Are cheap all-in-one printers fine?

[ThankYouJack]

My old Canon Pixma printer still works fine but Canon is no longer updating the drivers for new operating systems. That and it now seems like it eats ink which cost $50 for black and white and color. So I just picked up a HP DekJet 2725 on sale at BestBuy for $25. I figure the wireless feature will be nice, the drivers should be supported for many years to come, hopefully the ink is overall a bit cheaper. We don't print/scan that often -- is this a no brainer or should I have looked into something a bit higher end? Also for ink refills, do you just go with the brand name or are other options just as good?

[Rdytoretire]

Lots of threads on this topic. Most seem to go with B&W Brother laser printers. I have one myself and am very happy with its operation for my light usage. The price of these printers has gone up quite a bit since Covid appeared and many are working from home. I still feel that they are a good value. Laser jets don't clog up like inkjets.

https://www.google.com/search?sitesearc ... q=printers


Edit: This is the model I purchased.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0764 ... UTF8&psc=1

[runner3081]

My all in one Canon B+W laser has been going strong for 10 years.

Only needed 3 toners.

[randybobandy]

A bit late to be asking. The cheap all in one HP I bought 8 years ago is steadily going downhill. Not bad for how cheap it was. Hope it treats you well.

--Randy Bo Bandy

[nalor511]

My old Canon Pixma printer still works fine but Canon is no longer updating the drivers for new operating systems. That and it now seems like it eats ink which cost $50 for black and white and color. So I just picked up a HP DekJet 2725 on sale at BestBuy for $25. I figure the wireless feature will be nice, the drivers should be supported for many years to come, hopefully the ink is overall a bit cheaper. We don't print/scan that often -- is this a no brainer or should I have looked into something a bit higher end? Also for ink refills, do you just go with the brand name or are other options just as good?

My $20 hp2xxx died after 20 pages. I went with a canon laser for $60. No regrets. Never again, an inkjet

[stan1]

Unless there is a huge technological leap, I will never buy another inkjet printer. We print very little other than tax returns and occasionally a coupon. No need for color printing. On the very rare occasions we want to print a photo we use an online service. Life is too short to deal with inkjet printers.

[mmmodem]

We have a $40 brother multifunction brother inkjet printer. Literally, if it dies I'll just buy another one. It dones duplex. printing. It faxes. There's a flatbed scanner and a sheet feed scanner. We prefer printing in color. I know I'm not going to get to quality at this price point so we but generic ink. No refills, though. That leaks and killed my last HP. We print maybe 10 pages a month. Not a lot.

[David Jay]

One more vote for Laser. With so little use, my inkjet was always missing lines and I was using up all the ink clearing out the nozzles.

Dry toner in the laser keeps “forever” - read comment by someone was replacing the toner cartridge for the first time after 7 years.

[snackdog]

We don’t print much at all so don’t own a printer. The local copy shop will print a few pages for free for me usually.

[anon_investor]

Lots of threads on this topic. Most seem to go with B&W Brother laser printers. I have one myself and am very happy with its operation for my light usage. The price of these printers has gone up quite a bit since Covid appeared and many are working from home. I still feel that they are a good value. Laser jets don't clog up like inkjets.

https://www.google.com/search?sitesearc ... q=printers


Edit: This is the model I purchased.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0764 ... UTF8&psc=1

+1 on a brother all in one laser printer. I have had one for about 7 years and still going strong.

[Outer Marker]

I just picked up a HP DekJet 2725 on sale at BestBuy for $25. I figure the wireless feature will be nice, the drivers should be supported for many years to come, hopefully the ink is overall a bit cheaper. We don't print/scan that often -- is this a no brainer or should I have looked into something a bit higher end? Also for ink refills, do you just go with the brand name or are other options just as good?

I have an HP 3830 which has been going strong for 5 years. You'll love the wireless feature. I buy decent, well-reviewed generic refills on Amazon that print just fine.

[yatesd]

I've never been disappointed with the HP Pro printers you can get at Sam's club or Costco for around $200.

