Question Any suggestion for a good scanner/printer for home use?

[SaltyNuts]

I want something that prints, can use toner that is pretty cheap (don't want to pay a premium for toner cartridges), and scan quickly, and scan to PDF, no funky scan formats. And I don't want to pay a lot for that muffler, if I can avoid it lol. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Steltek]

Usually, that would be one of the Brother MFC models (especially the Brother factory refurbs).

However, probably due to the semiconductor shortages, they are recently either pretty much out of stock everywhere or, when in stock, have significantly jacked up prices. As a result, you picked a pretty bad time to need to begin shopping for a cheap multifunction machine.

You might check your local Walmart/Best Buy/Target to see what they have on the shelves that haven't yet been sold.

I think Best Buy and Office Depot still have the MFC-2710DW in stock which can be configured to scan direct to PDF for around $200. It has duplex printing as well as wireless networking, but doesn't have a fax function. Brother toners are expensive, but you can buy toner online to do your own refills (YMMV as to quality). If you need fax capabilities, it costs $250 for the MFC-2750DW which is otherwise identical to the MFC-2710DW. Last time I checked, Tigerdirect (and maybe Best Buy) still had them in stock at this price.

 

[Steltek]

Robot or human?

$99.99+ tax, shipped at Walmart.

I've never had a Brother refurb sold by a major retailer that didn't look and work just like new. That being said, I haven't had this model before.

It has wireless networking, will scan to PDF, but only includes a 630 page starter cartridge (though, you likely can purchase toner and a gear to refill and reset it). I suspect the starter cartridge is likely a TN630 (the higher capacity version is the TN660), and as a result there are tons of videos on Youtube showing how to refill and reset them.

And, the best thing about buying from Walmart is that there are plenty of stores around where you can return it to if it doesn't work properly or meet your requirements.

 

[Thump553]

Another vote for Brother. I print real estate closings, so I print a lot. One nice thing about Brother is they don't chip the toner cartridges so you can buy third party ones. I tested out a half dozen third party ones a few years back, settled on one brand which is very near to quality of Brother's at one-third the price. So this isn't an ad I won't put that name here but will provide it to people who PM me.

You can also get third party drums (replace every 30,000 pages) but I've never been happy with the ones I've tried.

I use the MFC L5700DW which can add a second optional paper tray (which I need). Last time I bought one (about a year ago) they were running around $300.