Octopus Overlords

I need a new home printer. It would connect to a desktop and laptop computers via USB and/or wireless. I need it for the occasional printing (mostly B&W), scanning pictures, and the occasional photocopy. I would prefer something that is not going to kill me in new cartridge prices and the total price is close to $200. I have access to a Costco membership if needed.

Here's one article I found on the subject.

You want the printer I use my friend. The Brother HL-L2380DW

You cant go wrong with a Brother brand printer. And laser is the way no matter what brand you pick. Mine set itself up wirelessly and all. Love it. I think Amazon has it for $139



EDIT: Yes Amazon does have it for $139.68 ...Forgot to add I photocopy a lot with it. But keep in mind this one is B/W only. Color is a little more expensive.

I have whatever the wireless Brother model was several years ago and it's been great, especially because it's perfectly happy with cheap generic toner cartridges. It's especially good at feeding labels, too.

My new one - Brother MFC-J470DW - Wireless Inkjet All-in-One w Auto Document Feeder MFCJ470DW

$84.82

Isgrimnur wrote:My new one - Brother MFC-J470DW - Wireless Inkjet All-in-One w Auto Document Feeder MFCJ470DW

$84.82

Do you have a preferred ink cartridge source and brand?

I'm still on the ones that came with it. I don't print enough to make seeking off-brand cartridges a priority.

Isgrimnur wrote:I'm still on the ones that came with it. I don't print enough to make seeking off-brand cartridges a priority.

Inkjet cartridges do go bad if not regularly used.

I have a Canon multi-function printer. I just search Amazon for cartridges, and buy whatever is cheap.

I have two Epsons. They use the same carts, but one's a two-cassette feeder while the other is a home.

Gah. One of my Epsons gave up the ghost, and it's NOT the one I expected. Turns out the bigger "heavier-duty" dual tray WF3540 was the one that died with a 0x9D error. Research online shows that this means the waste ink tank is full. Okay, so it is.

Bought one off Amazon, arrived naked (not in bag or in Epson box)

Put it in, did not work. Leave scathing review that was censored by Amazon.

Ordered another one off Office Depot.com. Took them a week to arrive (Thanksgiving weekend). This one is in an Epson box...

Put it in, did not work. STILL gave the 0x9D error.

WTF. That's like almost $30 wasted.

Tried it about 4-5 times. Concludes that printer is dead.

Called Epson support. After the typical "please remove power and unplug" and all that, nothing. They told me to contact a local repair shop, out of warranty.

Call repair shop: $50 just to diagnose the problem (though they'll apply the $50 to the repair bill if I want it fixed there).

The current version of the printer is only $100. (WF3620, I think it was)

FWIW, I used "Blake Printing Supply" ink I got off Amazon, got a bundle of 4 hi-cap black, 2 magenta 2 cyan 2 yellow for price of roughly ONE genuine Epson hi-cap black. Works just fine.

My Cannon PIXMA 3-in-1 died after what seemed to be a minor paper jam some months ago. I was getting fed up on how often I had to replace ink cartridges anyway, and never really used the scanning function.

After some research, I got Cannon's lowest priced home laser printer:

It's great, fast and painless to use, holds a large number of pages if not as many as hulking behemoth office laser printers. Best Buy borked my order for an extra toner/drum replacement and sent me two, so I think I'm set for a while.

For the occasional photo-printing, I got this cool little wireless Prinhome printer (mainly meant for printing off iOS or Android via app) via Sharper Image:
*In this case "wireless" means it can create its own wireless connection you can connect with via smartphone or tablet (and can still connect to PC via USB or print off a memory card if necessary). It spits out a photo in under 50 seconds and gets about 60 prints per modest price photo ribbon.

So outside of scanning, I feel like with these couple small-footprint gizmos, I can do the occasional printing I used to with the 3-in-1 much faster, with way less ink cartridge expenses. These both also seem virtually paper jam-proof, and that was a constant issue with my 3-in-1 over the years.

