Need a printer suggestion for light home usage

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letmein

letmein

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I need a printer for my parents. The usage will be really, really light. Like a couple of pages a month, mostly tickets.

This HP AIO is going for 3k, decent reviews. The problem is that it's an inkjet, so the cartridges would need to be replaced often.

https://www.amazon.in/HP-DeskJet-Inkjet-Colour-Printer/dp/B013GF4QQE

The cheapest laserjet (that has good reviews on Amazon) is around 8k.

https://www.amazon.in/Brother-HL-L2321D-Single-Function-Monochrome-Printing/dp/B00SHFP99W

I'm really having a hard time justifying this price, considering the low usage. At the same time, on another thread I read that the cost of replacing ink cartridges for an inkjet would be more than the price of a printer over 2-3 years. But then again, I doubt a printer would last for 3 years, so I'm really confused if I should save money and go for the inkjet, or invest money in a laserjet, despite the super low usage.

Any suggestions? Thanks.
 
If it is only for printing purpose the below single function printers should suffice. Actually the scanner and copier functions are not needed in a printer now as cam-scanner app takes care of all scanning needs now. Yes, ink cartridges cost more and nothing can be done about that . To prolong the usage of the cartridge just need to print couple of sheets per month. Refill the cartridge for couple of times instead of buying new one which should bring down the cost.

https://www.amazon.in/HP-DeskJet-Si...scsubtag=b6655db8-d568-450b-b394-2c25701b613d

https://www.amazon.in/Canon-TS307-F...scsubtag=b6655db8-d568-450b-b394-2c25701b613d
 
Inkets get clogged if you dont use for long time as far as i know.If its only couple of pages per month, why not simply get it taken from nearby shops? will be cheaper? its not worth the investment.
 
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vaalkai said:
Inkets get clogged if you dont use for long time as far as i know.If its only couple of pages per month, why not simply get it taken from nearby shops? will be cheaper? its not worth the investment.
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He mentioned the printer is for the parents. Its easier for them to get the ticket printed in home.
 
Gearbox said:
He mentioned the printer is for the parents. Its easier for them to get the ticket printed in home.
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Yeah i noticed that, i think printers will be more of a hassle to operate for them. It might be easier to put the file in a pendrive and get the printout from shops. just my 2 cents.
 
A Laser printer without a thought if it's for intermittent usage
I burnt through multiple inkjets till I finally got a Laser which has been running good for over 5 years now

Inkjets dry up if left unused while you can fireup a laser after months of non usage without a glitch

Just pick one that uses commonly used cartridges .. Mine uses the HP 88A for which various clones are available for sub 1K
My usage is a few prints a month and each replacement has run at least 2 years
 
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Have been using the Ricoh SP111 laser printer for almost a couple of years. Works trouble free. It goes for about 6K rupees on different sites. Keep checking. Official Ricoh toner costs less than 700 rs.
 
vaalkai said:
Inkets get clogged if you dont use for long time as far as i know.If its only couple of pages per month, why not simply get it taken from nearby shops? will be cheaper? its not worth the investment.
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Not anymore. I have a Brother Inkjet printer that comes with company refillable ink tanks. It has auto clean functionality. I print once every 2 or 3 weeks whereas the printer keeps performing auto cleanup around twice a week. I have this printer for more than 2 years now.
 
Avoid Inkjets if the printer is going to be used occasionally. I have a HP AIO which costed around 3.5k, cartridges (colour + b&w cost almost 2k). To keep the cartridges from getting clogged, printer has to be used / cleaned every 2-3 which wastes ink.
 
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If they will use the printer once every 3-4 days, then opt for Epson/HP ink tank printers. I had suggested the same for a collegue of mine, who did not want to pay the premium, and opted for an Inkjet and is now paying the price with refilling cartridges and having printing issues.

If more than that, opt for a laser. If you can, opt for a used 1020/2900B as they have hassle free toners without chips.
 
technofast said:
Actually the scanner and copier functions are not needed in a printer now as cam-scanner app takes care of all scanning needs now.
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The copy function of my all in one laser gets the most use. The scan function is second.

phones need to be set up with good light and are fine for copies of 3D

Image quality is better with an all in one and much easier than using a phone[DOUBLEPOST=1536413641][/DOUBLEPOST]
skoka123 said:
Not anymore. I have a Brother Inkjet printer that comes with company refillable ink tanks. It has auto clean functionality. I print once every 2 or 3 weeks whereas the printer keeps performing auto cleanup around twice a week. I have this printer for more than 2 years now.
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yeah it uses ink to clear the jets and that ink costs more than champagne.

