Question Cheapest Per Page Black & White Printer?

[wacki]

Cheapest Per Page Black & White Printer? I don't need a scanner, color or bells and whistles. I want a simple, easy to use printer that can print lots of letters cheaply.

Looking at these:

• Brother’s Inkvestment
• Epson® Ecotank

Right now I'm leaning towards this:

• Brother HL-L2350DW

As the Ecotank can dry up / clog if you don't use it for 2 weeks. I'll pay a little extra for reliability.

Any others out there? Thoughts? Again, I'm just printing lots of Black & White letters to mail out.

 

[mindless1]

How many pages/year is "lots"?

Will you be buying only OEM cartridges, or aftermarket carts, or DIY bulk toner refills?

While a monochrome laser is the way to go for cheapest cost/page, the answers to the above two questions matter a lot. For example it is still fairly expensive (for a B&W laser) to get the HL-L2350DW but then get the 3K page, $75 OEM carts which don't even have the drum built-in, is another $100 per 12K page rating.

On the other hand if it would take you a few years to print 3K pages, it could be a false economy to make a larger initial investment to get something that takes 6K+ page carts and longer lasting drums.

If you don't need highest print quality you can stretch drum use out and also gamble on 3rd party carts, but the cheapest way to go is get bulk toner then chips or reset gears, etc (depends on what the particular model needs) to DIY refill them.

Depends on how hands-on you want to be. Some are refilled by just pulling a plug. Some need a hole cut or melted in then a refill kit includes a plug. Some need an access panel removed by drilling out plastic-welded studs to access the plug then the panel may need screws added to put back on.

Cost difference depends on how many drums you go through, but ignoring drum (and paper) cost, $75 for 3K pages OEM cart equals $0.025/page, while bulk toner (taking first random example I saw), $12 for a 2 pack of toner refills, so 6K pages is $0.002/page, less than 1/10th the cost. Aftermarket carts fall in the middle, or about 2-3X the cost of the bulk toner but the quality can be spotty so buy from a place with good customer service. I would not get aftermarket drums, they tend to make lighter print and wear out faster.

https://www.amazon.com/Replacement-DCP-L2550DW-HL-L2350DW-HL-L2370DW-MFC-L2750DW/dp/B07T821PXR

Another option is a larger, used monochrome laser. Brother would again be a fair choice. You can probably find a mid-sized unit for $100 that still has 200K pages worth of life left, and takes 6K page or higher carts, but if you want modern OS driver support, be sure to check on that before purchase. With only printing, not AIO features, the drivers built into windows may be enough by themselves but the OS has to have them if the printer manufacturer has stopped releasing new drivers with each new (Windows) OS version!

 

[Arkaign]

I'll echo the confidence in the Brother lasers. Between a large auto dealership and large law firm I have maybe 80-85 of these deployed at any time, and overall they're extremely reliance. I always use brother drums and amazon generic toner (as long as they're 4.5/5 rated).

 

[Thump553]

I print a lot (closings) and have gone through printers of several different brands. Based on my experience, a Brother laser is the way to go, especially because you can use generic toner at one-third or less the price.

Stay away from ink jets-absurdly expensive on supplies (no matter what brand) and clogging/drying out is a perpetual problem. I spend roughly $35 on a toner cartridge that is good for about 3,000 pages-and it doesn't matter whether it takes you two weeks to print that much or two years.

Check whatever particular model you focus on to make sure you can get generic toner as they may have changed for newer models than what I use. If you want a recommendation on what brand of toner I use exclusively now, PM me-I don't want to sound like a shill.

Personally I'd invest a few extra bucks to get the scanner (legal size is fine) built in. You will find it remarkably useful and it works as a copier machine as well.

 

[Arkaign]

I agree with Thump 🐇

Can't go wrong with a Brother laser and some of the better reviewed aftermarket toner. It's just ridiculously cost effective and produces fast, sharp results.

I've been around a long time in this business. A long, long time. Modern brother is what old HP lasers once were : reliable and cheap to run.

Something that boggles my mind with how it's even extended into HP lasers, and basically all inkjets is how they've added more plastic to the internals of the ink and toner so they can put less actual ink and toner inside.

Another bonus of lasers is their ability to survive extreme lengths of time on the shelf, I've had them sitting in dusty garages going through freezes and 120f Texas summers, and plug them back in after a decade and bam, perfect print first time. Inkjets are basically done if you chuck a used one even in a temperate closet for very long. The ink will fossilize in the print head, and as that's long been a part that is not user serviceable or available aftermarket, it just adds more tech junk to our landfills.

 

[GrumpyMan]

I've been using a HL-3170CDW for the last few years and a HL-L2350 DW before that. Color not the best in the world on the 3170, but for me more than OK. However they are both stellar for text in general and I can use knock off cartridges at insanely cheap pricing. So far, so good and highly recommended.