My Cannon PIXMA 3-in-1 died after what seemed to be a minor paper jam some months ago. I was getting fed up on how often I had to replace ink cartridges anyway, and never really used the scanning function.

After some research, I got Cannon's lowest priced home laser printer:
https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/port ... s/lbp6030w

It's great, fast and painless to use, holds a large number of pages if not as many as hulking behemoth office laser printers. Best Buy borked my order for an extra toner/drum replacement and sent me two, so I think I'm set for a while.

For the occasional photo-printing, I got this cool little wireless Prinhome printer (mainly meant for printing off iOS or Android via app) via Sharper Image:
http://pringo.hiti.com/product/prinhome
*In this case "wireless" means it can create its own wireless connection you can connect with via smartphone or tablet (and can still connect to PC via USB or print off a memory card if necessary). It spits out a photo in under 50 seconds and gets about 60 prints per modest price photo ribbon.

So outside of scanning, I feel like with these couple small-footprint gizmos, I can do the occasional printing I used to with the 3-in-1 much faster, with way less ink cartridge expenses. These both also seem virtually paper jam-proof, and that was a constant issue with my 3-in-1 over the years.

i swore off inkjet printers about 15 years ago and have never looked back. i thought about getting a laser, but i rarely ever want hard copies of anything. tickets for events (and recently, my FCC license) were the only things i've needed in the past years. everything else gets written down on scratch paper or in planner.

Isg's brother recommendation is still working for me though I don't have to use it often.

I haven't had good luck with Brother printers. We have a few where I work that have gone all wonky - one has to be unplugged over and over and over until it will finally boot up, and even then it's a 50/50 shot as to whether or not it'll actually let you scan to a network share. My wife has bought a couple and the first failed spectacularly after a couple years while the second is still going strong.

HP printers, though, seem like they're built to last. I've never had any act out on me like Brother printers do - and most of them run strong for over 6 years with little (if any) servicing. Maybe a roller kit and fuser if it's high volume. I've pulled ancient HP printers out from storage, blown off a thick layer of dust, and connected them to being up and running easily (the emergency emergency backup printer).

No problems with either of my Brother printers. Love them. My Epson inkjet always dried out because I use a printer so little. And ink was high. Brother sent me a free toner / drum with my first printer.

Printers are really hit and miss, IMHO. I've had all sorts of printers. I've had Samsung laser MFCs, Epson MFCs, a couple Dells, a couple Sharp Inkjets, and more than a few HPs.

HP Personal laser (6p?) worked great until it won't feed without jam, and already used the repair kit once.

HP 500c -- the original, works still, if I ever want to dig it out

HP MFC (forgot what model) after a year and a half, just won't feed anything any more

Sharp inkjet fax: great little printer / fax with refillable tank, until again, won't initialize any more. Bought two more, same fate.

Dell laser: still sitting in back room, too big to leave on desk somewhere

Epson: already explained one died earlier, other one still going

Samsung MFC: fuser died once during and once after warranty. Bought replacement (same model) same fate a year later.

Samsung personal laser: works, sold it to a friend cheap as I got it for only $50, exotic cartridge

I also like to do cost effectiveness checks. A cheap printer with expensive ink can run a lot more over time than a good printer running on less expensive toner. Price per page and expected print volume per month are good ways to find out if it's worth it for a printer.

Paingod wrote:I also like to do cost effectiveness checks. A cheap printer with expensive ink can run a lot more over time than a good printer running on less expensive toner. Price per page and expected print volume per month are good ways to find out if it's worth it for a printer.

Also: a printer that likes generic cartridges will save you a fortune over one that doesn't. My Brother laser printer is perfectly happy with refilled toner carts at about $12 apiece. Wife's HP laser printer chokes if it doesn't get $40-ish brand-new carts. Since a cart lasts me 6 months the cost of toner is trivial.