That is assuming it can clear the jets to begin with.

If colour prints are required regularly then an inkjet might be an option
 
letmein said:
This HP AIO is going for 3k, decent reviews. The problem is that it's an inkjet, so the cartridges would need to be replaced often.

https://www.amazon.in/HP-DeskJet-Inkjet-Colour-Printer/dp/B013GF4QQE

The cheapest laserjet (that has good reviews on Amazon) is around 8k.

https://www.amazon.in/Brother-HL-L2321D-Single-Function-Monochrome-Printing/dp/B00SHFP99W

Any suggestions? Thanks.
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What i don't like about these models is they are USB only. Not wifi enabled. This means they need to be located either close to and wired to a router or a PC and that PC needs to be on for the printer to work

Wifi enabled is more convenient can be placed anywhere there is a signal. I would not consider a printer that didn't have wifi capability built in. If ever there is a power cut it should on resumption of power, wake up, connect to the network and go back to sleep. There can be some complications involved here depending on how well the software can cope with such a situation. Needs a tech aware person at hand in such a case

If there are any chromebooks in your setup in the future then things become more complicated as you will have to choose printers that are fairly recent and cloud aware. In addition now you will need a working internet connection just to print something which is ridiculous
 
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kreacher said:
Avoid Inkjets if the printer is going to be used occasionally. I have a HP AIO which costed around 3.5k, cartridges (colour + b&w cost almost 2k). To keep the cartridges from getting clogged, printer has to be used / cleaned every 2-3 which wastes ink.
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I second this 100% .. the only thing I'm not sure is if this is with all brands or just HP ( I have an HP AIO inkjet with the and issue) but friend with Canon doesn't.

If you don't need colour then a LaserJet might be better.. inkjet will dry up if not used from time to time (HP disclaimer)
 
blr_p said:
yeah it uses ink to clear the jets and that ink costs more than champagne.

That is assuming it can clear the jets to begin with.

If colour prints are required regularly then an inkjet might be an option
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You either have absolutely no clue what you are talking about or you drink real cheap champagne. The printer I am using for the last 2 years is https://www.amazon.in/Brother-DCP-T...1941&sr=8-1&keywords=brother+printer+dcpt500w. I am still on the original cartridges that came with the printer. Mind you, this printer comes with 2 bottles of black ink and 1 bottle of cyan, magenta and yellow ink each which I am yet to open.

You should now be able to find much better inkjet printers since my purchase.
 
skoka123 said:
You either have absolutely no clue what you are talking about or you drink real cheap champagne. The printer I am using for the last 2 years is https://www.amazon.in/Brother-DCP-T...1941&sr=8-1&keywords=brother+printer+dcpt500w. I am still on the original cartridges that came with the printer. Mind you, this printer comes with 2 bottles of black ink and 1 bottle of cyan, magenta and yellow ink each which I am yet to open.

You should now be able to find much better inkjet printers since my purchase.
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Can't find this printer on amazon us & uk. So found the closest equivalent. As long as you use it regularly this means once a week or more inkjets are fine. Go a month or two between prints and the story changes.

letmein said:
The usage will be really, really light. Like a couple of pages a month, mostly tickets.
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blr_p said:
Tank system needs to be used once a week as well. There's no getting around clogged jets. They have to be unclogged.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1TCK3VZS2DYLO/ref=ask_dp_lswr_rp_hza

This problem isn't there with lasers.
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That must be an isolated incident. The printer I have was bought in Feb 2016. In 2.5 years not once did I face the problem. I never had the issue with clogging even if I have not printed a single page in 2 months. The key here is the auto clean function. As long as one remembers to keep the printer powered on, one does not have to worry about clogging print nozzles. As I said, even after 2.5 years, I am yet to refill the ink tanks. Also the cost of the ink bottles (prints around 5000 pages) is less than Rs. 500 each.

I used to own a Casio Cartridge based inkjet printer that used to get clogged if I do not print at least once a week. Finally, the print nozzle was so clogged that no amount of cleaning revived the printer. Ink Tank inkjet printers with auto clean completely changes the scenario.
 
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