Advice on Printer Choice

shstudent · 12 Jul 2014

Hi all!
I need some help here. Which are the better low cost printers around? I have a hp deskjet 9800 a few years now and suddenly it starts to give trouble: the light are flashing, the springs are shifting -the overall carriage head seem to be at fault. When I check the relevant sites and forums, other people seem to be having different combinations of the problems I am having with this model, but with no adequate response from HP to deal with the issues. I am therefore looking for something else as it has stopped printing a couple of days ago.

I would like to get one that is able to print up to 13" wide (like the one I have now) but this is not a must. What I want is to balance the cost of ink cartridges, the print quality and the durability.

What do you suggest?

Thanks much to you all

ignatzatsonic · 12 Jul 2014

General recommendation is to avoid inkjet printers and go with laser. Inkjet cartridges are costly, have limited shelf life, and have problems similar to your experience.

You can get a monochrome laser for 100 or less. The toner seems to have very long shelf life--I'm on my original toner and it's 7 years old, no issues. No more buying ink jet cartridges once or twice a year.

Not sure about the 13 inch wide issue. You'd have to investigate that.

If you need color, that boosts the price a bit--I haven't checked, but I'd do the necessary to get off the inkjet train.

Standard brands would be Brother and Samsung. Not sure what HP and Canon's situation is on low-priced monochrome lasers, but they'd be worth a look too.

shstudent · 14 Jul 2014

Thank you so much! You have now given me pointers I can check and start my elimination. This is of much help.

essenbe · 15 Jul 2014

I can attest to what ignatzatsonic said. I have an Inkjet printer that I could buy new for about $80. But, I spend about $30 3 or 4 times a year on cartridges. Not very smart, is it?

Lady Fitzgerald · 15 Jul 2014

x3 on going laser instead of inkjet. They cost more upfront and the toner cartridges cost more than ink cartridges, the cost per printed page is considerably lower for laser than it is for ink, even after factoring in upfront costs.

When shopping, check user reviews for little quirks a machine might have and also check the cost of consumables per page (toner, drums, etc.).

A printer that can print paper wider than 8.5" is known as a wide format printer but even those are limited to just 11" wide. Plotters can handle larger prints but are usually only B&W, are huge, slow, and seriously expensive. If you print something that large only occasionally, get a standard printer and farm out the wide prints to a print/copy shop; you will save a lot of money in the long run that way unless you need to have the printouts immediately.

shstudent · 16 Jul 2014

Than you all so much!