I need advice on a replacement printer........ (1 Viewer)

[Spriddler]

......before I get blinded by science again by the techno-nerds at PC World (which is what happened last week so I escaped to lay down in a darkened room for an hour).

My 15 yr old HP inkjet printer/scanner/copier has finally given up the ghost. In addition I suspect (rightly or wrongly) that the ink cartridges dry out long before they have been used up. Is this a true assumption?
Do laser cartridges dry out over time?

I use it for single-sided one-off printing B&W and colour A4 documents from my laptop - maybe 6 pages a month max.
Scanning and photocopying A4 pages and scanning album paper photographs once in a blue moon.

I know that laser printers are more expensive than inkjet ones but I'm told that replacement laser cartridges are cheaper.
The initial cost is not critical as hopefully a new one would last maybe ten years but I'd hope to get something suitable for less than say, £150.

I could take the docs on a memory stick to a local stationery shop to be printed but it's inconvenient.

 

[AndyPK]

I recently bought an HP Envy 6000 and subscribe to HP Instant Ink - they send new cartridges depending on your usage (£1.99/month), and it works out cheaper than buying new cartridges when you run out, (or they dry up!) for me at least……
Have a look on the HP website…..

https://instantink.hpconnected.com/uk/en/l/

 

[Sunlovers]

Laser cartridges pretty much last an eternity on just text output and don't suffer drying out issues. Ink-jet sadly dries up in the nozzle plate, understandably. Often taking the ink-jet cartridge out and standing it on a wet kitchen towel padded up, can free up the nozzle holes, but you still need to run the cleaning program which just wastes your expensive aqueous ink. Search eBay for used HP lasers, you can get some absolute bargains for silly money which will more than do the job of the occasional printout.

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[Phill D]

I bought a HP deskjet for around £60 which you can hard wire or WiFi set up and £1.99 for ink cartridges.
I agree with AndyPK its a no brainer for low / occasional use.

 

[Mikeco]

My wife does a lot of printing doing her crafts and was costing a fortune in ink, however we bought an Epson eco tank one and it Works out a lot cheaper.

 

[Insider]

Yes inkjets tend to dry out with infrequent use. A laser won't dry out with infrequent use - the toner is already powder - so while laser is designed/better for higher volume compared to inkjet, in your case a laser might make sense. Entry levels ones like a brother hl1112 can be had for £60 in Argos!! Typically you get a cut down toner volume with new printers but at the volume you're using it should last for years!! However if you want to get a scanner with the laser then that will push the price up. Using a phone as a scanner is also potentially possible. The Google Drive app on an Android phone has the functionality built in. I went down a different route for when in the camper and use a surface pro and onenote. I put documents into onenote and can write on the screen for any notes I need. Not as good as paper but a lot tidier.

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[JJ]

A printer?

Do such things still exist?


JJ

 

[tonyidle]

I recently bought an HP Envy 6000 and subscribe to HP Instant Ink - they send new cartridges depending on your usage (£1.99/month), and it works out cheaper than buying new cartridges when you run out, (or they dry up!) for me at least……
Have a look on the HP website…..

https://instantink.hpconnected.com/uk/en/l/

Me too. Works a treat.

 

[icantremember]

I currently have a HP Laser Jet Pro MFP M281dw which I find great, colour, double siderd, scanner etc.

The toner cartridges are not cheap but last for years if not getting much use so no wastage.

My previous laser printer was also HP and very good, but never the same after I tried "compatible" tonerso now only use original cartridges.

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[h1ghway1]

I bought a Canon PIXMA...it's the most infuriating piece of kit I have ever owned..a laser next time.

 

[Jev88]

Canon TS5050 - ignored the wireless feature and plug in via USB. Ink available with 5 colours for £6 from fleabay.
Proved to be very reliable and super cheap ink.

 

[Stealaway]

HP LaserJet printers seem to last forever, as does the ink. Even a second hand one will be loads better than any inkjet.
Mine is colour and two sided for about £300 but I know I'll never need another

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[SteveJ]

I brought a Samsung C460 all in one laser quite a few years ago (at least 8 years), for the very reason that you are questioning. I had an old officejet all in one inkjet, but was probably only getting 30 or 40 pages per cartridge due to the fact that the ink kept drying out. I used more ink running the printhead cleaning routine then I did actually printing. I print on average probably less then 20 pages a month now, and if I wasn't printing pet insurance claim forms every month it would be less then that. I have replaced the original black cartridge twice since a brought the printer, and the various colour cartridges once each. Not sure what the equivalent would be these days as HP brought Samsung's printing division a few years ago, probably something like the HP MFP 179. If you do go down the laser route take a good look at the per page cost of printing, HP printers always seem to be very expensive per page compared to some of the other makes, even with compatible cartridges. From a business perspective most big HP printers are pretty bulletproof, we used to run a print farm that had 40 big laserjets, running most of the business day non stop. Each one lasted years before starting to be uneconomical to repair, well beyond their recommended daily cycles and well beyond the expected life cycles. Not sure if the build quality of their home/small printers is as good, but with the level of printing you are talking about most of the decent brand lasers would probably last longer then the cartridges would be available. Take a look at somewhere like Printerland.co.uk for an idea of what is available and printing costs.

 

[Spriddler]

Thanks for the replies.
I've ordered one of these as the usage and cost of cartridges for my old HP inkjet printer (which was left behind by a girlfriend maybe 15 years ago) wasn't a lot and this one is conveniently sized for my working area.
If it isn't suitable I shan't lose any sleep over it at £69 as I can always get something else, but I'm sure it'll do all that I want and my old HP was fine for 15+ years until it became temperamental.

