# I need help buying a new printer



## Danny McG (Jan 24, 2021)

All I want is a basic printer, cheap and cheerful, the one I have is years old and very creaky and it's getting too prone to jamming up.

It's for September when one bratoid moves up to the next school, I know they're occasionally required to print out a page or two for homework.

However the ones I see online all seem to be 'instant ink' which I'd never heard of. Apparently your printer connects online through_ "the internet of things_" and, when you get low, replacement ink cartridges are automatically dispatched ( I really don't like that idea)

I only want a couple of recommendation's for cheap printers that don't require this annoying skynet intrusion 

cheers


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## chrispenycate (Jan 24, 2021)

You can get the HP ones without going the instant ink option (which I would suggest - the app is supremely annoying, blocking it functioning because it believes you should be changing cartidges while they're still working fine. Incidentally, drivers for the one I bought are not available for Windows 7. But printers are dirt cheap, they make their profit on selling the ink, so if it's automatic they win.

The Canon I got previous to that , brand new and boxed lasted exactly fourteen months, and by the time they're out of warranty theyy cost twice as much to repair as to buy a new one.


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## mosaix (Jan 24, 2021)

Printers are cheap, ink is expensive. Over the years the cost of ink will outweigh the cost of the printer. 

Make sure that you aren’t tied in to buying the ink from the manufacturer of the printer. Make sure you can buy from a cheaper source. 

Some HP ink cartridges have an inbuilt ‘use by’ date. The cartridge stops operating even if it’s got ink left - disgraceful. 

Do a lot of research, Danny, the printer will probably last years and you want to be happy with it.


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## Danny McG (Jan 25, 2021)

mosaix said:


> Do a lot of research, Danny, the printer will probably last years and you want to be happy with it


IIRC it was at least ten years ago that I bought my last one, I was working in an office job back then.

By doing a bit of careful research, I found a printer that took the same ink cartridges as the ones in the cupboard at work.

Nowadays it looks like £61 for a twinpack of ink, one colour and one black..... Monstrous prices!


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## Foxbat (Jan 25, 2021)

Sometimes places like Asda sell their own ink and are a bit cheaper than the named brands. I’d suggest checking out your local store (if you have one) and have a look at the available cartridges (they make them for a number of different models) for yourself before you decide what printer to buy.


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## Pyan (Jan 25, 2021)

Don't, don't, _don't,_ for goodness sake, go over to the dark side of refilling empty cartridges, though. They leak. No matter how accurately you follow the instructions, they leak. And they leak onto the printer-head track. You can't clean this, as to do so involves _disassembling the entire machine_, and more importantly, putting it all back together, ensuring that all the tiny springs and tabs are the right ones, in the right place, and the right way around. 
And, of course, you can't test it without plugging it in, switching it on and trying a test print. I leave it to your imagination what happens if it's _not _correctly reassembled, apart from confirming the strong likelihood of colourful and imaginative language.

As you may have gathered, I speak from personal experience. If you suffer from any kind of high blood pressure or anger management problems, save a life, bite the bullet and buy the correct new ink cartridges.


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## Pyan (Jan 25, 2021)

And those prices for ink look high. 
I have a Canon Pixma M495, which should be fine for your needs, and a replacement colour/black combo ink pack for it is £24.99 on Amazon.


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## Foxbat (Jan 25, 2021)

pyan said:


> As you may have gathered, I speak from personal experience. If you suffer from any kind of high blood pressure or anger management problems, save a life, bite the bullet and buy the correct new ink cartridges.


I once physically assaulted a printer. I was so frustrated that I punched and pummulled it until it broke and I had to buy a new one (a different make). I felt no remorse whatsoever. It got what it deserved.


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## Danny McG (Jan 25, 2021)

pyan said:


> And those prices for ink look high.
> I have a Canon Pixma M495, which should be fine for your needs, and a replacement colour/black combo ink pack for it is £24.99 on Amazon.


I've found a Mp495 and a Mx495, I can't find a M495, are they variations on a common Canon printer theme?


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## Pyan (Jan 25, 2021)

Sorry, Danny - it's an MP495.


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## Teresa Edgerton (Jan 25, 2021)

I wish you luck with this Danny, having had troubles buying printers myself.

And it seems like ink keeps getting more expensive and the cartridges run out of that ink faster.


