Any one has knowledge with printers?

[MacBH928]

I am tired of these devices there is always some problem with them, they are also priced differently although for the most part they do the same thing.

I recently purchased a cheap inkjet HP for $60 thinking they must be making their money off the ink ($13 per cartridge), It started to malfunction in less than a month with colors off and smearing. I tried to do some fixes like cleaning heads and alignment with complex button presses but its no use.
There are a million and one things to trouble shoot and to check. I don't have hours of my life to work as IT for this machine.

I need something that scans, copies, and prints wirelessly but reliable I don't care if its higher priced. I had bad experience with HP and Epson, I don't believe in Canons and only Brother remains. Online reviews are no use as some users would give it 5 stars and others 1 star. Also its not about brand since same manufacturer would release printers with varying degrees of quality.

 

[jeyf]

I recently bought a low priced WiFi Brother laser printer for household usage. Talked about the printer in two posts here. You can search if you want info on this type of printer.

We use scannerPro on an iPhone for scanning than copying documents. It does a medium quality job and is reliable to use.

Best of luck.

 

[NoBoMac]

Didn't say what scanning. If have a smartphone, tons of apps (including iOS Notes) can scan.

Need color or not? Personally, have not used color in years. Brother B/W laser for me: cheap, fast, toner lasts forever. Hardly print anything these days.

 

[cube]

If it's not for printing photos you could buy a laser.

Brother has a reputation of being solid and cheaper to run. Their inkjet printers don't offer such a high photo quality, but you can get A3 MFP.

 

[s15119]

I've been happy with the HP printers I have owned. But I'm pretty sure a $60 printer is going to be junk.

 

[jpn]

i have usually have had a two printer solution over the years, and still do.
but pls also consider what price you are paying for paper as well.
the combination of printer nozzle tech + paper grade + printer speed = how to decide a printer/paper combination.

brother has always been a workhorse for me and in the very early days it was always brother that seemed to support the latest apple drivers (even that word "drivers" sends an evil chill up my spine - not so much an issue now).
a brother MFC (multifunction machine) for drafts, B&W, 2 sided, and A3 (large),
my brother machines have never failed. but have finicky and convoluted internal paper trail. i have always been able to fix any paper jam easily though.
really a workhorse.
ink: not exorbitantly expensive but i try to use it for B&W only.
quality of print: i dont invest in a laser. so i use the brother for B&W normal quick prints which is fine for 90% of my printing.
paper most often used: cheapest cheapest paper content. buy reams of it.

for the "better" printer, i finally tried an epson.
really good quality. not laser, but very clear.
uses 6 "colours".
compact size.
ink: not exorbitantly expensive but i try to use it for printing where i want to impress the recipient, therefore usually colour graphs etc.
paper most often used: just a standard good grade and weight. heavier than the paper i use for the brother.
not expensive. not photo quality or anything close to that even.

i do use the epson occasionally for photos, but i have never really liked the quality of any home printer for great photos. my friends do like their epson for photos it seems.
its actually equally (more?) to do with paper quality as well.

a 2 printer solution will make your printers last a longer time and not stretch the "duty cycle" that the manufacturer provides as an estimator for how heavily the printer is judged to last. (at least thats the way i use this data).

lastly, Air Print capable out of the box? always always always check on the box itself and make sure it says Air Print. if you dont see this, then doubt it.
for anybody (a friend or relative who is just visiting your home) to print to yr iOS device painlessly, this is needed.

i hesitate to state models since models are always renewed and are based on country/market.

 

[cube]

I bought an HP inkjet printer and it lasted to the point of being obsolete. So I got a premium HP MFP and it failed too soon. Then I switched to Epson even if I trusted it less than Brother or Canon as feature choice (there was an advantage for each).

I don't like inkjet. I was interested in Xerox solid ink, but they lost on features (at least for the small ones).

 

[Nhwhazup]

[doublepost=1557360999][/doublepost]I’ve had really good luck with Canon-all in-one printers. I had one in my office at work for 5 years of hard work and my Canon at home is 3 years old and still plugging along. I work from at home now and print and scan 100 pages per week. I know - why on earth would I print out and then scan back in the same pages? It’s a long story but has to do with alphabetizing.

I buy the Blake Printing cartridges on Amazon which are really cheap and work great.

 

[ftaok]

HP for b/w laser. I have a 1536dnf which is awesome. It's not wireless per se, but if you can run ethernet to your router, then it's pretty much wireless. It's got duplex, color scanning and hi quality laser printing.

Epson for color inkjet (at least that's what I've read). When HP stops making their 02 ink, I'll need to retire my 15 year old photo inkjet. Epson will be what I go with.

