What's a good printer for minimal usage ?

[MathWizard]

Once and I while I want to print something, just B/W text I guess, but I haven't had a working printer in years.

Does anyone make a cheap one, that won't clog up, or anything else bad, like need new ink every time, if you hardly ever use it ?

[pcprogrammer]

If you only print once in a while it is best to buy a laser printer.

A couple of years back I bought a MFP M182n, which does color, after ditching several inkjet printers due to the cartridges going bad. Only print a couple times per year and the laser one does not seem to have problems with this.

You can find cheaper ones that only do black and white and don't have a scanner bed to suit your needs.

[MathWizard]

They don't cost that much anyone, but just looking at some pictures, I'd want a small one fore sure. I haven't owned a toaster in years, I wonder if they make a printer that doubles as a toaster.

[Electro Detective]

If you only print once in a while it is best to buy a laser printer.

A couple of years back I bought a MFP M182n, which does color, after ditching several inkjet printers due to the cartridges going bad. Only print a couple times per year and the laser one does not seem to have problems with this.

You can find cheaper ones that only do black and white and don't have a scanner bed to suit your needs.

The jet printer companies have been rolling consumers like this for 20+ years, myself included. 

They literally have a license to 'print' money from not advising connedsumers about the 'drying out' factor on many/all printers,
and us 'print every so often..' bunnies either keep buying new printers and litter nature strips with the stuffed ones,
and or go the 'DIY ink refill'   -crossed fingers and legs-  route. 

That's assuming most battling users survive the 'Quick Setup' and software install procedure,
much less the countless dramas that come later, once the 'works great!' honeymoon period is over. 


"..cheaper ones that only do black and white and don't have a scanner bed.." is where I'm at but have not bothered yet


I would much rather save on the expense and headbanging of 'what to buy' and cartridge 'bang for buck'decisions for now,

and USB stick the documents and picture/photos, and spend the same money (or less) in  a 12 month period,

by rocking up to Officeworks or a local printer, and let the everyday practicing pro staff sort it out 

I won't even do DIY printing there either to save cents, as my time is important too I think..
and don't want to drop the effort, just to wait in the queue to complain to counter staff
that the DIY printers are knackered,
as they always seem to be with punters bitching and or walking out in disgust.

fwiw I go during quiet times when the staff are not stressed and always do a great job for me


i.e. who wants to trade this affordable no brainer service, to root around with a SOHO printer
that NEVER works when you just need ONE page asap   


No thanks..

[magic]

B/W laser is cheap, reliable and doesn't dry or clog up because the toner is just a powder in a plastic cartridge.

For some popular brands and models even 3rd party cartridges are available, which vary from very cheap and failing after a few dozen pages to only slightly more expensive and lasting for a few years of light use.

[pcprogrammer]

... and USB stick the documents and picture/photos, and spend the same money (or less) in  a 12 month period,
by rocking up to Officeworks or a local printer, and let the everyday practicing pro staff sort it out 

Sure if that works for you, it is a good solution.

Here out in the sticks it is not practical and would become very expensive and time consuming having to drive >20Km to find a service to do the printing for me.

[pcprogrammer]

They don't cost that much anyone, but just looking at some pictures, I'd want a small one fore sure. I haven't owned a toaster in years, I wonder if they make a printer that doubles as a toaster.

There is already a heating element, so who knows 

Have a tray for your bread slices, use edible toner and you can print the headlines on your toast. You know, just like that thing that can print on your coffee. https://www.eevblog.com/forum/cooking/evebot-coffee-printer/

[AndyBeez]

I agree with everyone else; get a cheapo laser printer. It may seem initially expensive, but given how brand new and full ink cartridges mysteriously go empty after six months - even in winter - you'll make your money back after 18 months. A bargain basement HP is around $100, maybe cheaper at clearance prices? Printer ink is just a global conspiracy that makes e-waste and ocean plastic.

[Oldtestgear]

A laser printer is definitely the better option for occasional printing. I bought a broken HP Laserjet 1320 about 12 years ago for 99p on eBay. Had to drive 10 miles to collect & then spent about an hour fixing it.

The biggest problem with it is toner cartidges -- some do start to leak after years of occasional use but decent remanufactured cartridges are cheap enough.  I have just cleaned it properly for the first time in years & it is still my "go to" printer.  Hard to beat this for value for money.
 I recently obtained an HP colour laser from a skip (literally) that had been binned because it regularly locked up & refused to print. Turns out there was a firmware update issued by HP for this issue. New cartridges & firmware update & I now have colour as well.  Total cost? £55 for cartriges & an hour of my time.  I was with my son at the time & he was suitably embarrassed by me climbing into the skip to retrieve it.  The owner was a bit bemused but happy not to have to hide it before the skip was collected.

Sometimes these things HAVE to be done.


Phil

[Zero999]

If you don't print often, then don't bother with a printer. Go to a public library and use the printer there.

[nctnico]

Once and I while I want to print something, just B/W text I guess, but I haven't had a working printer in years.

Does anyone make a cheap one, that won't clog up, or anything else bad, like need new ink every time, if you hardly ever use it ?

