Best CHEAP Printer? ($50ish)

[masmdu]

Looking for a good basic printer. Mostly B&W printing, no photos.

Also I want to avoid high ink usage and replacement cost.

Any opinions would be great.

Thanks!

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

1. traditionally HP has been the go-to low end printers

but I have no specific current knowledge of models or what better things might be out there

[HopeHoops]

18. Seconded. HP is the only kind of printer I'll even consider now.

[hobbit709]

19. As long as you don't try to use an older HP on Windows 7

And once you install the driver disk you uninstall all the extra crap HP bogs your system down with.

My best cheap laser was an HP Laserjet 6L. Bought it used for $20 and it cost me $15 in maintenance and about $60 in toner for the 8 years I used it before it gave out.

[HopeHoops]

33. I haven't had any trouble using older HP printers with Win 7. Well, except for the parallel ports.

Anything USB seems to work just fine. The P1006 is its main laserjet and the entire house (5 HP laptops, a Dell laptop, and the Win 7 desktop) use a Photosmart C7280 and an InkJet 8000 for wireless printing. The 4200/4400 series printers work with everything and I used the Win 7 desktop to test the older printers recently to see if they still work (they do). Perhaps there are some out there that don't work but I must not have any of them.

As for the parallel port printers, I've got at least one Win95 box and several Win98 boxes that use them. My oldest working InkJet is the original OfficeJet LX (B&W) from what, almost 20 years ago? It still works just fine except for the sheet feeder. It went WAY beyond its service life and still prints okay but if you put more than one sheet of paper in the tray it will suck them ALL in. Minor detail, I know. I mostly used it just for sending/receiving faxes until I got the C7280 which does that much faster and without the bother of feeding source papers individually.

Every HP printer I've had has gone far beyond expected service life. By the way, I got the 8000 for $130 at OfficeMax - normally $180 but HP had a $50 instant rebate that OfficeMax passed on. Every other store made you mail it in as a post-purchase rebate. DAMN is that thing fast! It takes about 90 seconds to start up after you turn it on (which is a LOOOOOOONNNNNGGGGG time), but after that, it screams.

The 1020 LaserJet is my oldest in that class, and it is also fast. The P1006 has a little lag time to start a job (sounds like it is starting 3 or 4 times before it does) but for a long job may just be faster. I like both of them.

By the way, I remember the 6L - I had one in my office at work. Great printer.

[hobbit709]

37. Windows 7 X64 does not play well with HP 1018

Several people I know had problems making their printers work. There's quite a bit on the internet about HP and 7

I ended up putting my Samsung laser on the Windows 7 machine and the HP on my Windows XP X64 machine-that solved my problem.

[HopeHoops]

39. I've never tried a 1018. And I wouldn't use anything made by Samsung except for a phone.

The phones are actually pretty nice, but I prefer Motorola. Either way, all I want is a clamshell you can put in a front pocket, drop on the floor, and generally not worry about too much. It has to be able to place a call and receive a call. If I want to browse the net, I want to do it on something I can read, not a 2" diameter screen. Same with games.

As for printers, Epson dot matrix was all I would use when those were the main thing. Their ink jet and laser jet printers are ink/toner hogs and paper jams are an hourly problem. Lexmark print quality simply sucks. I don't know why they bother making printers.

[flvegan]

2. B&W? I've seen plenty of HP 1320 printers on eBay for around $60.

Toner is far far cheaper than ink in the long run as well. Fairly bulletproof laser printer. I have one on my desk at work (though I use a 4050 at home).

[masmdu]

6. Thanks...any thoughts on this one...?

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Monochrome-Laser-Printer-ML-1665/dp/B003G2OVCC/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1283967765&sr=1-1

[Statistical]

10. I would step it up to this one....

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-ML-2525-Monochrome-Laser-Printer/dp/B002Y4Z2D0/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1283968458&sr=1-6

Or even better this one is $199 marked down to $99 (likely model line is ending).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828112085

I know you said <$50 but long run buying higher quality printer w/ 5000 page toner will pay off.

I have older version of this model (ML-2xxx series) and has printed 13,281 pages (according to the onboard counter) with only a single toner change (although I likely need to change it again). Lasers just destroy inkjet printers when it comes to value in the long run. With inkjet printers generally the cheaper the printer the MORE you pay in long run. Cheaper printer subsidized by more expensive ink.