 

[Banglazed]

https://support.brother.com/g/b/sp/producttop.aspx?c=us&lang=en&prod=mfcj450dw_us

I have that printer and bundle ink packs on Amazon is pretty cheap.

 

[MacBH928]

I don't need it to print photos, but colored documents. I don't know what photographers use.

I've been happy with the HP printers I have owned. But I'm pretty sure a $60 printer is going to be junk.

I thought its the new standard in printers, sell it for a loss and make money on the ink. I thought the bigger more expensive ones were supposed to be "pro" material.

i have usually have had a two printer solution over the years, and still do.
but pls also consider what price you are paying for paper as well.
the combination of printer nozzle tech + paper grade + printer speed = how to decide a printer/paper combination.

brother has always been a workhorse for me and in the very early days it was always brother that seemed to support the latest apple drivers (even that word "drivers" sends an evil chill up my spine - not so much an issue now).
a brother MFC (multifunction machine) for drafts, B&W, 2 sided, and A3 (large),
my brother machines have never failed. but have finicky and convoluted internal paper trail. i have always been able to fix any paper jam easily though.
really a workhorse.
ink: not exorbitantly expensive but i try to use it for B&W only.
quality of print: i dont invest in a laser. so i use the brother for B&W normal quick prints which is fine for 90% of my printing.
paper most often used: cheapest cheapest paper content. buy reams of it.

for the "better" printer, i finally tried an epson.
really good quality. not laser, but very clear.
uses 6 "colours".
compact size.
ink: not exorbitantly expensive but i try to use it for printing where i want to impress the recipient, therefore usually colour graphs etc.
paper most often used: just a standard good grade and weight. heavier than the paper i use for the brother.
not expensive. not photo quality or anything close to that even.

i do use the epson occasionally for photos, but i have never really liked the quality of any home printer for great photos. my friends do like their epson for photos it seems.
its actually equally (more?) to do with paper quality as well.

a 2 printer solution will make your printers last a longer time and not stretch the "duty cycle" that the manufacturer provides as an estimator for how heavily the printer is judged to last. (at least thats the way i use this data).

lastly, Air Print capable out of the box? always always always check on the box itself and make sure it says Air Print. if you dont see this, then doubt it.
for anybody (a friend or relative who is just visiting your home) to print to yr iOS device painlessly, this is needed.

i hesitate to state models since models are always renewed and are based on country/market.

I bought an HP inkjet printer and it lasted to the point of being obsolete. So I got a premium HP MFP and it failed too soon. Then I switched to Epson even if I trusted it less than Brother or Canon as feature choice (there was an advantage for each).

I don't like inkjet. I was interested in Xerox solid ink, but they lost on features (at least for the small ones).

I thought all paper was the standard A4. Note I don't run a print shop, its for household use.
I know photos use special paper but I don't print photos just color documents.
[doublepost=1557365621][/doublepost]

Didn't say what scanning. If have a smartphone, tons of apps (including iOS Notes) can scan.

Need color or not? Personally, have not used color in years. Brother B/W laser for me: cheap, fast, toner lasts forever. Hardly print anything these days.

Yes I need color. I would like a dedicated scanner since its better to copy documents than photographing one then printing it.

 

[Gator1pk]

I have an HP OfficeJet Pro 6978. Print, scan, copy and fax. Has color touchscreen panel, document feeder, can print directly from my iPhone or iPad. Either directly from iOS or using the HP Smart app. Print quality is great, it can print photos on photo paper. It’s fast. I have only purchased HP printers, but never the cheap ones. I purchased my HP OfficeJet Pro 6978 for $99 on sale. I have had no issues. Personally i don’t care for Epson or Brothers, I have used them on a full time basis at work.

 

[SDColorado]

I have a Canon TS9000 series printer that has been a great little printer. Compact and nice looking. I know you said that you have had bad luck with Canon's, but I have had a few and never any issues.

 

[cube]

ISO paper sizes go from A0 down to A10. If you fold the paper in two parallel to the shorter side you get the next size. You can fit them in the corresponding B or C envelope. The B series is also used for printing presses.

A3 printers normally have at least two trays so that you can fit A3 paper in one and A4 paper in another.

A3 is good for bigger diagrams and tables. The Brother inkjets are meant for office use, not photos (only 4 inks).

I once downloaded a Panasonic TV catalog and my 48" 4K "monitor" was just enough to fit the whole model comparison table so that it was readable (2 pages). I think the printed version must have been A4+ or something.

Now that I think of it, I hope these A3 printers are actually A3+.