Advantages:
- low cost of operation (compared to cheaper versions)
- duplex
- Nice duplex capable scanners
- Decent paper capacity
- Faster

I also buy the XL (large capacity cartridge) value packs from Sam's or Costco. Overall pleased with what I get.

I see this version even has a single pass scanner (sensor on top and bottom so scans both sides without flipping paper over). Faster, more reliable, easier on originals.
https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-offic ... ne-printer

[willthrill81]

We've been using a Canon MG3500 for the last six years, and it's worked quite well. Ink cartridges are a little spendy, but we don't print much, so it works out well.

TMK, inkjet printers are cheap to buy but pricier to print with. Laser printers are pricier to buy but cheaper to print with.

[Afty]

The main problem with cheap (inkjet) printers is the cost of ink. The business model is like razors -- give away the printer and gouge you on the ink. So they will play dirty tricks like break compatibility with third party ink cartridges, make the printer stop working even when there is some ink left, etc. There's also the fact that ink dries out even when you're not using it. So even if you print very little, you'll be replacing ink cartridges regularly.

Short version: prefer laser printers, even if they cost more initially.

[02nz]

The main problem with cheap (inkjet) printers is the cost of ink. The business model is like razors -- give away the printer and gouge you on the ink. So they will play dirty tricks like break compatibility with third party ink cartridges, make the printer stop working even when there is some ink left, etc. There's also the fact that ink dries out even when you're not using it. So even if you print very little, you'll be replacing ink cartridges regularly.

Short version: prefer laser printers, even if they cost more initially.

Yes, this is generally true. But HP's Instant Ink plans (OP's model is compatible) are actually a good deal for those who only print occasionally. There's a free plan at 10 (or 15?) pages per month, and other tiers available based on number of pages/mo. You pay for pages printed, not for ink used by cleaning cycles, and color/B&W count the same. There's also a rollover feature. Cartridges are mailed to you before you run out.

[JohnFiscal]

For my printing, I prefer using a cheaper black and white HP LaserJet that my wife picked up some years ago.

But I use her cheap all-in-one Brother machine all the time for easy scans of documents direct to pdf files. I do this much more often than printing my own documents.

[notBobToo]

+1 vote for mono all in one laser printer.

I have a Brother MFC-L2710DW which prints seamlessly via wireless from all of our Apple devices (Mac mini, iPad, iPhones). Scanner feature works well too, from the built-in app on the Mac mini.

The only thing I really miss is printing 8x10 and 4x6 color photos. But I will never go back to color inkjet.

[notinuse]

Another vote for laser. I got tired of inkjets years ago, so in 2005 I bought a Samsung B/W laser printer, supports PCL6 and Postscript. I'm still using it, 15 years later.

[Broken Man 1999]

Absolutely, cheap printers are just fine if you seldom need to print something. And, that is where I am.

I have a HP 3637 Deskjet I bought for less than $50. It prints, copies and scans, just what I need. It replaced the same model printer that I had to ditch because of my impatience trying to get something out of the paper feed path I had dropped something into. The original was also around $50.

Last time I ordered ink (black only) was February 9, 2018. My ink could have lasted even longer if a DD hadn't been working from our home while helping DW with her aftercare of her knee replacement. I am near needing more black ink, color almost full still. I buy the remanufactured ink cartridges on Amazon, no issues ever. XL cartridges last a very long time. Last time I ordered I used Jarbo brand.

If you do a lot of printing, a laser jet would be better from the ink cost standpoint.

OTOH, with my low volume printing needs, a laser jet would be a real overkill.

Broken Man 1999

[quantAndHold]

In general, the less you pay for the printer, the more you’ll pay for ink. At the low end, inkjet printers are basically disposable.

Like someone else posted up thread, we have a 10+ year old Samsung laser printer that I paid about $150 for. I buy a toner cartridge about once every three or four years. The only thing wrong with it is that HP bought Samsung’s printer business at some point, and stopped updating the drivers. There will come a day, probably fairly soon, where Apple will do an operating system update, and the printer will become a plastic and silicon doorstop. That will be a sad day, because it’s still a very nice printer.

