Looking For A Good Consistently Working Printer

[luckygirl13]

Hi i have an Epson XP-430 and it sucks when working with my MacBook Air (2014) and my MacBook Pro (2017). What do ya'll recommend is the best printer for documents and color photos that work best with Mac.

I am about to throw my current printer out of the window!

 

[kschendel]

If you need photo quality, you're probably stuck with inkjets and I don't know what is any good these days. For everything else, I'd suggest a color laser; probably whatever Brother is selling.

 

[Fishrrman]

For B&W printing, I'd suggest a Brother laser. Best printer I've owned (since the first HP "DeskWriter", many years ago).

They also have color lasers, but not sure if the output would be up to your requirements...

 

[IHelpId10t5]

I second kschendel. Buy a Brother color laser and you will be very pleased for all typical printing.

Lasers are simply not the choice for photos though. I would argue however that unless you are a professional that needs to print a lot of proofs at home, there are far better ways to print photos using any number of services such as snapfish, shutterfly, or your local pharmacy. Upload your photos through the web, choose the print sizes and quantity, and then pick them up at a local pharmacy the same day. In all cases the ordered prints will be of great quality and you will not have needed to mess with color matching, photo paper, and extremely expensive ink. I tossed out my last InkJet over 5 years ago and bought a Brother color laser. I have never looked back.

 

[artfossil]

I'm in love with my HP Envy 5530. AirPrint/small footprint/great color quality and the Instant Ink program has saved me lots of money (as well as time) on replacement ink.

 

[millerj123]

About 10 years ago I switched to Samsung laser printers for home use. You can generally pick one up for under $90, and by the time I use the original toner, replacements are under $20. I have an Epson photo quality printer that hasn’t been used in so long I’m sure I need $100 in new cartridges.

 

[kschendel]

... there are far better ways to print photos using any number of services such as snapfish, shutterfly, or your local pharmacy. Upload your photos through the web, choose the print sizes and quantity, and then pick them up at a local pharmacy the same day.

I haven't had to print photo quality color in ages, I didn't know this. Holy sh@! Batman, we're back to the good old days of 2 hour film processing. Everything old is new again...

 

[Sackofnickels]

For a long time I was not a fan of HP. Their software in years past sucked for Mac computers. Last year I bought an HP Officejet Pro 6975. Great all in one printer. I like the software better than Epson which was what I had before. I have it set up over wifi. Works great. No issues.

Like all printers, replacement ink is expensive and needs to be replaced frequently. There should be a law against this sort of robbery. I have been known to just buy a new printer instead of replacing ink. Often times it was cheaper.

Does pretty good photos as well.

 

[IHelpId10t5]

For a long time I was not a fan of HP. Their software in years past sucked for Mac computers. Last year I bought an HP Officejet Pro 6975. Great all in one printer. I like the software better than Epson which was what I had before. I have it set up over wifi. Works great. No issues.

Like all printers, replacement ink is expensive and needs to be replaced frequently. There should be a law against this sort of robbery. I have been known to just buy a new printer instead of replacing ink. Often times it was cheaper.

Does pretty good photos as well.

I would personally advise against any home HP printer model. Enterprise HPs are good but home HP devices (particularly multi-function devices) are crap. HP is notorious for requiring the installation of a massive number of completely unnecessary bloatware applications to use their products. Honestly, in 2018 you should never need to install software that comes with a device to use it with your Mac.

With a Brother wireless printer for example, simply take it out of the box, plug it into power, use the control panel to join it to your wireless network, and it will immediately be usable to every modern macOS, iOS, and Windows computer on the house without any additional installation. That's how modern peripherals should work.

No mater what brand of device someone buys for home, my professional advice is to take it out of he box, plug it into the computer via USB or join it to WiFi, and see if it works. Always ignore any DVDs that are included in the box and if they are required for the device's use, put it all back in the box, return it, and get a better make of device.

 

[Sackofnickels]

I would personally advise against any home HP printer model. Enterprise HPs are good but home HP devices (particularly multi-function devices) are crap. HP is notorious for requiring the installation of a massive number of completely unnecessary bloatware applications to use their products. Honestly, in 2018 you should never need to install software that comes with a device to use it with your Mac.

With a Brother wireless printer for example, simply take it out of the box, plug it into power, use the control panel to join it to your wireless network, and it will immediately be usable to every modern macOS, iOS, and Windows computer on the house without any additional installation. That's how modern peripherals should work.

No mater what brand of device someone buys for home, my professional advice is to take it out of he box, plug it into the computer via USB or join it to WiFi, and see if it works. Always ignore any DVDs that are included in the box and if they are required for the device's use, put it all back in the box, return it, and get a better make of device.

The HP I purchased worked with my Mac Mini right out of the box. Connected to wifi and I was off. OS X recognized the printer installed drivers and I was ready to go. Could have just used image scanner for scanning but I added the HP software for scanning, and that was it. No bloatware at all. Nothing. Has worked pretty well. No issues, no DVD's, no subscriptions, no registration, nothing.

What you described sounds like the way printers used to be. I buy a printer about once a year or two. The last couple I have purchased have no disks, the printer is supported by OS X, and if you want to use the printers software for scanning, faxing, or management you can, but it is not required. Not sure what you mean by bloatware.

 

[luckygirl13]

Thank you all for your help! I will buy a Brother laser printer.