What's the best printer for the money?

[Captainnumnuts]

Almost all authors use printers right? What's the best,most practical printer (black ink) for the money? That doubles as a copier? Not necessarily the cheapest nor most expensive - but I'm looking down the road as well. Ink costs, cartridges, refills, compatability w/computers, etc..

I've been looking around lately, but I need opinions from personal experience. Nothing too big or commercial usage. Hype, sales people, and advertisements tend to get in the way trying to make that extra buck and it gets in the way of making an informed decision. Something dependable and low maintenance as well. W/out all the extra cool stuff I doubt I'll use.

Thanks to anyone that can help. All answers will be taken into consideration.

 

[Captainnumnuts]

Damn. I put this thread on the wrong board.

 

[Liar]

Damn. I put this thread on the wrong board.

Well, I was gonna recommend one, but now I'll keep it to myself I guess.

 

[HisArpy]

For work and writing I use a Brother MFC-L2740DW. It's not cheap but it prints/scans/copies quickly. My only gripe is that the paper tray isn't big enough to hold a full ream of paper. They're around $250 but mine has been working hard for 3 years or so without complaining at all. I can't say that for other printers I've had.

Long life toner is around $55/cartridge online. You can check them out at Staples.


Printer at Staples.com t_1386170

 

[phrodeau]

Printing money is illegal.

 

[OldJourno]

I've been counterfeiting with Epsons for years.

 

[Captainnumnuts]

Well, I was gonna recommend one, but now I'll keep it to myself I guess.

That must be the one I'm looking for. I'm not interested in buying yours.

 

[Captainnumnuts]

Printing money is illegal.

I've been counterfeiting with Epsons for years.

If I could do that, I seriously doubt I'd be looking for ideas here.

 

[ryan8558]

Is confessing to a felony on these boards cause for being banned?

I think not, but just wondering.

 

[WoundedKnee]

The one in the mint. Don't do it.

 

[Amoebah]

The paperless society printers are eerily quiet.

 

[EternalFantasies]

I think first you need to decide if you want a laser of inkjet.

If you print a lot, and mostly black and white, then laser.

 

[Captainnumnuts]

Thanks for your input folks. I'll look into each response. It's very important lately and I'm outdated when it comes to this sort of thing.

My old one is now somewhere in the printer afterlife. It's a hilarious story about how that particular printer met it's demise. I was truly enraged and, well, it's not coming back to this world in as a reincarnation of it's former self.

I think first you need to decide if you want a laser of inkjet.

If you print a lot, and mostly black and white, then laser.

Aha! That's been foremost on my mind. Are they anything like the old dot matrix?

 

[Captainnumnuts]

Is confessing to a felony on these boards cause for being banned?

I think not, but just wondering.

<<<<<<<<The felony confession thread is somewhere over there>>>>>>>

 

[EternalFantasies]

Aha! That's been foremost on my mind. Are they anything like the old dot matrix?

Laser will print faster and many folds more pages in one 'cartridge' than inkjet. Laser in color is expensive.

Inkjet was made for printing photos and color designs, but its an expensive environmental hazard. A cartridge is sometimes the same price as the printer...

Laser's also better quality.

 

[HisArpy]

Aha! That's been foremost on my mind. Are they anything like the old dot matrix?

InkJet is DM revamped and improved. It's still a system that sprays ink in dots to form the pattern desired except that the dots are closer together in an InkJet printer. It's faster than DM, but it's still in the 4-6 page/minute printing capacity range.

Laser is a photocopier connected to your computer. Any new laser printer should connect to any of the newer operating systems from Win10 all the way back to XP so you can hook one up now and do the future upgrade to the computer and not have to buy another printer. Most are USB these days too - plug & play.

Unless you need color, buy a laser printer.

 

[phrodeau]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgmxMuW6Fsc

Five hundred and sixty seven Canon Pixma printers made a music video.

 

[Liar]

Laser will print faster and many folds more pages in one 'cartridge' than inkjet. Laser in color is expensive.

Inkjet was made for printing photos and color designs, but its an expensive environmental hazard. A cartridge is sometimes the same price as the printer...

Laser's also better quality.

Ecotank inkjets from Epson and Smarttank from HP are actually as cheap per page as laser. But yeah, for black and white print quality, laser is best. A cheapo desktop laser will do the trick.

 

[SissySalina]

The U.S. Mint is a good printer for money.