I'm Putting My Printer on Probation

[Texas Proud]

I’ve never had a refillable inkjet and never understood the attraction, other than purported cost savings. Maybe I’ve been one of the lucky ones with traditional inkjets - they’ve lasted years for me. When printing quality declined, I bought a new one. They’re cheap. And yeah, I throw up a little in the back of my throat when buying new cartridges, but popping them in and out couldn’t be easier. I don’t know what it’s like filling tanks with liquid ink, but I appreciate the cartridge convenience. We probably print less than the average household and might go weeks without printing anything.

The benefit is not buying those expensive cartridges and popping them in... ours would dry out quickly for some reason... or I remember the one where the color cartridge could barely print a few pics before it was empty...

It was over a year before I put more ink into my tanks... and they were about half full...

Just checked... says we have had it 6 years with 5100 pages printed and still the original ink as we got 2 bottles of each... but I still have not opened the 2nd bottle of some color... tanks are about half full now...

 

[Markola]

Can't you hardwire a USB cable from iMac to the Brother printer? Problem solved.

It’s a Canon, and I hate it for other reasons. I’ve never seen something so finicky and the interface experience is a trip back 1995.

 

[Koolau]

It’s a Canon, and I hate it for other reasons. I’ve never seen something so finicky and the interface experience is a trip back 1995.

Replacements are so cheap, just replace it. What's expensive is the ink or laser cartridges. BTD!

 

[gamboolman]

We got rid of our Ink Jet when i retired and got a Brother MFC-L3780CDW Laser Printer
It works great
Do recommend

 

[Qs Laptop]

It’s a Canon, and I hate it for other reasons. I’ve never seen something so finicky and the interface experience is a trip back 1995.

Sheesh, I don't know how I missed that from reading your previous post. Sorry.

 

[Markola]

No worries. I plan to take it behind the shed next week.

 

[Markola]

Since this thread is THE resource on printer matters, I wish to share something I learned the hard way. If you have a Mac Airbook:

Buy: A Brother Printer. They just work. Set up is a breeze.

Avoid: A Canon printer. They do not work with Airbooks, and are an exercise in torture of Medieval proportions.

 

[Just_Steve]

Since this thread is THE resource on printer matters, I wish to share something I learned the hard way. If you have a Mac Airbook:

Buy: A Brother Printer. They just work. Set up is a breeze.

Avoid: A Canon printer. They do not work with Airbooks, and are an exercise in torture of Medieval proportions.

My Canon was plug and play with my MacBook and iPhone wonder why its not with the Airbook?

 

[albireo13]

Recommend me a good color laser printer !!!

My old reliable HP5530 Envy is getting sketchy lately (lots of jams) and may go soon.
I am looking to replace it ... for home use ... documents color and B/W.

Inkjets kill you with cartridge costs and I have heard many horror stories of inktank printers.
I want something reliable and low maintenance!! Aaargh!


Thx

 

[Al18]

HP inkjets are very reliable and do not clog. Just buy a model that supports HP Instant Ink and price is very reasonable.

 

[albireo13]

That's what I was thinking. Easy. I've been using HP Instant Ink for awhile now.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Recommend me a good color laser printer !!!

My old reliable HP5530 Envy is getting sketchy lately (lots of jams) and may go soon.
I am looking to replace it ... for home use ... documents color and B/W.

Inkjets kill you with cartridge costs and I have heard many horror stories of inktank printers.
I want something reliable and low maintenance!! Aaargh!


Thx

I love my Brother MFC-L3780CDW. Great for scanning as well as printing, and we don't print very often at all, so we were having inkjets drying and clogging every time we needed to print.

 

[Walt34]

Another vote for the Brother MFC-L3780CDW color laser multi function printer. I use aftermarket toner cartridges (EZink from Amazon if it matters) and have had no issues with the printer. And DW has no idea what "paperless office" means so it gets used a lot. The printer is a bit pricey to buy but that's a one-time expense so if it works I'm fine with that. The Brother toner cartridge prices are absurd which it why I wanted a printer that would work with aftermarket cartridges.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Another vote for the Brother MFC-L3780CDW color laser multi function printer. I use aftermarket toner cartridges (EZink from Amazon if it matters) and have had no issues with the printer. And DW has no idea what "paperless office" means so it gets used a lot. The printer is a bit pricey to buy but that's a one-time expense so if it works I'm fine with that. The Brother toner cartridge prices are absurd which it why I wanted a printer that would work with aftermarket cartridges.

Thanks for mentioning them, is this about what you're paying on Amazon? MFC-L3780CDW

 

[athena53]

Well, I think I'm done with owning printers. I was about to list "planned obsolescence" in the Pet Peeves thread (just had to replace my iPhone 8 because too many apps I used required upgrades not supported by the phone's operating system) but this is even more relevant.

I just moved to a retirement community and all my devices are now connected to the Wi-Fi except the printer. Years ago I gave up on color printers and bought a simple black and white HP and used my public library for anything else. (My Brother printer first sent me a nasty message when I used off-brand cartridges then removed the printer driver- which was not available on-line to re-load).

I've been trying to get the HP connected the the Wi-Fi here and there appears to be no way to do it without some menu that's supposed to be on my printer- but isn't, probably because it's too old. Yesterday I passed a room in the building labeled "Computer Center". I bet they have a printer. If so, this one is going to Best Buy for recycling.

ETA: And now I'm getting ads from HP in my FB feed. Nope.

 

[big-papa]

My printer usage is continually dropping over time. And, of course, when I do need it to print that one thing, it's stop everything, do a nozzle clean and alignment, waste some ink and paper and only THEN can I print something useful.

I also don't like the business models that all printers use now - that is, printers are just there to support ink cartridges rather than the other way around. I also don't like subscription software models, either.

Get off my lawn....

Cheers

 

[explanade]

Yeah I bought a box of paper years ago and will probably keep using for a couple more years.

I take photos of the screen with my phone for things I could have printed.

 

[Walt34]

Thanks for mentioning them, is this about what you're paying on Amazon? MFC-L3780CDW

No, I'm paying a lot less - $70 & change (w/sales tax) for the set of four cartridges. Normally I buy them one at a time as needed (yeah, I know it costs a bit more that way) but that way I don't end up with say, three magneta and one yellow on the shelf.