to be fair, we use the scanning side way more. as someone whose wife has needed an emergency PDF of double sided sheet music the tray feed is a lifesaver
these articles are the only ethical uses of AI i've ever witnessed...pushing back against the enshittification of google search by giving it a big wet turd to chew on
color laser exists, but while it's been a while since i serviced those machines i bet they are still *not* affordable for a random person who isn't operating a kinko's or whatever
Do you NEED inkjet, specifically? Total cost of ownership for a laser printer (even a color laser printer!) is much less than that of an inkjet. I have a Brother monochrome, which does everything I need. Once my wife finally realizes how expensive changing inkjet ink is, I'll get her a color laser.
So many times, invariably something I just need to sign and return, but my home printer holds the doc hostage until I perform elaborate upgrade or order more ink after re-confirming my acct., etc. Then--is this a hammer I see before me?--I walk to my local library and print the mfer.
pretty much any laser printer. inket is overpriced garbage. like cheap but so many problems because of it and the ink is like the razor blade pricing model.
Adding to the other recs here, I currently have a B&W/toner printer from Brother, and fully plan on staying with them when I update to an inkjet. They're reliable and they don't seem to play the same games other manufacturers do.
My wife has an ecotank too.
If you print too dark, it sometimes leaves spots, but usually it's fine.
Not sure if it's a widespread issue, paper issue, or what, but it's subscription-free.
We've been using the same Samsung color Laser printer for 12 yrs and every time it just works I'm astonished.
Would be nice to have an ink jet for photos but I know that'll lead to being angry at a printer again and I'm not ready to end this time of peace. Until then, we use Walgreens.
Nice! Luckily Snapfish is still around and is dirt cheap for photos! The last inkjet printer I had circa 2011 went the way of Office Space…I just could not contain my rage lol
If you must have color, Epson eco tank printers are the ones to buy. They're more expensive than other inkjet printers, but that's because they make their money off of selling the printer rather than through evil ink cartridge DRM/subscriptions
I got my Epson Ecotank at Costco, and it's the only printer in my life I haven't hated. The ink lasts forever, and at Costco they even give you a free huge extra bottle of black ink. It's also alarmingly fast. And it's so easy to set up, and to print from your phone.
Lauren, if you want a printer that doesn’t have its ink cartridge dry up or get clogged just buy a laser jet printer. I have a basic HP model laser jet and it only prints black and white but it NEVER FAILS to put out what I need. The ink cartridges last a long time.
I have a thrifted H,P, (I know...) but realized I could buy ink in bulk on ebay and refill the cartridge via syringe to save $$$ and it works well! I keep it completely disconnected from the internet just in case though
Do you need color? If you just need B&W for documents, there's a cheap brother laser printer that just does printing and nothing else. L2405 is the one I have
I can say don’t get this one. Color photo quality is pretty abysmal. And now that it’s out of yellow, it won’t let me print even though it has plenty of black. Also printing from the native iOS print interface takes is weirdly slow. Like minutes per page. I have to use their app
uhhh i'm not a good judge of that, personally, so i threw together a photo featuring cmyk plus rgb squares.
pardon the horrific head alignment; i swear it's not normally this bad. original vs photo taken by iphone se in direct sunlight vs the scanner. printer is using the oem ink.
this is super helpful, thank you! i think for my needs i am gonna have to spend a bit extra. really appreciate the epson ink tank suggestion still, i had no idea these existed
There’s a very cool polaroid style printer by kodak that prints small glossy photo prints Lauren. Both my girlfriend and I have one. It prints out 2”x3” photos of great quality.
The real question is which one has the least evil cartridges... that's how they get you. Could be a saintly printer and BOOM cartridges cost more that the printer and take an orphan foot to get the Cyan.
I know everyone was shouting "Brother laser! Brother laser!" but I've had a Brother color inkjet/scanner combo for about eight years now, I refill it with cheapo ink off Amazon, and it keeps plugging along
the need to print a handful of things over the course of a year and not needing to buy new ink because your existing supply evaporated in the last 8 months
Let us know how it is. I have read in all the tech news those folks recommending Brother. But it's all about if you can use/refill your own ink. Printer companies don't make $ selling printers.
Comments
I wanna print glossy full camera roll
The inkjet way
I have noticed it's starting to leave spots of ink which I do need to look into to make sure it's not leaking but I doubt it's a widespread issue.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/2/24117976/best-printer-2024-home-use-office-use-labels-school-homework
https://www.theverge.com/23642073/best-printer-2023-brother-laser-wi-fi-its-fine
**BOOM** Absolutely.
If you print too dark, it sometimes leaves spots, but usually it's fine.
Not sure if it's a widespread issue, paper issue, or what, but it's subscription-free.
Would be nice to have an ink jet for photos but I know that'll lead to being angry at a printer again and I'm not ready to end this time of peace. Until then, we use Walgreens.
https://www.costco.com/epson-ecotank-et-2850-all-in-one-inkjet-printer-special-edition-with-bonus-black-ink-bottle.product.100851752.html
here's one of the 57 videos I watched before buying: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6MTsoqsynQ
Laser! Color, while you're at it.
Ink printers are scum and they eat your money.
Do yourself a favor, pay the $400 for a Brother color laser. Yes, it's the size of a microwave oven.
But when you get a whole year out of one set of toner cartridges, you'll understand.
big tanks of ink last a long time, good print quality, supports printing from phones and ipads
for general printing, cheap brother laser always wins
pardon the horrific head alignment; i swear it's not normally this bad. original vs photo taken by iphone se in direct sunlight vs the scanner. printer is using the oem ink.
two things she clearly already took into account for her use case!