Just over a year after I got it (IE - a couple of months out of warranty) my printer died. I have never had so many headaches and hassles as I have with this piece of shit.

Never again an Epson. :middlefinger:

I have an HP Laserjet 1012 that I've owned since 2003 - it's a workhorse and has performed beautifully for me now going on 13 years. After two weeks of trying, I am throwing in the towel - no matter what I try (everything I've found online) I cannot get it to work in Win10. The fact that it's going for $200+ online reinforces my opinion that it's a great printer and the idea that it doesn't work in Win10 is totally BS. I might actually keep a legacy computer around just so I can print from it.

We've got an HP LaserJet 1300 of about the same vintage, the thing is definitely a workhorse. Haven't had any issues printing to it from Windows 10 but that may be because it is a local printer on my wife's Windows 7 desktop and I get to it via the network...

Yeah, I'm trying to add it via USB and it just refuses to work. Makes absolutely no sense...I mean, other than HP isn't making any money off the fact that I'm using a 13 year old printer of theirs (that works great). I mean, I understand why they don't want to support the device with updated drivers, but it's such a waste to toss a perfectly good printer.

Smoove_B wrote:Yeah, I'm trying to add it via USB and it just refuses to work. Makes absolutely no sense...I mean, other than HP isn't making any money off the fact that I'm using a 13 year old printer of theirs (that works great). I mean, I understand why they don't want to support the device with updated drivers, but it's such a waste to toss a perfectly good printer.

Have you tried installing the Laserjet 3055 PCL5 driver (which seems weird given that the 3055 is an all-in-one, but they say it works).

Oh yeah, that was one of the first. He said it took about ~45 minutes for the Windows update searching part. I forced it to quit after 3 hours of it just searching with nothing actually updated.

EDIT: Holy crap. I went to the HP page for the 3055 and they have a 1.5 MB download for a USB driver. I installed that, and now it works like magic. Amazing!

My Lexmark laser printer from 2004 died yesterday, so I'm looking for a replacement.

I'd like a monochrome laser printer. Ideally, it would have an integrated scanner, but this is not a necessity. My old one was connected via USB, so I can live with that, but something that was visible on the home network would be nice.

Are suggestions today any different than 5 years ago?

I have a Brother 2270DW. Was under $100 and has been a workhorse. Duplex laser, cartridges are cheap and last. USB, wireless, or Ethernet. Wireless setup is surprisingly easy.

It looks like it's discontinued but I'd recommend whatever the new version is.

Probably the Brother MFC-L2750DW, according to Wirecutter, if you want to scan and fax and all that. But that's $250-300. Laser only would be quite a bit cheaper.

I have a Brother that must be closing in on 10 years old and Wife has one that's 4 or 5, which makes me wonder why we even have two wireless printers. But we do, and will until one dies. I don't think you can go wrong with Brother. There's a good chance that they will outlive us.

Sadly, those Brothers are out of stock everywhere. Looks like they might come back in November. I'm now looking at HP Neverstop 1202w All-in-One. Any horror stories?

In Nov 2020 I got the Brother MFC-J995DW
It says comes with a years supply of ink.


well its been 10 months, and I have not run out of ink. We are occasional users, and really like it.
First thing was, all our computers recognized it straight over wireless. The windows machines and the chromebook. no drivers, no wires. Search for printer, found printer, printer works. It was that easy.
It does copies also, and scans using windows scan tool. My old printer had to hook to the wire to scan, but this one can scan wireless.

Looks like it can do other stuff like print photos from a memory card, but I didn't try that, cause we just use phone camera.

I haven't had a single tiny bit of trouble at all.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Thu Sep 16, 2021 10:04 am I have a Brother 2270DW. Was under $100 and has been a workhorse. Duplex laser, cartridges are cheap and last. USB, wireless, or Ethernet. Wireless setup is surprisingly easy.