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## Dave (Jan 25, 2021)

I'd keep your old printer going as long as possible (unless you've smashed it up due to frustration). I can only re-iterate what the others have said - that ink cartridges are deliberately very expensive and printers deliberately very cheap - and that re-filled ink cartridges always leak in the end.


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## Teresa Edgerton (Jan 25, 2021)

Another thing that happens is sometimes there are no new printers that will work with an older, less powerful computer.  (I don't think this happens by accident.)  So you can end up buying a new computer for several hundred dollars just so you can print with a hundred dollar printer.  This has happened to me, so either it's a Real Thing, or the people at the large electronics store were all lying to my husband and me.


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## Danny McG (Jan 25, 2021)

I've spotted (on eBay) various generic ink cartridges that purport to work just as well as the much pricier ones you get from printer manufacturers.

Anyone ever used any of these? Do they work as claimed?


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## mosaix (Jan 25, 2021)

Danny McG said:


> I've spotted (on eBay) various generic ink cartridges that purport to work just as well as the much pricier ones you get from printer manufacturers.
> 
> Anyone ever used any of these? Do they work as claimed?



They might and, then again, might not. Search for the combination of printer and cartridge and see if there are any forums discussing it. Be wary of any 'false' reviews though, Danny.


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## Pyan (Jan 25, 2021)

Danny McG said:


> I've spotted (on eBay) various generic ink cartridges that purport to work just as well as the much pricier ones you get from printer manufacturers.
> 
> Anyone ever used any of these? Do they work as claimed?


What mosaix said. Plus, on eBay, they may very well be ones that people have refilled themselves. (see post #6 above)


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## Dave (Jan 25, 2021)

They may be generic cartridges made by the same company, or they may be refilled by your neighbour down the street, or they may be very cheap but with an exorbitant price for the delivery. Also beware of additional VAT charges (either being correctly or incorrectly applied) since Brexit.


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## tinkerdan (Jan 25, 2021)

I've had a number of printers and recently I've had the best luck with the Canon


Danny McG said:


> I've found a Mp495 and a Mx495, I can't find a M495, are they variations on a common Canon printer theme?


I originally had am MX472.
One consideration I've had with printers is that if something goes wrong you can end up with 60.00 US in cartridges that a new printer won't use.
In light of that because I was so happy with the MX472 I picked up an MX532 that uses the same cartridges.
What I like about these is they are inkjet that do double-sided -the 532 is more automatic with the double side and I often print a book out on double sided just before I go to print on amazon.
Both printers are still operating just fine and I still use them frequently.
and yes those are various builds of the same model.

As far as the auto ordering of refills--as far as I know that's optional and I have never had mine try to order any without my permission.
Also I purchased those printers for 49.00/67.00 US which is less than the replacement cartridges cost.

I just checked and they want 199.00 US for the same one I paid 67.00 for. Things have gone up a bit.


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## Boneman (Jan 25, 2021)

Good luck Danny, let us know how it works out. 

As an aside: in the days you had to send submissions by paper I bought a black only 'laser printer. Cost me £99, did very well,  too. The time came to replace the cartridge,  they wanted £59. Saw a special offer on the printer £49.99, so I bought another one,  instead.  Sold them later for £75 for the pair.


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## Mouse (Jan 25, 2021)

My printer died just after Christmas and I needed a cheap and cheerful one fast. I got this one: HP DeskJet 3762 All-in-One Wireless Inkjet Printer (Actually it's gone up a tenner but still good price). I use it every day and it's pretty good.


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## Danny McG (Jan 25, 2021)

Mouse said:


> My printer died just after Christmas and I needed a cheap and cheerful one fast. I got this one: HP DeskJet 3762 All-in-One Wireless Inkjet Printer (Actually it's gone up a tenner but still good price). I use it every day and it's pretty good.


I like that one!
Gonna look into the ink cartridges and, if ok, I may go for this printer 
Cheers


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## Mouse (Jan 25, 2021)

I don't sign up to any 'instant ink' thingy, and actually I'm still on the cartridges it came with (and like I said, I use it every day). It gave me rage setting it up, mind.


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## Finch (Jan 26, 2021)

If you don't need Clour, I have had an HP Lazer Jet P1102  for years,  with no problem. It uses the cheapest toner cartridges and prints good quality prints, fast. I think that the actual model is no longer available but there must be an equivalent. Inkjet printers are rubbish.  The  ink is expensive, prints  slowly  and problems  with blocking  jets


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## HareBrain (Jan 26, 2021)

Finch said:


> If you don't need Clour, I have had an HP Lazer Jet P1102 for years, with no problem



My printer is still a HP Laserjet 4000, from last century! It was great for printing off large chunks of writing, but now the paper feed doesn't work properly and its processor balks at some files. Plus it takes up a lot of space. I hardly ever need to print anything, though, so I've been reluctant to replace it, partly because I too dislike inkjets. I might look at something like yours.


