I need help buying a new printer

[Danny McG]

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

 

[Mouse]

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.

 

[Finch]

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

 

[HareBrain]

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.

 

[hitmouse]

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.

 

[Parson]

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.

 

[Danny McG]

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

 

[Biskit]

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.)

 

[Dave]

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

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

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.

 

[HareBrain]

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.

 

[Wayne Mack]

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.

 

[HareBrain]

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.