one for everyday curriculum stuff. But even the everyday stuff is full color. I actually already have a black and white laser, but almost nothing I print is black and white. So I need a color printer that can handle volume jobs, and none that really meet my needs seem available other than HP ones that require their HP plus program. 

[ktgrok]

1 minute ago, TechWife said:

Are they electronic files? With Office Max you can send the files electronically and then do curbside pickup. That might help.

oh, I wil have to see if I can do curbside pick up, and what the cost is. 

[cintinative]

3 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

oh, I wil have to see if I can do curbside pick up, and what the cost is. 

If  you have a AAA membership, they have a discount card so you can get the copies for less 

[prairiewindmomma]

Printers have been difficult to find here since April 2020. I had a whole fiasco where ours died the day ds was in university finals and needed to print and photograph a final.  I finally ended up buying a color laser printer (only printer in stock). Toner is a big issue right now also. I just had to replace all 4 toner cartridges (close to $400!!!) and it took forever to find all of them. Each cartridge has a chip, and guess what are in short supply.....

Office Depot has curbside pickup. Staples can print for home delivery. FedEx has curbside or delivery.  Honestly, with the cost of printers, toner, and paper these days, some of the price dynamics have changed.

We're also just choosing to print a lot less here. 

[bibliophile]

I just went through this myself after having a color HP laser that no longer liked the generic toners. I feel your pain! I ended up buying two printers:

Brother HL-L6200DW USB, Wireless, Network Ready Black & White Laser Printer ~$300  (256MB memory, 30,000 page drum, fast duplex printing, and the paper tray holds an entire ream!)

Canon PIXMA G5020 MegaTank ~$250 (it came with large bottles of ink - THREE black and one of each color. I’ve only had it a week, but I think the ink will last a long time. Cheap refills.)

They were both in stock at Staples.

[kbutton]

3 hours ago, cintinative said:

I'm not sure if this will meet your needs or not, but a few years ago we bought an all in one color printer (ink jet) that has scanning/copying capability and can print photos, etc. and we also bought a Brother black and white laser printer. I mostly always print from the laser printer, but I needed something for scanning/copying and for occasional photos. It seems like it would be really expensive, but doing it this way was cheaper than trying to get a color laser printer with copying/scanning options.  I also wanted double sided printing out of the laser printer.  

Anyway, not sure if it answers your question, but for us, the solution was two printers, not one.  A pain for space, for sure.

This is exactly what we do, and our printers are both Brother printers. The only thing about the ink jet that is a small pain is that it needs the heads cleaned fairly often if you aren't printing pretty consistently, but they machine does it itself when you tell it to. 

[ktgrok]

16 minutes ago, bibliophile said:

I just went through this myself after having a color HP laser that no longer liked the generic toners. I feel your pain! I ended up buying two printers:

Brother HL-L6200DW USB, Wireless, Network Ready Black & White Laser Printer ~$300  (256MB memory, 30,000 page drum, fast duplex printing, and the paper tray holds an entire ream!)

 ~$250 (it came with large bottles of ink - THREE black and one of each color. I’ve only had it a week, but I think the ink will last a long time. Cheap refills.)

They were both in stock at Staples.

unfortunately the canon mega tank doesn't do cardstock in any real thickness. I really want one of them to do cardstock, and the other to be color as well, but fast and good for volume printing.  

[ktgrok]

I found a Canon one that does heavy cardstock, made for crafting and such, does wider format, borderless, etc, but the one place I found it has "no returns" on it. Um, no. 

[ktgrok]

Going to get a cup of coffee and look some more. And make sure whatever I look at has ink actually available, since laser toner cartridges seem impossible to find!!! 

[Katy]

There are online businesses that will print for you, and I think both Office Max & Staples will give a discount for an HSLDA membership too. I haven’t tried either in years, but I’ve seen moms discuss that on YouTube curriculum reviews. I’ve been ordering printed curriculum lately to avoid the same issue. 

[Arcadia]

55 minutes ago, bibliophile said:

I just went through this myself after having a color HP laser that no longer liked the generic toners. I feel your pain! I ended up buying two printers:

We had a Brother inkjet that won’t take generic toners after a firmware update. Our HP multifunctional laser would print in black if the color cartridges are low. We are purposely not updating the firmware for that HP.  My husband bought four HP black cartridges for our laser when they were on sale because we usually print in black so we still have spare cartridges.  

[ktgrok]

At this point I'm realizing all printers are a racket, lol. 

It's like the purposely look at what features you would want, and then remove one of those when they make a printer. 

[TheReader]

1 hour ago, ktgrok said:

At this point I'm realizing all printers are a racket, lol. 

It's like the purposely look at what features you would want, and then remove one of those when they make a printer. 

This is the one thing that stops me actually printer shopping. Aside from holding me hostage with the toner, my printer really does do all the things I need it to.