 

[atlanticza]

I've had a Canon Maxify all-in-one printer for some time now and it has behaved flawlessly. Always felt that Canon printers seem to be more Mac-friendly than other makes...

 

[HDFan]

Brother has a reputation of being solid and cheaper to run.

I had a b&w brother laser that never failed.

I don't print photos just color documents.

I think that photo quality may be your critical requirement. Ink jet printers produce the best picture quality. My experience with multiple ink jet printers is that they tend to be a pain and are more problem prone. Cartridges get clogged, all those moving parts, etc. I have had 2 laser printers, one b&w and one laser, and have never had any problems with them. But the color quality just doesn't match that of laser.

I thought the bigger more expensive ones were supposed to be "pro" material.

After my last inkjet printer failure I decided to move up to a small business printer/scanner - ~$400. With the additional parts required for a scanner and that fact it was made for business use where failures are not appreciated it seemed to me that it would be much higher quality than the throw-away entry printers. I'm not sure what a "pro" printer would be, other than one required for someone, say, in the publishing industry where accurate color production is a must. Very high volume printers in constant use would also probably fit there.

premium HP MFP and it failed too soon.

So I got an HP Color MFP laser jet and it has never failed. But I do very low volume printing, only a handful of pages a month. Don't know if the MFP quoted as failing was laser or not.

Consumer Reports top rated all-in-one color laser printer is the Dell E525w with a score of 72. Their top rated inkjet printer is the Brother MFC-J8995DW with a score of 69. Compare these scores with the top rated black and white laser printer, a Brother HL-L239DW, which has a score of 79. They also do reliability ratings based on reader surveys. Only Brother and Canon had above average reliability for their recommended printers.

They rate over 166 printers of all types, so it might be worth your investment to subscribe to see the details of their reviews (consumereports.org). They also have an excellent buying guide.

 

[cube]

My HP MFP that failed was a $500 inkjet.

It was the first inkjet I ever saw with "everything" (in A4): duplex ADF, duplex print, CD print, FAX, ethernet, wireless. I think 5 inks (Canon had one more but no duplex ADF). What took a long time to arrive was duplex ADF in compact MFPs. That's why I bought it, not because it was HP.

The Epson that replaced it added some gimmicks and one ink.

What I would like to add next time: A3+, more inks, 3 paper trays (A3, A4, photo). Remove nothing and keep it small (I don't need big trays).

Laser is fine for color office graphics. But it is bad for photos. That's why solid ink was so promising.

A 4 ink print on photo paper is fine if you're not critical compared to that.

There is one thing with these cheap MFPs: I don't trust the ADF with important originals (I would be wary even with one costing $10000).

 

[gnasher729]

I recently bought a low priced WiFi Brother laser printer for household usage. Talked about the printer in two posts here. You can search if you want info on this type of printer.

Absolutely fine printer. Most laser printers are just fine, but the Brother ones accept (much cheaper) third party toner cartridges. I have mine for years now, and it just prints.

 

[cube]

In some markets it is hard to find acceptable SOHO printers that don't cost a fortune. Once we had to settle for an Epson TX300F. It accepts third party cartridges and got blocked with a paper sensor error only after several years of use.

Another time I had to go for an HP even if I don't want anymore. And the cartridges are unobtanium.

What is really lame is region coding (looking at HP again). Even more than the usual chip complaints.

We once had a Lexmark printer (I did not buy it) and we had to throw it away when we upgraded Windows.

 

[cube]

Small inkjet printers must be the worst category of tech products.

 

[bruinsrme]

I recently bought a brother color laser multifunction.
AirPlay is flawless.
Print quality is excellent.
Only gripe is it’s a power hog.

When it comes to printing pictures I turn to Walgreens.
I subscribe to the phot emails.
There are always 40% off prints and even up to 75% off.
Their quality is very good, fast service and in the end a heck of a lot cheaper than paying for paper and ink/toner

 

[jeyf]

I found no end to posts from users relating to printer experiences 1, 2, 5 years old.

 

[Lee_Bo]

I only use either Brother or HP laserjet printers. Haven't used inkjet in years. Too many issues with them.

 

[jeyf]

i just bought a low end Brother wifi laser.
if your ok with a few major issues its a great printer

i put some effort into the purchase and well i might say total satisfaction is not possible
major issues are just that

i put some posts here at marcumors.com so search read them

again this is not a history on the development and marketing of printers but my home experience just a month ago.

 

[cube]

I recently bought a brother color laser multifunction.
AirPlay is flawless.
Print quality is excellent.
Only gripe is it’s a power hog.

A problem with the solid ink printers was that you must not switch them off to keep the wax warm, otherwise it would waste ink at restart.

There was also some kind of smell.