Amazon product ASIN B08YRSRNN5

 

[kevenh]

Too late to the discussion!

A lot of printers are cheap to buy but have expensive ink refillls.
Some printers are dearer but with more economical ink.

Epson eco tank is an example: https://www.epson.co.uk/for-home/ecotank

My next printer would follow that model
Too often I have to waste ink cleaning heads to get a decent print out << which is doubly wasteful as you print summat & see the banding and realise you've to clean jet heads!

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[Spriddler]

Too late to the discussion!

A lot of printers are cheap to buy but have expensive ink refillls.
Some printers are dearer but with more economical ink.

Thanks, but I've considered the cost differentials at length (and I've had to clean inkjet cartridges a couple of times) but for me the eco system cost saving and not having to replace cartridges isn't a deciding factor and I'd still have to top up the eco system ink reservoirs.

 

[SteveJ]

The Epson ecotank printers still need to have printer head cleaning done, especially if you are not using the printer regularly, and it uses a lot of ink if you have to run the Powerclean function if the ink has started dry in the ink tubes. A friend has one of the A3 photo quality ones, beautiful quality prints but if he doesn't print for a couple of weeks he has to go through the usual head clean rigmarole every time, especially as he is doing photographic prints on photo quality media.
It's the usual horses for courses, lasers don't give really high quality prints if you want photo quality, but the toner is good for years. Inkjets give great quality photo prints, especially the higher end models on quality media, but they do need to be used regularly otherwise you can end up using more ink in cleaning cycles then you do actually printing.

 

[mitzimad]

6 prints a week i would buy the cheapest one you can in argos

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[Riverbankannie]

I have a set of HP instant inks which they sent when I signed up recently with new printer. I never got the printer to work, it just would not stay connected to my wifi even though the lights and symbols on it suggested was connected. After 2 sessions with HP technical support, they told me to return the printer. I don’t like the way it has to talk to HP before it will even think about printing. It did however spew out reams of information pages quickly using up my allowance.
I have gone back to Canon pixma, they don’t last long but at least they work from app on ipad or from usb on laptop.
Only trouble is that I could not find a new model with same cartridges so have lots unused.

I also imagine the the set of instant ink sent by HP that they don’t want back, is somehow tied to me by registration of the returned printer, however, if anyone wants them?

 

[the1andonly]

Obviously to late but i have a hp mw15 printer a A4 laser jet marketed the smallest lightest laserjet. Currently £80-100. This also runs off my msw inverter in the van. The wife can run of 50 sheets at a time to none for 6 months it just works.

 

[ambulancekidd]

Our Canon Pixxma is used once in a blue moon & is the only printer that I've ever owned that the ink never seems to dry out.
It will run out occasionally, but even if used once a year, it fires up perfectly.

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[Spriddler]

I've had my HP 6020e (£69) as recommended on here for 4 months now and have produced around 100 A4 pages, photocopied and scanned docs and it works well. The replacement ink service is first class.

 

[raysalaugh]

I had instant inks on our last HP printer, £1.99 a month for nearly 2 years in which time it only used one set of inks.
The quality of the printing deteriorated over time so decided to cancel the plan, HP reacted by stopping my printer
from working, so I won't be buying anything HP again.

 

[Brains]

I had instant inks on our last HP printer, £1.99 a month for nearly 2 years in which time it only used one set of inks.
The quality of the printing deteriorated over time so decided to cancel the plan, HP reacted by stopping my printer
from working, so I won't be buying anything HP again.

That is worth knowing, that they shut down your printer if you don't buy their ink.

I recently bought an HP 3760 printer for the van for £50
(we run a business so need to the occasional printouts whilst on the move)

It's a good small portable printer for the occasional amount we have used it for so far, but thanks for the advice, I will not be signing up for the replacement inks at £1.99 PCM

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[Guigsy]

I got a HP OfficeJet Pro 9019 a year ago. I only print a few pages per week, but I do need to scan and print 2 sided documents for work every now and again. I was going to get a laser, but the ones with duplex scanning were considerably bigger and lots more expensive. Sure, I'd probably never have to pay for inks again, but I can subscribe to HP InstantInk for a decade before I'd make back the cost.

I previously had a Canon all-in-one for about 8 years that's similar to the HP in features. The HP seems to chew through far less ink on cleaning cycles than the Canon ever did. So previously, when the printers wasted ink on cleaning, the manufactures sold more ink. Now they are pushing subscription models and ink costs them more money. Ink consumption is now magically reduced...

 

[cliffanger]

I recently bought an HP Envy 6000 and subscribe to HP Instant Ink - they send new cartridges depending on your usage (£1.99/month), and it works out cheaper than buying new cartridges when you run out, (or they dry up!) for me at least……
Have a look on the HP website…..

https://instantink.hpconnected.com/uk/en/l/

I’ve used HP Instant Ink for about 3 or 4 years now. Absolutely brilliant.

 

[TheBig1]

I got sick and tired of printers packing up. Dried out print heads, clogs in the system or just random failures. So invested in an epson eco tank a few years back. We can go a week or two without printing then need to print best part of a ream of paper over a few days. Just does what it says on the tin reliably and cheaply. Just top up the tanks with bottles of ink as it gets low without running out

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[xsparks]

I use an old Cannon PIXMA .Cheap to run , separate inks and cheap to buy from (Inkredible) Free post. Very reliable but not WiFi if that's what you need. Prints good text and photos.

 

[sonar]

Brother every time.
the cartridges are easy to get for any one of them even new ones have good replacement

 

[Langtoftlad]

Bin inkjet
Get a laser

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