I have the Brother MFC-L2700DW and have had it for years. Still using the cartridge that came with it. (Albeit, I don't print very much.) I have had issues with getting WiFi setup in the past. But, honestly don't remember what the problems were or what I did to address them. I know I haven't had an issue with that in a while. I had an internet outage briefly recently and had to set it up again and had no issues.

My cart ran out in early 2019 and I ordered a generic off Amazon for $12. Still going. Think its good for at least 1200 pages.

What is the current wisdom? My 8-year-old Epson is starting to have issues, and I'm going to need to replace it soon - probably before I have to feed it more ink.

I'm not a high-volume printer. While I print the occasional document that needs to be mailed in somewhere, about 90% of the printing I do is reference sheets or occasional projects that involve high quality color printing on cardstock or photo paper. And even that isn't an every day (or even every week) thing. It's rare that I print more than a few pages at a time, and probably print less than a hundred pages in most years.

What I want is a cheap printer that can handle that, is reliable, and has a acceptable printing cost. I needs to be wireless, and preferably have basic scanning capability.

But I'd also prefer something from a company that doesn't make me think of the term 'corporate overlords', with underhanded tactics to try and get me to base my lifestyle on their products (IE - blocking or sabotaging third party cartridges, ink that only comes in 'unbalanced' sets so that you end up having to buy full sets to replace one color, selling ink for almost the price of the printer, requiring a subscription, fake repair messages, programmed 'self-brick' timers etc.)

Definitely NOT an HP, which now requires an ink subscription.

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I don't know if you can find something satisfactory in your budget, but we bought an HP color laser printer almost three years ago, it's turned out to be one of the best tech purchases I've made in a while. The text printing is the typical great laser quality, and color images are impressive as well We don't use it heavily, but we're still running on the original included toner cartridges. We've been getting a 'low toner' message for the black for more than a year, but it just keeps going and we have a replacement already for the day it stops working. If I were still using the Epson inkjet that we replaced, I probably would have had to replace the ink cartridges at least once, at a cost of $85-100 for a set, regardless of use just because they dry out over time (or the printer decides I'm due to buy more). While the up-front cost is higher, there's no doubt in mind that I'm saving money over time.

Yeah, HP and Epson are at the top of the 'never again' list. They're both underhanded and consumer-hostile.

Have you considered a printer with an ink tank system? Cheaper in the long run to operate because the ink doesn't dry out (oil based rather than alcohol based). The fact that it's not a high-volume printer would fit into the ideal use cases of ink tank based printers. We've been very happy with the print quality of ours.

Brother. Monochrome laser. Even an all in one like mine. Cant go wrong. Low cost laser printer. Works great. Toner and such are low cost too. In fact Brother may just give you an extra one like they did me. Last time I needed to replace the toner it was like $12 on Amazon for a generic brand that fit and worked the same with something like 2200 pages. I cant recall now.

Never dries out or clogs as its a laser and toner printer. Use it as little or as much as you like. No heat up time but like 2 sec after days of not using. Perfect. Can print both sides too and copy like a Xerox.

Totally wireless too.

Mine is years old though so probably better and cheaper models from Brother out there.But mine is a HL-L2380DW series printer.

EDIT: It cost me $158 in 2015 new.

EDIT2: Looks like printers are more expensive than they used to be by a good margin. You can still get a simple basic laser printer for about $150. But an all in one that I got for that price is now $250 range....or more.

A simple printer.
Brother HL-L2350DW Monochrome Compact Laser Printer with Wireless and Duplex Printing @Walmart $150

An all in one.
Brother MFCL2750DW Monochrome All-in-One Wireless Laser Printer, Duplex Copy & Scan @Amazon $270....ouch

The Beother I mention up thread (Brother 2270DW) is still working fine.

Similar use case as BH, printing out forms that require hard copy, stuff for the kids, and envelopes. Maybe a hundred or so pages a year. Toner lasts forever and it always stays connected to wifi so it prints when we need it.

Edit: doesn't have a scanner but we use a standalone flatbed and a document scanner. Have never had luck with printer combos.