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Printer suggestions needed

D

diane143

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 25, 2008
731
67
Looking for input on a new printer that works well with Macs these days. I hear to stay away from HP! When did that happen? Some of my best printers were old HPs!

Needs:
Duplex printing
ADF for scanning (auto duplex would be nice but I can handle manual IF all I need to do is flip the stack over and hit the button again. Brother claims their software puts it back in order)
Scan to USB (camera card??) or email
Multi-purpose tray for things like checks and envelopes
Ethernet and AirPrint

Undecided:
Color or mono
inkjet or laser

Budget: how low can we go? My last printer was under $400.

Right now for scanning it's all handled from the control panel of the printer. No software or app needed. Some Epson and Brother printers sound like they need apps. They all seem like they phone home frequently.

Currently running a couple of Sierra machines, a Ventura machine, two flavors of Windows (one would only work if we plugged in the IP of the printer) and an occasional print from Snow Leopard in a VirtualBox
 
I personally have an HP Color LaserJet Pro M479. It does duplex printing and duplex scanning. When feeding from the paper feeder it'll scan both sides of the paper in one pass. Pretty nifty. You can make copies from the UI on the printer itself. Supports scan to USB, the HP cloud, or an SMB network drive. Comes with 4 separate toner cartridges for each color. Looks like that model has been replaced by the M480 currently. It's an expensive printer but has support for all kinds of monitoring software (SNMP, etc) and is built to last unlike those ink-jet printers. HP has lower-priced models have similar functionality but may not be built quite as tough. Works from Windows or the Mac, no problem.
 
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mfram said:
I personally have an HP Color LaserJet Pro M479. It does duplex printing and duplex scanning. When feeding from the paper feeder it'll scan both sides of the paper in one pass. Pretty nifty. You can make copies from the UI on the printer itself. Supports scan to USB, the HP cloud, or an SMB network drive. Comes with 4 separate toner cartridges for each color. Looks like that model has been replaced by the M480 currently. It's an expensive printer but has support for all kinds of monitoring software (SNMP, etc) and is built to last unlike those ink-jet printers. HP has lower-priced models have similar functionality but may not be built quite as tough. Works from Windows or the Mac, no problem.
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Thanks! What do the consumables run you? Mine current laser needs (during its life) a fuser (~300), belt (~200) and drum (~200). I've already done the drum once and it needs another, roughly three year life span for that.

Can you do aftermarket toners?

I loved my HP 43xx printers but couldn't scan with them.

In the research I've done this week, I'm beginning to think to get the features I already have I'm going to have to pick up something older off marketplace or a business auction. Or pay $500+ (or $1000 plus in the case of the M480)
 
Even HP's official website offers a 'refurbished' M480 for 15% off. I have to assume you can get better prices from various vendors. I think I paid like 25% off of my M479 from Staples at the time I bought it. I know that third-party toner is available but I haven't used them. I haven't paid to have anything updated in my printer even though it's five years old. But it does need a cleaning so I'll probably get that done soon. Maybe the printer techs will find something to replace.
 
Avoid HP printers? I wouldn't consider buying anything other than HP... I love my two HP printers (one B&W laser/scanner, the other a color laser with duplex). Both under $500 and running strong after years of use. None of that "chipped" consumable cartridge donkey-poo stuff I had to deal with when I had an Epson years ago. And while they have a ton of software you can download/install, I don't bother with any of it because HP printers can be setup with nearly every feature you could want using the Mac's built in system for setting up and using printers/scanners.
 
I had a HP and wasn't impressed. It started printing off colors just after the warranty period ended. I replaced it with a Canon MF650 series. I'd have to go look to see the specific model. It works very well and has auto duplex print and scan that functions well. Toner isn't as cheap as a brother would run, but it also cost about half what a brother color laser would run so it'll take some time to get to the point where a brother would be cheaper. My SO also has two Epson ecotank printers, one she uses for photo printing and one for sublimation printing. She likes both. I haven't bothered to install the drivers so I can't comment on the Epson printers, but we both use Macs.
 
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soloz2 said:
I had a HP and wasn't impressed. It started printing off colors just after the warranty period ended. I replaced it with a Canon MF650 series. I'd have to go look to see the specific model. It works very well and has auto duplex print and scan that functions well. Toner isn't as cheap as a brother would run, but it also cost about half what a brother color laser would run so it'll take some time to get to the point where a brother would be cheaper. My SO also has two Epson ecotank printers, one she uses for photo printing and one for sublimation printing. She likes both. I haven't bothered to install the drivers so I can't comment on the Epson printers, but we both use Macs.
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Thanks! That looks like a nice printer. I'm keeping an eye out on marketplace etc for the future. In the meantime I decided to buy the drum for my Oki, it doesn't seem like buying a new printer would be an improvement for me at this point (given the cost of a new printer alone). I will probably look for a basic photo printer in the future.
 
MacGizmo said:
Avoid HP printers? I wouldn't consider buying anything other than HP... I love my two HP printers (one B&W laser/scanner, the other a color laser with duplex). Both under $500 and running strong after years of use. None of that "chipped" consumable cartridge donkey-poo stuff I had to deal with when I had an Epson years ago. And while they have a ton of software you can download/install, I don't bother with any of it because HP printers can be setup with nearly every feature you could want using the Mac's built in system for setting up and using printers/scanners.
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How old are they? And yes I heard that about Epson cartridges too. So many printers today seem to "phone home" when it comes to ink?
 
I don't have an exact timeline, but I think the B&W laser is going on about 4+ years, and the color laser about 2 years. I went with laser printers specifically to avoid the ink cartridge B.S. that all these manufacturers seem to be moving toward.
 
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MacGizmo said:
I don't have an exact timeline, but I think the B&W laser is going on about 4+ years, and the color laser about 2 years. I went with laser printers specifically to avoid the ink cartridge B.S. that all these manufacturers seem to be moving toward.
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I went to laser because I was constantly dealing with clogs. I figured recently though, if I printed from an inkjet daily that wold be eliminated.

That said, I *think* the tank inkjets don't have the same "phone home" issues as the cartridge ones.

I thought I saw that some new lasers can be subscription based. Which would stink too
 
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