[ThankYouJack]

Thanks all. I plan to try this one out, but will be tempted to get an all-in-one (scanner, printer, copier) laser printer next time. Only thing is I would want a color one so that along with the scanner could get pricey. But maybe with tech evolving the price will come down the next time I need one

[DiamondplateDave]

Two comments of mine, cut and pasted from a previous thread:
1. At one point I had an HP all-in-one inkjet. I also had a small laser jet, so I did most of my infrequent printing on the laser. I used the HP more often, for scanning various things. After a while, the HP ran out of its (expensive) ink. Which surprised me, since I hadn't printed much on it. I finally realized that every time I turned on the HP to scan something, it prepped itself to print-by pumping ink through the print heads to prime them, then wiping away the excess
2. If you have an iPhone, the Notes App will "scan" documents when you click on the camera icon at the bottom. Whether this will meet your needs or not, it's worth knowing about.

[lazydavid]

Unless there is a huge technological leap, I will never buy another inkjet printer. We print very little other than tax returns and occasionally a coupon. No need for color printing. On the very rare occasions we want to print a photo we use an online service. Life is too short to deal with inkjet printers.

Don't fall into the trap! I had long sworn off of InkJets, but decided to give another one a try about 8 years ago, based on advancements in general, and positively glowing reviews of the specific Epson WorkForce Pro model I chose. It was completely dead in 13 months, barely into its second set of (OE) ink cartridges. Replaced it with an Color laser MFP, and will never, ever, EVER look back again.

[valleyrock]

I think it partly depends on how often you're printing. If your printer will sit for days or weeks without use, those ink-jets just plum clog up. If you use it daily, a good ink-jet might be just fine. Laser printers can sit for months or longer without use, and won't clog, so that's my choice.

[7eight9]

I have a Brother MFC-J485DW. Purchased in March 2016 for $64.88 at Best Buy (tax included). I saw it recommended somewhere. It is a cheap inkjet color printer that scans and faxes. I buy generic ink on Amazon. The last time I bought ink it was $16.99 for ten cartridges (four black, two of red, blue and yellow). Do I like it? Not really. It jams more than I think is acceptable. Print quality is marginal. That said, these days all I'm trying to print is a recipe now and then and invoices for eBay purchases. It does that job. If it broke tomorrow I would buy a cheap laser printer. In my opinion you do get what you pay for in printers. If you can accept a few frustrations printing and lower quality then buy the cheap inkjet.

[calvin111]

+1 on brother laser B&W printer. You might find for $50 on blackfriday. They are high quality, prints very fast, no issues for last 5+ years. Cartridges are $10-$15 on amazon which can last 500+ pages. I highly recommend this instead of cheap ink jet printer etc...

[catpepper]

Definitely go for a laser printer if you're printing a lot. It's so much faster and toners last so much longer than ink as well. It doesn't smudge too.

[JBTX]

Such printers are vehicles for ink cartridge sales, which are outrageous. If you are adventurous you can go rogue and buy ink bulk and refill the cartridges as described in YouTube videos. Obviously not recommended by manufacturer.

[Ice-9]

This thread sounds like most Bogleheads only do occasional printing of text-only documents, and the suggestions above reflect that.

I enjoy working with Photoshop and occasionally print nice things from there, and my wife is a teacher with many neat projects for her students that often involve photos. We also make a fun family project out of making our own cards to mail out on some holidays. Not to mention we're going through our second adoption process and have had a lot of paperwork to print with that experience.

I had gone with Epson inkjets since the late 90s mostly due to habit and had been used to the expensive ink replacements for a long time. Got a deal on an HP Envy 7640 (all-in-one) three years ago and signed up for HP's Instant Ink subscription service. We get the longest lasting cartridges they offer, and the printer sends HP info when we're getting low so they can mail more. We recycle the old cartridges via mail for free. They have different levels and costs based on how much you expect to be printing, but even our heaviest months (100 to 200 pages) usually are covered by their $5/mo "Moderate Printing" plan. A couple times we've gone over the allotted number of pages and unused rollover pages and were simply charged an extra buck or two that month.

The amount we pay each year now with HP used to be paid multiple times a year for Epson ink, so we are pretty happy. Your mileage may vary.