Ask Slashdot: Best SOHO Printer Choices? 381
rueger writes "I can remember trading up from a daisy-wheel printer to dot matrix, and can remember when Jerry Pournelle used to say 'Buy the most expensive HP printer you can afford.' Mine was a 4P. Times have changed, though, and I'm looking for trustworthy advice before buying a couple of new printers. Specifically, a B&W Laser with sheet feed scanner, and a color inkjet with a solid flatbed scanner for copying music. We want solid, reliable machines that will give a few years of small office service, that have reasonably cheap consumables, and that will "just work" with Windows and Linux. Network ready of course. Let me expand. These days there seems to be no market leader in printers — they tend to be cheap disposable items. Part of the reason is that it is hard to find any real user reviews of these machines — most of the comments on Best Buy or other sites are full of fanboy enthusiasm, or extreme negativity — nothing that can be relied on. Between those, and the sock puppets, and the astroturfing, there's nothing I'd trust. I do trust Slashdot, though, for things like this. People here are able to offer realistic advice and experience that can usually tell the story. So, I ask: who's making good printers these days?"
So, I ask: who's making good printers these days? (Score:5, Informative)
Kyocera.
They're not cheap but they just need toner, everything else lasts forever.
Nobody beats their price per page. I've seen companies who print 50.000 pages a month throw out new HP printers to replace them with Kyoceras because it saved them money after only a couple of weeks to pay for the 'old' and new printer.
I did a lot of doctor's office programming and I always included a Kyocera free with the apps because then I'd never get any calls about printer problems.
B&W (Score:5, Informative)
I can't comment on the cost of consumables, but the office where I work has had a couple of Brother MFC lasers. The Brother site has linux drivers and I've been able to do everything the Windows users can do. These 2 printers get used a lot and have held up well.
Re:So, I ask: who's making good printers these day (Score:5, Informative)
I'll second Kyocera. The drums eventually need replacing, but even then they're cheap to run and damn near bulletproof.
For the inkjet, I'd recommend talking to a local vendor of continuous ink supply systems about what they'd recommend. Continuous feed bulk ink systems are *much* cheaper than paying obscene amounts per cartridge.
Currently searching - some Brother ref (Score:5, Informative)
I'm looking for a multipurpose B&W printer, laser, for home.
My current choice is the Brother MFC-7460DN [trustedreviews.com] , also good for SOHO.
It's a multipurpose B&W laser printer, 26ppm print; 35-sheet Auto Document Feeder; Duplex print, Fax, colour scanner.
It looks like people have less problems with this brand/model than some others, so I think I buy it
Reliable ratings for me (Score:5, Informative)
Re:My two rules of printing (Score:2, Informative)
Rule 3: Buy a new printer once the cartridges it came with went dry: http://s3.amazonaws.com/theoatmeal-img/comics/printers/ink_vs_printer.jpg
Also, consider this objective printer buying advice all along: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/printers
Re:Currently searching - some Brother ref (Score:5, Informative)
I'm looking for a multipurpose B&W printer, laser, for home.
My current choice is the Brother MFC-7460DN [trustedreviews.com] , also good for SOHO. It's a multipurpose B&W laser printer, 26ppm print; 35-sheet Auto Document Feeder; Duplex print, Fax, colour scanner.
It looks like people have less problems with this brand/model than some others, so I think I buy it
I have used Brother laser printers for a number of years and am quite happy with them. They are reliable work horses and relatively cheap to buy and operate. My 5 year old one still works fine and I picked up a duplex wireless one for less than $70 on sale. At those prices, it's cheaper to replace the printer than the drum if and when it wears out. They use really cheap toner as well, I use cheap Amazon refills that cost about $15 and have never had an issue with them.
My best advice: ***AVOID INKJETS*** !!! (Score:5, Informative)
and a color inkjet with a solid flatbed scanner for copying music
Forget about inket altogether.
Just use a colour laser, toner is much cheaper than ink, and most modern mid- to high- range laser printers have a good enough quality even for photos.
(If it's single pass, and has a high dpi, you're okay).
In addition of the price, there's a technical advantage of laser: you can print at any pace you want, as seldom as once per month if you want (or even rarer) all the way up to what your printer can mechanically sustain before falling apart (most printers can take quite some abuse, well within the needs of SOHO). Ink can dry and clog printing head or ink channels. Either you'll *HAVE TO* print at least a few page now and then to keep the ink flowing. Or you'll have a printer which will automatically run through a clean/un-clogging cycle (spitting some ink into a reservoir) or you'll need to replace completely clogged cartridges/printerheads. You can store a laser printer unused in you basement for as long as you wish, whereas an Inkjet will always cost some (expensive) ink, even if you don't use it.
If you really must buy a inkjet and cannot buy a colour laser for some obscure reason, at least try to go for a brand where the ink refill is just that: ink. (some Epson would be a random exemple). At least the refills are not too expensive, and because it's an open market, you can find a whole range of options. Including dead cheap no-name refills of dubious quality, but also refills from cheaper 3rd parties which are known to make good inks (and probably have been already in the ink business even back when fountain pens have been introduced)
*ABSOLUTELY* avoid any brand where you replace the whole cartridge (ink + printing head). There is a very small marginal advantage in that (new cartridge means a brand new CLEAN printing head, and shorter paths between ink and head means less risk of clogging). But in virtually every brand, the cartridge has some electronics built-in, which is used as a crude for or DRM and anti-tamper. That means that you're in a locked market (no 3rd party licensed to sell cheaper heads, difficult to refill your self and persuade the electronics that the cartridge is (again) new). And thus, such brands tend to pump up catridges' price like crazy, so much you'll wonder if their ink is made out of unicorn blood. (Up to the point that a whole printer refill could cost more than the printer and would probably have throw away a lot of the old ink anyway).
