This isn't really a new thing, it's been like this for over a decade. It's why Epson printers are so cheap; they make their money on the cartridges. I've had better luck with HP in general (Officejet), though I don't know how good each particular model is so some may be worse.
Never buy Epson printers
21–30 of 170 posts
Re: Never buy Epson printers
#22Get a cheap consumer black and white laser printer and never look back. I can't think of any time I've needed or wanted to print color. For photos and such send them off to be printed with real photo printers.
Re: Never buy Epson printers
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know why people still bother with inkjets. It's like the companies are actively punishing you for buying these models of printers. If they are necessary for work, then MAYBE. But even then, if you're buying commercial hardware you're not dealing with this junk either. It also used to be that laser was incredibly expensive in comparison, now they're about the same price if you compare color inkjet to black and…
We have a colour Brother laser which I got a few years back which seems pretty solid - toner isn't cheap but we can probably go for years without changing it so it's not that bad.
I have a Brother that works pretty well. It does track how much toner is used and requires replacement before the stuff actually runs out. However, a quick bit of screwdriver work, or some tape in the right place, and you can convince it to start over. I've done this several times since I got the printer many years back, and it still prints fine on the original toner cartridges. I'm sure someday I'll have to actually get some new ones....
Re: Never buy Epson printers
#24I don't currently have a printer. I think I'd want an economic laser printer. Probably going to print less than 50 pages per month. Needs to work fine under Linux. Any suggestions?
Brother HL-L2340D. Laser B/W, Duplex, Wifi, Linux support and only 80 EUR.
Re: Never buy Epson printers
#25Well, the printer manual probably says, like mine does:
"Install all ink cartridges; otherwise, you cannot print".
But in my Epson XP-200, if my black cartidge runs out, it tells me that I can use a 'composite black' mode where it blends the ink from the colour cartridges to form black. And vice versa - when the colour ink runs out and black ink still remains, you can continue printing temporarily with black ink only.
So there are always those options if you need to get something printed.
Re: Never buy Epson printers
#26Never buy any inkjet printer. I threw in the garbage a Canon multifunction that refused ton work as a SCANNER when its ink was empty. If you have the space and print a lot of black and white, buy an eight year old used HP LaserJet with an Ethernet interface.
I don't know why people still bother with inkjets. It's like the companies are actively punishing you for buying these models of printers. If they are necessary for work, then MAYBE. But even then, if you're buying commercial hardware you're not dealing with this junk either. It also used to be that laser was incredibly expensive in comparison, now they're about the same price if you compare color inkjet to black and…
You can't generalize all inkjet printers. I use a Canon Maxify Injket in my company (we print only ~200 pages / month) and it's amazing. There is no laserjet that could compete in price/print.
Re: Never buy Epson printers
#27I don't own a printer, and I feel like when I have to print something I usually employ one of the following strategies:
1) Going to an office supply store, library, or university with the PDF of what I need to print on a USB drive.
2) My workplace providing a printer for work-related printing.
I can imagine good reasons why someone would need to own a printer, but it seems almost like a car these days. If you don't want to deal with one, and you can live your life effectively without, it might be better to rely on services to print for you.
Re: Never buy Epson printers
#28I pretty much exclusively buy Epson XP-420's nowadays. What other all-in-one option is there that meets the following criteria? 1. Complete and free Linux support 2. Wireless 3. Affordable - remember, we are competing with a printer that regularly retails for $40 and whose cartridges cost around $10 per set. "Just buy the $200 Brother with $40 a set toner" isn't satisfactory to the people I recommend printers to. HP…
Since most folks only print black and white for occasional stuff (forms, taxes, resumes, etc), something like the Brother HL-L2320D mono laser printer is a good bet. Works with Linux (rpm and deb available from their site), wireless, affordable. It's under $90 and toner is $30 for 1200 pages (2.5 cents per page) or $49 for 2600 pages (1.9 cents per page). Compare that to $13 for 175 pages (7.4 cents per page) with the Epson.
If you don't need wireless, bump down to $68 for the HL-L2320D. For both printers, good 3rd party toner is about $10 for 1000+ pages to save even more. I listed only first-party numbers above.
If you really want to print pictures at home, you can on a "cheap" inkjet. But it'll cost you overall more per print (due to ink drying out, etc) and be worse quality than you can get from a local pharmacy, office store, or printer. A good quality inkjet for photos is another story, but quite a bit pricier.
Re: Never buy Epson printers
#29I pretty much exclusively buy Epson XP-420's nowadays. What other all-in-one option is there that meets the following criteria? 1. Complete and free Linux support 2. Wireless 3. Affordable - remember, we are competing with a printer that regularly retails for $40 and whose cartridges cost around $10 per set. "Just buy the $200 Brother with $40 a set toner" isn't satisfactory to the people I recommend printers to. HP…
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Re: Never buy Epson printers
#30Hahah, you think the other vendors are better? At least the Epson stuff I've owned is easy to install with Linux and doesn't break after a few months of use (contrary to various Canon and HP devices). If there exists a non-terrible printer manufacturer (in a consumer budget range) do tell me.
I bought an HP M252dw Color Laserjet supporting WiFi and AirPrint off Amazon for $230 last year. It replaced a Konica Minolta color laser I'd had for several years that ran out of toner (that one was $120 IIRC). I didn't have to replace it, but I really wanted an AirPrint printer. I also had to be a be choosy since I wanted something that would fit in the IKEA printer stand I've had for about 10 years.
Sure toner costs about double what ink does, but with the very occasional printing I do it's actually much cheaper since I don't have to replace the ink or print heads from disuse whenever I need to print something. The laser printer is always ready and will go years on the same toner cartridges.
Forget black & white. Having a color laser at home is one of the best computer purchases I've made. I had a cheap Canon USB Scanner in the closet for the once or twice a year I need that function.