Still if that is over your budget then I would go w/ entry level Samsung over any inkjet printers. For photos you can always use online photo printing for <$0.20 per photo.

[Posteritatis]

15. Yow. I'm in awe of that page count.

I'd been assuming a decent low-end laser printer would be, oh, 1-3000 pages, which is pretty good on its own.

[Statistical]

16. Yeah compared to the highway robbery of $20 for 100-200 pages of inkjet ink it is great.

The 5000 page toner rating is based on average coverage (an industry standard). I print lots of out a lot of c#/t-sql/etc code so it has a higher % of whitespace than say a novel so that is boosting my page count.

Still I would never go back to inkjet printer even if the printer was free.

For daily printing I use the laser a page maybe a penny per page.
For digital photos I use snapfish and they mail professionally produced prints to me.
Best of both worlds.

I got a Canon pixma rusting away I never use (and likely now it no longer works due to dried ink in nozzles). One day it ran out of ink and needed to print some photos. $40+ for ink vs I went online (snapfish) and printed the 20 photos I needed only for $3. I realized at that point there is no reason to own a photo printer unless you plan on printing dozens of 8x10 photos a year.

[Posteritatis]

17. Yeah, for photo printing I just go to a local drugstore

It actually annoys me because it's too cheap/convenient; I wish it was more of a pain in the ass to get prints so I wouldn't pauperize myself whenever I succumb to the urge to go in with a full card and come out with a cubic foot of photo or something. ;P

I get 8x10s printed semi-regularly and they run about two or three bucks apiece, which I'm happy enough to pay. 4x6s run about ten cents, which I'm definitely happy paying. For other printing, people would have to pay me before I'd use an inkjet, though. I'd rather kill my ears with the horrific skreeeee! of a dot-matrix printer, though that would be cheaper as well...

[flvegan]

12. I'm not familiar with that particular one

but according to the stats, $50 looks like a steal. Price your toner first, though. Looks like you got some good feedback from Statistical here as well.

[ejpoeta]

3. the cheapest printer isn't always the best in the end if it ends up costing more for ink than it doe

to buy a new printer. but there have been some good choices with low cost and reasonable ink prices. lexmark has become pretty good with that. we have one, but it has fax, copier printer. my advice would be to research customer reviews. check amazon and walmart and other places just to see how they do with people who actually use them. they will probably let you know about the cost of ink and how much they go through. good luck.

[DainBramaged]

24. We used to buy Lexmark Z615's at Target for $14.99 and throw them away

when they needed ink since it was cheaper to just replace the printer then replace the cartridges.

[ejpoeta]

27. i hear ya. it's so crazy that ink can be so expensive!! we bought a new lexmark

and the ink is much more reasonable. it is a network printer also. don't remember how much it cost, but i do know that the ink is like $15 or something. kodak seems to be pretty good too.

[blue_onyx]

4. I have a HP photosmart printer

I got it about a year and half ago. It was on sale for $50 (originally $100) and I like it. The ink is about $15 for black and $18 for color.

[hlthe2b]

5. I am thrilled with the Brother HL-2170W Laser printer

Beats even the very expensive HP printers I had at work.

The price varies all over the map, though, so you need to do your homework... However, I got mine with coupon from Staples at Christmas time for about $65. Worth every penny.

[whistler162]

11. +1000 or any laser printer IF not printing color.

Canon Pixma series printer if printing color.

[joshcryer]

30. Oh it seems we made the same recommendation! I didn't see your post.

Yeah, it's the best bang for the buck in my experience. They last nigh forever, the print price is around 2 cents per page, and this particular model is wireless, so if you have a wireless setup in your house you can plug and play and everyone on the network will have print ability.

Price has gone up though as far as I can tell, word of mouth has gotten around about how really good this printer is!

[hlthe2b]

32. Maximize toner life...

I'm assuming you know to tape over the sensors on each side of the toner cartridge with black tape.... It will nearly triple your print life (just because the sensor does not activate prematurely).