Re:Currently searching - some Brother ref (Score:4, Informative)
Brother black lasers are bulletproof.
Their colour lasers not so much.
My two cents (Score:5, Informative)
First up, let's get this out of the way: all inkjet printers are cheap (and nasty) because they are loss-leaders for consumables.
I used to swear by HP but they've started this nasty habit of discontinuing ink cartridges after about three years, forcing you to buy a new printer because you can no longer get "original" cartridges for it.
On Windows I like Canon printers. But forget about trying to use the CD/DVD-printing Pixma series on Linux - while you can print on paper and labels just fine there is insufficient adjustment in the printer driver config files to allow proper alignment/registration when you wish to print directly on a CD/DVD, meaning you have to plug it into a Windows machine and use Canon's crappy CD Label Printer software that looks and behaves like a Windows 3.1 reject.
I'll be due for a new printer as soon as I can't get cartridges for my current HP OfficeJet. And this time I'm seriously considering a Samsung laser printer, or perhaps a Kyocera.
laser all the way (Score:4, Informative)
Several years ago, I moved from an inkjet printer to a (color) laser printer. At home, for private use. I've never looked back, and these days I have no f&%$! idea why people buy injket printers.
It's got higher quality, it's cheaper per page, a toner lasts forever, and I can fire it up after not having used it for three months and it'll print - no cleaning required.
I personally own an OKI and am happy with it, but I agree with you that there is no true market leader. Online reviews can't be trusted, so I went with the technical data. Maybe that's a workable approach for you, just go for the facts?
Re:Currently searching - some Brother ref (Score:5, Informative)
Seconded. Brother was my last pick based on lots of reviews, I wanted a B&W laser with duplexer, page feeder, scanner, fax over Ethernet for Windows and Linux in SOHO setting - got MFC 8480DN. Extremely happy with this printer, reminds me of how HP used to build.
Re:So, I ask: who's making good printers these day (Score:4, Informative)
Also, I've seen SOHO Kyocera laser printers with a flat bed scanner under the document feeder. You won't need both types. [But stick to their proper network printers. There's a newer range for small offices, and many functions may not work properly over a network, only 1:1. Whether that means Kyocera is starting down the path of shitty consumer models, I don't know.]
If you print a lot of non-photo colour, pump for a colour laser. If you only print a bit of colour, occasionally but on demand, buy a cheap consumer inkjet or photo-printer every 3-12 months depending on use and plug it into a spare laptop, not the network. (I've had reasonable luck with entry-level ($50) Canon MFPs not drying out from lack of use. But cheap Epsons and HPs can't seem to handle not being used regularly.)
"Must last several years" is the wrong thinking with inkjets. Treat them as disposable, save yourself grief. If you get more than 12 months out of it, bonus. If not, who cares.
Re:So, I ask: who's making good printers these day (Score:4, Informative)
Re:B&W (Score:2, Informative)
I only ever suggest brother for their absolute bottom of the line 2240/2340 series personal laser printers. They are SO VERY cheap to buy, and if you find the right place online, you can get a couple of toner cartridges and a drum for a song. So what if it breaks in three years after you bought it? It was $50 on sale at your local office supply store and cost you about that much in consumables in that life span. They work great with windows and linux drivers, have HP compatibility as well, and for only a few dollars more, you can get some with wifi or ethernet capabilities. They can also sit for months without being used, and aside from a bit of a smell from the dust heating up, will return to printing without a complaint. If you're kitting out an office with them, just buy them a pair of spares to put in a closet. If one breaks, instruct them to turn off the computer, pull out the old printer, put in the new one, plug it in and turn the computer on again. That's WAY cheaper than paying a tech to come out and diagnose the problem, then going through the purchase process, and being without the productivity for a day or more. Then, in three years, upgrade the lot of them to the next elcheapo brother model and continue on. Honestly, most small offices don't even notice the cost in their budget.
Re:So, I ask: who's making good printers these day (Score:4, Informative)
Wildly overkill for SOHO when the submitter is talking about the level of inkjets.
Re:So, I ask: who's making good printers these day (Score:2, Informative)
I'm also a huge fan of the Kyoceras in an office environment. Rock solid and dependable and the cost per page is very low. I've yet to have any trouble with their drivers but they could use a bit of improvement in that area from an ease of use/ease of administration standpoint. If they spent a little time improving their website that would go a long way.
In an office environment I'm also a fan of purchasing through local dealers and getting a support contract. Most outfits will give you a per-page price that includes toner, maintenance, and even lease cost if you want to go that route. Do this for ALL paper handling devices (Copiers, high speed scanners, printers, fax machines, etc) - Paper handling devices are money sinks and knowing your costs is worth a little overhead. You may think you can save money supporting your own printers, but the first time any serious maintenance needs to be done your imagined savings will evaporate. ALL paper handling devices seeing any non-trival use need a lot of regular maintenance if you depend on them. In an office, don't think of printers as devices. Think of printing as a service.
For cheap/home use I'm a fan of Brother laser printers. Low price, dependable, reasonable toner costs. No cheap printer will last for ever but I've had by far the best luck with Brother devices. Their drivers are great, and updated frequently. (Linux support too!) The network support is nothing short of fantastic. Even the cheapest printers support a laundry list of services (Just spit out a network diag page and look for yourself)