Recommend me a printer - spend my money!

LonerMatt

Newbie to Printing
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
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Printer Model
Canon TR5860
Hello printing gurus!

I am looking for a printer recommendation.

For context, I run workshops on art book making and publishing and am looking for a printer that I can use in these workshops so the participants can print basic dummies of their zines/books. I am NOT looking for the best quality, but rather would prioritise conservative ink usage, ease of maintenance and speedy printing these are, after all, things made to support learning, not final products to showcase or sell.

I've been using a Canon TS9560 to make things myself, but it has a few issues: it's incredibly slow, chews through ink, prints horribly on thicker uncoated paper and doesn't print A3 duplex natively (I have to switch the paper manually). It's fine for just me, but not adequate in a workshop context.

What I'm hoping for:

  • Up to A3 duplex (necessity)
  • Reasonable ink usage
  • Simple and reliable (well, as much as possible)
  • Prints well on a variety of papers and potentially thin card
What would be nice to have:

  • Not gigantic
  • Off brand ink is available and doesn't shut the printer down (though this seems tremendously unlikely given the way the industry is going)

Budget: up to $5000. I prefer to buy once, cry once.

I'm based in Australia, which may limit options. I was thinking a good laser printer might be better than an inkjet printer, but perhaps I'm totally wrong.
Very appreciative of any help :)

Given these wide-ranging requirements - I am looking for ease of use, generally good enough results. Happy for good but not great at most things, definitely do NOT need like photo-exhibition quality colours, etc.
 
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