[Bitwit1234]

7. Walmart has the Kodak printer on sale for $69 dollars

what makes this a good buy is the fact that instead of paying 15-17 dollars for black cartridges and 22-25 or color on the others is the cartridges print more and are about 10 each for the Kodak. I bought one and love the mileage I get out of the cartridge. And the print quality is fantastic.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

8. TROLL!

Sorry. I was in the groove.

I've been using a low-end HP. The real trick is to look at the printer and walk halfway across the store to check the price of the ink cartridges -- they don't keep them side-by-side for nothing.

[deacon]

25. LOL!

[Statistical]

9. Get a laser. Period. Inkjet printer will destroy your budget.

In the long run even the cheapest laser will have a cost per page (only metric that matters) that is 1/10th that of an inkjet.

The bad news is that lasers at $50 tend to be "crippled" they have very "small" toners only good for 1000 to 2000 pages. Now even these are better than any inkjet printer but paying a little more $80-$100 can get you a much better printer. One which will print 5000 pages per toner, is better built, has good warranty, and in long run costs much less.

Like this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828112085

$99 yeah double your budget but the toner is good for 5000 pages. Honestly this is a steal. I paid $200 for a similar (no longer made) model and I think that was a value. With an inkjet printer by the time you have printed 5000 pages the the total cost of ink + printer will be hundreds of dollars more.

On edit: actually this one comes w/ a duplexer (it can print on both sides of page to save paper). Utterly amazing at this price. Hell I might buy one since my toner is getting low. :) New toner is $52. This printer on sale for $99 w/ duplexer, faster, under warranty.......... See what you did now I might end up buying a printer today.

[Posteritatis]

14. Luck with a sale can find a basic laser in the $50-$75 range at times

But yeah, the same amount of printing on, say, an HP multifunction with its ridiculous 120-page ink cartridges would probably be closer to a thousand dollars than a few hundred.

[joshcryer]

31. Page yeild for that $52 cartridge is 2000, you might be able to get 2500 out of it...

...but I really don't see how you'd get 5000 pages out of it. The 5000 page cartridge is $84. Still, close to 1.5 cents a page is a bargain, and toner lasts forever (doesn't dry out).

[Statistical]

36. Sorry wasn't trying to mislead.

My samsung printer is an older model (discontinued) which ONLY had a 5000 page toner. Sadly they don't make it anymore (likely because 2000 page toners are more profitable).

Still even 2000 page toner cartridges are good (although not as good) value.

~$100 printer (w/ 2000 page toner)
~$50 2000 page replacement toner cart

Depending on how long the printer lasts
Printer + no toner replacement = $100 for 2000 pages = 5 cents per page
Printer + 1 toner replacement = $150 for 4000 pages = 3.75 cents per page
Printer + 2 toner replacements = $200 for 6000 pages = 3.3 cents per page
Printer + 3 toner replacements = $250 for 8000 pages = 3.1 cents per page

So depending on how long the hardware lasts your TCO (minus paper & electricity) is about 3 to 5 cents per page. 5000 page toner is even better value (2 to 3 cents per page).

I am really thinking about getting this printer. Mine is old (4+ years) and no longer produced. This one has duplexer built in, plus warranty for little more than toner cartridge. newegg has a refurb for $80.

[EOTE]

40. I'd definitely agree with this.

I've seen some Brother and Samsung models for around $70, even cheaper with rebates. Check out slickdeals.net as they often have fantastic deals on laser printers. You're going to save yourself a lot of money (and time) by going laser if you're only doing b&w.

[Posteritatis]

13. There's no such thing as a cheap ink printer

They're designed to run out of ink as quickly as possible; if you spent $50 on a printer you'd drop two or three times that on ink in a year of moderate usage.

If you do feel you have to get an ink printer, don't touch HP ones - they're worse than usual for that - and shun multifunction ones.

[DainBramaged]

22. I have to disagree, the HP I listed above uses a $15 black cartridge

and prints over 200 pages per cartridge on greyscale only. We have them on about 20 desks to supplement using the networked Lexmark 652TDN printers which only print B&W when color is necessary.

[joshcryer]

26. 200 pages per cartridge? My mom has gone through $200 in injet cartridges in the past two months.

I told her to stop and I'm getting her a laserjet.

