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Need a printer for cheap, please recommend something

R

raildogg

Lifer
I want a cheap printer to print text, documents and other similar things. Mostly, it will be used for school so I don't care if its in color or not. My old HP PSC 22100 All in one is not working because the USB port cable comes loose and doesn't attach properly. I've tried another USB cable and same result.

I'm looking at laser printers and inkjet printers right now. Saw some cheap Lexmark printers, but I'm concerned about their operating costs. Do Lexmark ink cartridges cost more than HP? Also, is a laser printer worth it? I'll be printing around 100 or so pages a month, sometimes more and sometimes less. Thank you.
 
If you can get away with no color---you are almost always better off with a monochrome laser.

In an inkjet, low initial purchase price almost always equals getting hosed on ink cartridge replacement costs---where you pay high prices for very little ink.

A year ago or so you could get a non-chipped Canon using the BCI-3&6 cartridge line, then use low close clone tanks readily available on the iternet dirt cheap, and get
printing at under laser costs.

Since the non-chipped Canons are now almost impossible to find---only the refiller can get by lately with a new inkjets---but if you learn how to refill and over ride the chip---something like a Canon pixma 4200 or 4300 will allow around a $100.00 purchase price and very high quality output---with OEM cartridges---expect a ink consumable costs of about three cents per page in monochrome. And about a tenth that if you refill---which is made artifically difficult by the new Canon chips.

But if you really want to get ripped off----Lexmark is really the #1 worst company---followed by HP. Epson would be good if their printers did not clog so easily. Brother is worth looking at but have some realiability problems. But any of the new Canons using the CLI-5&8 cartridges are reliable and will offer the best OEM ink costs. Any of the Canons using other chipped cartridges are now rip-offs on ink---and every bit as bad as Lexmark and HP.
 
I second what L-L says. Laser printer if b/w is all you need.

For ink jet, I like the Canon iP4300. Price is $85. some places right now (not sure whether that is "after rebate" or straight up) but operating costs using the (now available at swiftink.com) clone tanks will be lower than any other ink jet printer using their OEM tanks and most using cloned or refurbed tanks or cartridges. Plus you can refill fairly easily to save even more. And the output quality is second to none.

And set harsh printer use rules up front or you'll be mooched to death by your fellow students.

.bh.
 
I think I've decided on a laser printer. The Samsung 2010 is my choice. link.

What do you think? Reliable? Fast? Long lasting? Will handle 1000 pages without requiring a toner change?
 
I've been thinking of getting a reliable monochrome laser printer and the Samsung looks to be a good choice. What are the costs and average page yields of a single laser toner?
 
If you can snag an HP laserjet 10xx (such as laserjet 1012, laserjet 1018, laserjet 1020) for under $120 on a good deal, it'd be a great choice. I got my laserjet 1012 from office depot a year ago when they had a huge deal + coupon and I got it for $80 shipped. It's still running strong on the original toner it came with. I'd estimate I've printed about 1500 pages so far on it. Great print speeds, the quality is awesome (for the price-level).
 
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