Get a laserprinter. Inkjet is horrible. I have good experiences with the HP printers for business use. Do yourself a favour and get one with a network (and/or Wifi) interface. That makes it much easier to place it somewhere far from your PC AND use it with other computers.

[tom66]

I've got 4 year old Brother Colour Laser (HL-3140CW).  It works perfectly and is still running on the factory supplied toner.  Print quality for mono is excellent, and while colour is not photo-quality, it's not bad at all!  My biggest complaint is the build quality is very optimised, a lot of plastic parts, for instance the lifting arm for the toner door is all plastic, as are all the mountings.  But for occasional use that's probably fine.

[tom66]

If you don't print often, then don't bother with a printer. Go to a public library and use the printer there.

Same for if you infrequently buy photo prints.  You can get miles better photo print quality ordered directly to your door, or at the supermarket at one of those print machines, and just use a colour laser for all the other jobs.  Unless you print hundreds a month, buying an inkjet only for photo quality prints is a huge false economy.

[Miyuki]

Laser printers are best for most tasks except photo quality.
And for minimal usage what kills it the most time is Microsoft and the next version of Windows.   
It is a bigger and bigger problem to run some older printers under 10 with every update and straight impossible under 11. But the printer itself is still going strong. Same with old HP LaserJet and Konica Minolta.
So if you buy a printer that works under Windows 11 and print just a few pages a year. It will probably work until the next major version.

[T3sl4co1l]

nth-ing laser.

I had an inkjet for a long time, a hand-me-down which was actually rather nice for what it was: good color prints, photo quality available, doesn't whinge about empty cartridges, no DRM.  (Canon Pixma i6000D I think it was.)  But it did waste quite a lot of ink, at the rate I used it (little).

Later I got a laser, Brother DCP-L2540DW, which is fine.  Probably still be a while before I need a cart (it's still on the "free" half-filled or whatever toner cartridge).  Scanner is reasonable and in color, too.  Oddities: it's more a copier than a scanner?  It's weird, it has a document feeder but only for copying, even though, it, y'know, literally scans a sheet into memory to make the copy?...  I don't know that I'd recommend this model specifically, but the brand is fine; it's adequately confirmed to me what others have said about Brother printers.

Tim

[Messtechniker]

Make a PDF file and go to the next copy shop.
But keep in mind that your file will remain in the printers memory.

Or ask a friend.

It won't get any cheaper than that in your case.

[magic]

Sometimes latency is an issue too, worth the minor cost.

And for minimal usage what kills it the most time is Microsoft and the next version of Windows.   

I read this as "more cheap printers for those who aren't Windows addicts"

[jonpaul]

2015 ..2018 model. Have 4 of these!

HP Laserjet M12W WiFi/USB,

Low cost, fast great prints low cost cartages

Jon

[MT]

Once and I while I want to print something, just B/W text I guess, but I haven't had a working printer in years.

Does anyone make a cheap one, that won't clog up, or anything else bad, like need new ink every time, if you hardly ever use it ?

A cheap Laser.

[rdl]

One really nice option to look for (though it may not be available on smaller models) is duplex printing.

I have a Brother HL5250DN that's like 15 years old and has always worked fine. The original cartridge lasted about a decade. It does not need to be attached to a PC, it plugs directly into the network. I think that's pretty common these days though. Brother makes pretty good printers.

[themadhippy]

Brother Colour Laser (HL-3140CW)

Got the same model,all be it a bit older than 4 and its still running on the original everything apart from paper and its certainly worked out cheaper than an inkjet and produces better results for the occasional printing i do.However it has developed a fault,if left powered up,but turned off by  the front button it wont restart until its hard power cycled,not a major issue as i keep it turned off at the wall,but maybe an issue for some.

[james_s]

Definitely go with a laser printer. I wanted color so I got a HP M254DW a few years ago and have been very happy with it, monochrome lasers are cheaper. The M254 does surprisingly good color photo prints, it's the first laser printer I've had that I've found suitable for that.

Watch out though, some of the new HP models require you to subscribe to toner and are locked to only work with OEM toner/ink. Also some printers have stripped down hardware and do most of the work in the driver which only works on Windows, personally I would try to avoid these even if I didn't want to print from other operating systems. A good way to tell is the driver will be over 100MB to download.

Nothing beats the convenience of having a printer right in your own home, even if you don't print very often.

[tggzzz]

Once and I while I want to print something, just B/W text I guess, but I haven't had a working printer in years.

Does anyone make a cheap one, that won't clog up, or anything else bad, like need new ink every time, if you hardly ever use it ?

Cheap, very flexible (colour, transparency, size), guaranteed to work, and meets that spec: just take the document on a USB stick to your nearest print shop.

[MarkS]

I have this and I love it. It's relatively cheap, the toner lasts forever and the replacement toner is reasonable. They also have a model with wireless connectivity for $30 USD more.

Brother HL-L2300D (Amazon link)

[pcprogrammer]

Stupid quote button! Grumble grumble. Always getting in the way of the modify button... Grumble grumble.

You don't have to crank up your post count any more for the supporters lounge 

It is possible to remove or just not post your post if it is not what you intended.