Printer Recommendation?

[MimitheGreat]

Can someone please recommend a printer for me to buy? I am not looking for anything fancy. I am a student, and I just need something affordable and reliable that can print black and white text documents. Thanks!

 

[Sherden]

printing volume?

If low, ahem ..... I shouldn't say it here.....shhhh.... but you should go for a laser printer..

At least you will avoid all issues related to clogged heads when you leave the printer unused for a long time. And can always refill the toner cartdrige to save money

 

[The Hat]

Yes I agree, go for the Laser printer, it will see you thought college and beyond..

 

[Łukasz]

Current printers overview

For example HP LJ P1102 printer is inexpensive ~100$ and accept refilled or remanufactured toners very well.
Canon also has very similar laser printer based on the same print engine, but I'm not sure is it refilled/remanufactured toner friendly.

There are other brands - Samsung/Xerox/Epson "friendship" - but these printers are horribly protected from using third party toners. In Samsung it is possibility to install modified firmware called "endless chip" but it costs (from ~6$ in my country).

There are also Brother, but cheapest HL-1110/1112 literally sucks compared to its peers. It is poor-featured and has complex print engine - OPC drum is outside toner cartridge. Also grayscale areas are printed with unacceptable banding.

Some pricing on OEM toners (in Poland):
- very similar: ~75$ for 1000-1500 ISO pages toner cartridge

Some pricing on remanufactured/refilled ready to use toners (in Poland):

• HP LJ 1102

1. 10-30$ for 1500 ISO pages toner with new OPC drum
   
2. from 4$ for some toner cartridges with old OPC drum

• Samsung ML-2165

1. 30-50$ for 1500 ISO page toner with new OPC drum and chip
2. 15-30$ for 1500 ISO page toner with new OPC drum and without chip

There are also components for individual refillers - OPC drums (and some other parts), toner (printing powder alone) and chips.

Ł.

 

[stratman]

Unless you must have color then the best option is a laser printer.

Whatever printer you chose, I recommend it do duplex printing automatically. This feature allows printing on both sides of the paper without any further work on your part (ie manually turning the page over and running it through the printer again).

 

[stratman]

I shouldn't say it here.....shhhh.... but you should go for a laser printer..

No need to be bashful. We love laser printers here.

However, we do not like loser printers.