[Posteritatis]

41. 200 pages per cartridge is miniscule, and only a bit less insulting than HP's average. (nt)

[DainBramaged]

42. Glad HP insults you

:eyes:

[DainBramaged]

20. Epson Stylus NX125 All-in-One $29.99 at Target OR HP D1660 $29.99 everywhere

We use tham both at work at work.

[cynatnite]

21. I have the NX510. This series of Epsons are really good...

It prints quickly and clearly. The black cartridge costs under $20, too.

[DainBramaged]

23. I scattered a few around the offices for people who need to scan documents

and everyone loves them, especially when they bring in old photos to scan for screen savers!!!

[KittyWampus]

44. That first photo is freaky. It looks like a baby is either emerging from the printer feet first

OR the printer is swallowing the baby head first! :scared:

[joshcryer]

28. You should spend $40-50 more for a proper printer. brother HL Series HL-2170W is what I recommend.

Avoid inkjet at all costs, inkjet printers are really cheap, sub $50, easily. But, their ink cartridges do not last long at all, you'll be lucky if you can print more than 150 pages. In the end you wind up paying 25 cents or more per print, far higher than going to Kinko's or using the local library.

I'd recommend this laserjet: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828113291

Your pages come out to about 2 cents per page. And toner cartridges don't dry out like inkjet does.

One thing to consider, don't print pages with a lot of black on them. Go to "Print Preview" and make sure that the page itself is going to have a lot of white. If you can edit down anything with a lot of black on it. You'll save ink like crazy.

[deacon]

29. I dunno but my Cheney3000 is the best document shredder I've ever owned. n/t

[HopeHoops]

34. Groan.

[Dappleganger]

35. If you're in NE FL I have a free laser printer.

It's an at-times-temperamental Brother laser B&W. Great for regular printing, not so great for an office setting. VERY cost-saving and works well with macs and pc's. Has duplex.

[NorthCarolina]

38. Laser printer here for $49 after $30 rebate

http://www.staples.com/Brother-Refurbished-HL-2140-Laser-Printer/product-nr_792930

[DainBramaged]

43. Brother Refurbs are EVERYWHERE, ask yourslf why?

[hlthe2b]

46. Brothers laser printers are good... the reason for staples refurbs

is that they give you a year to upgrade and people who were planning to buy the 2170w may buy the 2140 use up the toner cartridge and then trade up for the next model up. Sort of a no brainer. Read the reviews of these models on amazon and you will realize your earlier assumption is totally wrong.

[DainBramaged]

47. My assumptions are never wrong, however I think your information is flawed

We were told by our Staples Corporate rep to 'ahem' choose another brand more reliable for desktop printers/copiers when we saw the DCP-8085DN on sale.

I am glad he did. We bought two Canon Image Class D300's instead. And after two flawless years, we see they are still available, and no refurbs either.




:hi:

[hlthe2b]

48. See my earlier posts...which were echoed by another user

of that particular model (2070W). I tend to rely on independent tech reviews (e.g., cnet), as well as several dozen independent reviews on amazon. I find this advice far more reliable than opinions of Staples staff, who obviously have a bit of a conflict of interest. I am unsure why you brought up a model of some type that I have not been discussing and with which I am unfamiliar. I do know that the moderate priced Brother's Laser printers (2040 and 2070 series) have received excellent reviews that are consistent with the truth, since I have one myself, as do two of my family members. Excellent performance and value for the money. But, I have no reason to care whether others buy them... :shrug:

[DainBramaged]

49. Tech reviews, the wheel greased by the industry........

I worked for the japanese electronics industry for 10 years. When we needed a favorable review of our products, the company was very happy to give 'gift cards' to the reviewers.


I'll stick by what I know. If you think that the refurbs Brother is selling were 'upgrades' from people who used the crap out of them for a year, and they magically made them like new at Domestic labor rates including housing and panels, you just keep on believing that.

[Dr.Phool]

45. Printers on sale are so cheap anymore.

It almost pays to throw the damn thing away when you run out of ink, and buy a new one with cartridges.

Right now, I've got a cheap Pixma, that came free with my laptop, that had Vista installed. I've used it on my desktop with both XP and Windows 7. Never had a problem.