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best printer for college @ ~$100.

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Consider that those HP's do not print many pages per cartridge. I had one, but sold it since it only printed a couple hundred pages of black text before it ran out of ink. Black costs $20 for maybe 200-300 pages. Color costs $35. Also, HP never includes a full tank in their bundle. Usually, they are only half-filled. There are no generics because the printhead is integrated into the cartridge. When I purchased an HP, there were not even many refill kits available. Note that HP's tanks are not the easiest to refill as they are opaque. To reset the counter, you must either cover the contacts or swap it between 3 cartridges. Way too much of a hassle for me.

As far as lasers go, most consumer models are rated at roughly 2000-3000 pages per toner and cost about $70. Samsung is often mentioned because they are easiest to refill and the toner powder is dirt-cheap. However, in my opinion, Samsung noticeably overstates its yield per cartridge. Even so, if you are satisfied with the quality of prints, the printer is a good deal for a college student who mainly prints text.
 
I guess Samsung lasers are ok, but I don't like that they don't print in color. Since I work with many graphics, I can't live with a laser printer, but those who don't need color printing, may argue that laser is better. It depends on what kind of person the person is who purchases a printer. My cousin for example, can't live without speed, has a laser printer. Me, who needs to work with PhotoShop and Fireworks, requiers an inkjet. Juancferrer may be right about the quality of the samsung, but personally i prefer my psc1200v.
 
Take a looksy at the Epson C84 it's like 77 dollars after rebate. And the pigment based ink is extremely water resistent
 
Another vote for Canon i560,the carts are even cheaper then Epson ,infact Canon printers have the cheapest ink carts period for both Canon and third party inks.
 
i560 - I know its been said, but its one hell of a printer - the black in prints 1500 black text and the 3 colors print 90 4x6 photos ... plus the ink is only $12 per cartridge.
 
For laser, you can usually dig up a Samsung ML-1710 for around $100. Print quality and speed is very good, and a 3000-page replacement toner/drum costs around $80 retail (about 3 cents per page, not horrible). I picked up one late last year and it's been a good little printer so far. The only major complaint is that the Mac OS X driver is HORRIBLE (very slow and buggy).

For a $100 inkjet, the Epson Stylus C84/C86 is hard to beat. It uses individual ink tanks, all inks are pigmented (smear, smudge, fade resistant), it's fast, and prints beautifully. Ink prices are reasonable ($33 for high-capacity black, about 2.5 cents per page) and $13 for each color (about 3 cents per page per color, 5% coverage). I have the older C82 for my color printing and it's never really let me down. The C84/C86 just uses improved cartridges (higher page yield).
 
Originally posted by: vladbot
Originally posted by: thirtythree
Originally posted by: eLiu
Would it be better to get a laser printer or an inkjet? Right now we have both at home...a Brother HL 1440 (laser) for b&w, and a HP 820C (inkjet) for color. I'm also trying to figure out what I should buy for college.
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I assume the laser would be better if you don't need to print in color, but laser printers are generally more expensive, no?
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Yes they are much more expensive and they are bulkier too. The toner is more expensive than ink as well.
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YEs but you buy one 1 $90 toner instead of 5 or 6 $30-40 incartridges 😀

I have a HP 1000 Series and a HP LaserJet5M

I love them. I have had the 100 for OVER a YEAR and Have not replaced the Toner.

I just got the 5M used. The 1000 does not print easily from linux
 
i've tried a bunch of printers and i'll have to go with the canon i560 or any other canon printer. inks are cheap, prints are fast, and the color prints are pretty good.
 
How about the Canon MP360 Multifunction. I just graduated and had a scanner and an epson C62 Inkjet and while good individually, I wish I would have gotten an all in one unit. Sure thw two combined could do copies and such, but an all-in-one make it 10x easier amd take up less space. Also, its good to be able to print in color for projects and such. It's about $100 now after rebate. Otherwise, getting a $100 samsung laser printer is another way to go. Thats just my 2 cents.
 
If you really want color go for the cannon I560, otherwise a used HP laserjet 4 Plus or plain old 4 will prob. be your best bet toss in a $15 jet direct card and you can print straight to an IP, My father paid 1.6 grand for an HP Laserjet 4 + 6mb memory upgrade shortly after it was released over 15 years ago and it still works today just like the day he purchased it. They are built like tanks and are bullet proof w/ a duty cycle of over 10,000 pages per month plus toner is fairly cheap and unless you print an obsene amount of stuff you prolly won't need to refill your toner cart. more than once during a 5 year colledge career. Just my 2 cents.... 🙂
 
I have had my ML-1710 for over a year and have been very happy with it. The only problem is that it comes with a starter toner that is only rated for 500 pages. The full size one is rated at 5000 pages and can be had for about $55 dollars online.
 
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