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## hitmouse (Jan 26, 2021)

If you mainly print text, get a B&W laser jet. The toner cartridges may seem expensive but they last for ages, and the machinery is basically better than inkjet, unless you want to print out glossy photos (easier online anyway.) Vastly better value than most inkjet printers which are crummy machines sold as loss-leaders tied into godawful expensive and limited ink cartridges.

At work I have a 10 year old Kyocera desktop B&W laser printer. I print stuff every day. Last changed the toner cartridge several years ago, and it might have cost £60 but it has printed 1000s of pages. It just does the job.
At home I have a HP inkjet which looks flash but is a bit crap really. The ink cost is stupid, and the kids no longer have to print out lots of coloured homework as it is all done on line. Will be replaced with a boring monochrome laser printer.


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## Parson (Jan 26, 2021)

I've had very good luck with my HP Officejet 6962. After a bad experience with another printer using off brand ink, I now only get the manufacture's ink. It's been rugged it hasn't missed a beat even with grandkids using it. But like @Mouse I also had a bit of a time getting it set up. The real problem was the wireless connection. In the end I got it to work.


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## Danny McG (Jan 26, 2021)

I'm sorted, and for free!
A family member left one outside for me this afternoon.

He got it new 4 years ago but says he's only ever printed 9 pages. It's been in his cupboard since then, near full ink cartridges.

Something called a Canon PIXMA mg3050. (?)

I'm planning to set it up tomorrow so I can WiFi link to my tablet and laptop


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## Biskit (Jan 26, 2021)

Printer parts and consumables are ridiculously expensive. 
We have a cheap Brother laser printer, bought to replace the previous cheap Brother laser printer.  The first one stopped working because a tiny plastic cog stripped its teeth and amongst all the hugely expensive spares on sale, the one that was missing was the tiny plastic cog. I even contacted Brother who told me they don't sell that part, making me wonder how often that cog forces people to buy a new printer.

(In the end, I found something the right diameter with the right number of teeth but wrong spindle diameter, 10 for £5 on a build-your-own-killer-robot site and drilled the spindle hole out, which kept the old printer running for a few more years.)


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## Dave (Jan 26, 2021)

And if that doesn't work out.....


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## TheEndIsNigh (Jan 26, 2021)

Older members will remember my advice about troublesome printers from years ago.



			https://www.sffchronicles.com/threads/38235/post-1296258
		


Its still valid for printers and any other device.

Most printers are loss leaders. It's the repeat business they get from the cartridges that they're after. Always check the cost of refills.

In the past printer ink suppliers have been know to give away printers if you buy the ink, but beware rip off contracts that last for years.

I did once buy three Lexmark printers from Pesco for £10  each with a set of colour inks. Now obviously it was a use and chuck when the ink ran out system for me at the time, but they lasted for about a year.
HP every time for me.


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## HareBrain (Feb 4, 2021)

HareBrain said:


> My printer is still a HP Laserjet 4000, from last century!



It must have overheard and thought "Jeez, I should've retired years ago!" because now it's packed up. But I remembered I had a combined colour laser/fax/copier/scanner sitting in my cellar, a brand new office machine offloaded by my sister in 2008. Needless to say, given it has 250 times the functionality I'll ever need, the online manual makes A Song of Ice and Fire look like a note left on a fridge.

It didn't come with a USB lead, so I would have to order one. But now I'm wondering, is it likely to still work after over a decade in storage? I'm thinking of the toner in particular.


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## Wayne Mack (Feb 4, 2021)

HareBrain said:


> But now I'm wondering, is it likely to still work after over a decade in storage?


The problem may be in finding drivers for a printer that old. I'd search the manufacturer's web site for operating system compatibility before investing any time or money on the hardware.


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## HareBrain (Feb 4, 2021)

Wayne Mack said:


> The problem may be in finding drivers for a printer that old. I'd search the manufacturer's web site for operating system compatibility before investing any time or money on the hardware.



Thanks. It seems fine -- drivers exist for all Windows variants. To be fair, I even found Windows 7 drivers for my old 1990s Laserjet 4000.


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