Not to hijack the thread -- but any recommendations for 100-200 pages a month, coming in sporadically?
Ask HN: What printer do you recommend for rare printing?
41–50 of 131 posts
Re: Ask HN: What printer do you recommend for rare printing?
#42Don't forget to buy some premium printer paper. If you only print a hundred sheets a year, it's well worth the cost.
Re: Ask HN: What printer do you recommend for rare printing?
#43There are new breed of printers that are convenient to refill. HP Ink Tank. What does HN crowd think about these printers and what feedback can provide? Is it cheaper than regular Ink printers? https://store.hp.com/in-en/default/hp-ink-tank-wireless-415-... (If someone knows how to switch HP store location to show USD, welcome to paste link/price here)
With infrequent use, the issue is not refills or refill cost, but clogged printheads.
Re: Ask HN: What printer do you recommend for rare printing?
#44I'm in the same situation, and have given up. There's a shop around the corner that will print PDFs at a nominal cost.
Inkjets are especially bad. they print heads used to be in the cartridge, so thay got changed regularly; now they're fixed and the cartridge is only ink, and little-used printers get clogged printheads. I've enquired repeatedly about old-school inkjets with whole-assembly cartridges, no luck.
If you really want your own printer, your only option is Laser.
Re: Ask HN: What printer do you recommend for rare printing?
#45A recommendation to stay away from Samsung laser printers, their division was sold off to HP a few years ago and the Samsung wireless setup and connection has been maddening and completely unreliable.
Re: Ask HN: What printer do you recommend for rare printing?
#46I recommend checking Wirecutter [0] when making a purchase like this. It’s a site that publishes detailed, well-organized, and well-researched reviews of consumer products. I check anytime I buy anything durable, though I don’t always go with their recommendations. Their “Affordable and reliable” printer pick is the Brother HL-L2350DW for ~$100 on Amazon [1]. I have a similar model, the HL-L2340DW, for the same reaso…
Wirecutter makes their money from affiliate links, so the potential for conflict is high. They also mostly just meta-analysis rather than doing their own. Their biggest source is Consumer Reports, who don't make their money from advertisers. Much better to go straight to the source: https://www.consumerreports.org/printers/best-laser-printers... Subscription required, but that's the point -- no conflict of interest.…
Any similar recommendations for color laser printer?
Re: Ask HN: What printer do you recommend for rare printing?
#47I have similar situation. Epson WF-1000. Also has a battery so it can work without a power cord for awhile which is nice to have. Does a fine job for what it is. Also wireless and has print from iPhone capability.
Re: Ask HN: What printer do you recommend for rare printing?
#48Don't forget to buy some premium printer paper. If you only print a hundred sheets a year, it's well worth the cost.
Absolutely. I bought a ream of high quality paper 10+ years ago and am still going through it. I really don't print much.
Re: Ask HN: What printer do you recommend for rare printing?
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'll second this. I had a Brother for years. I ran out of toner once (I did a lot of printing) and I think the second time I donated it or gave it to a friend. I think the only pain point was the toner was almost as expensive as the original printer + toner. Go figure. But they're good, reliable machines for sure. And affordable.
https://www.consumerreports.org/printers/why-is-printer-ink-...
No doubt. It's just a bit of a mental tumble when you see the cartridge as more expensive than the original purchase. Toner never really changed in price. The printing unit itself has come way down. I think I originally paid around $65 CAD for my Brother laser printer, new.
Re: Ask HN: What printer do you recommend for rare printing?
#50I have an HP Laserjet 6P - I bought it (used) years ago because I rarely print things, and every inkjet I owned would "clog up" and be useless when I needed it. The 6P (as well as its predecessor, the 5) was/is a "business workhorse". Mine had less than 25k pages on it - a complete "baby" when I got it; I'm still well under 50k.
When I need it, it works (assuming paper is loaded). A toner cartridge lasts forever. I've maybe changed cartridges a couple of times in the past 20 years.
The only upgrades I did to the printer was maxing out it's memory (to 8 meg) and putting in the Postscript SIMM. I also have it hooked up via a USB to parallel port cable. There are ways to get it connected to the network, but I've never done it since it gets used so rarely and only by myself usually.
It isn't fast - it won't win no prizes there. But when I need it, it works. That is all that matters to me.