Author Topic: Cheapest Home Printing Options? (Sick of Expensive Ink Purchases!)  (Read 6978 times)

AndyV

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Howdy All,

My wife and I have an older HP all in one office printer (5 years+ now), we use for some misc B&W/color printing for my wife's Mom's group and occasionally we'll print photos (not heavy users).  The last time we bought ink cartridges, they totaled $85 for a complete replacement set (HP 564 ink)!!!  To boot, if we don't use these often, then they end up drying out!

We're looking to buy a new printer, just curious if others have found home printers that end up being cheaper overall to operate over it's lifetime? I've heard the Epson Eco-Tanks are a good deal long term.  Or has anyone found luck purchasing the generic print cartridges (seen very mixed reviews here).

Just figured i'd ask, there's gotta be a cheaper way to print from home.  Thanks in Advance.

JJ-

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Re: Cheapest Home Printing Options? (Sick of Expensive Ink Purchases!)
« Reply #1 on: January 02, 2018, 06:46:55 AM »
We use a laser jet after getting tired of spending so much on ink. It doesn't do photos well but when we need to print photos we go to Walgreens. Haven't bought new toner in a good while, and got the printer for cheap second hand.

tyler2016

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Re: Cheapest Home Printing Options? (Sick of Expensive Ink Purchases!)
« Reply #2 on: January 02, 2018, 07:07:42 AM »
I second a laser printer. A black and white laser printer can be bought for less than $100. If you want a scanner, 100 to 150. Make sure to get one that supports some kind of standard language like PostScript or PCL. For photos, just have your nearest Walmart, Walgreens or whatever print them. I think Costco does printing too.

maricela

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Re: Cheapest Home Printing Options? (Sick of Expensive Ink Purchases!)
« Reply #3 on: January 02, 2018, 07:29:11 AM »
Definitely laser. Cartridges are more, but they don’t dry out. And when you do have to print that larger job, they are more efficient. The higher upfront cost is worth it.

zolotiyeruki

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Re: Cheapest Home Printing Options? (Sick of Expensive Ink Purchases!)
« Reply #4 on: January 02, 2018, 08:04:21 AM »
I second a laser printer. A black and white laser printer can be bought for less than $100. If you want a scanner, 100 to 150. Make sure to get one that supports some kind of standard language like PostScript or PCL. For photos, just have your nearest Walmart, Walgreens or whatever print them. I think Costco does printing too.
This is good advice.  DW and I have an HP color laser all-in-one that we bought probably 8 years ago.  It still runs great.
Definitely laser. Cartridges are more, but they don’t dry out. And when you do have to print that larger job, they are more efficient. The higher upfront cost is worth it.
You can also get aftermarket cartridges, or if you're a bit more handy, you can refill the toner cartridges for next to nothing.

ketchup

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Re: Cheapest Home Printing Options? (Sick of Expensive Ink Purchases!)
« Reply #5 on: January 02, 2018, 10:17:30 AM »
Definitely laser. Cartridges are more, but they don’t dry out. And when you do have to print that larger job, they are more efficient. The higher upfront cost is worth it.
This.  They tend to be cheaper per page, and they also are usually a lot faster than inkjet.  There's less to go wrong mechanically (but things still go wrong; it's still a printer).

HipGnosis

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Re: Cheapest Home Printing Options? (Sick of Expensive Ink Purchases!)
« Reply #6 on: January 02, 2018, 11:57:47 AM »
I was a PC tech and learned laser printer repair about 20 yrs ago.  I was certified on multiple major brands.
My job evolved to project management and technical writing, but I continued to be 'the printer guy'.  I replaced the toner, ordered new toner and chose what printers to buy.
I haven't fixed a printer in years.  Laser printers are much more durable than they use to be (see note).  Inkjets aren't worth fixing (other than glueing a tab back on a cover or tray).  (BTW; laserjet is an oxymoron)
Note: I don't have any experience with the current desktop/personal laser printers.  I bought a few of them for the Co. yrs ago and found they didn't last so I stopped buying them.   I don't recommend a laser printer that's smaller than a bread-box.

Laser printers are dramatically cheaper per page.

Rcc

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Re: Cheapest Home Printing Options? (Sick of Expensive Ink Purchases!)
« Reply #7 on: January 02, 2018, 01:02:16 PM »
I used to do the ink jet tango. Managed to ditch that and keep away from it for ~10 years by sending print needs off to WalMart, CVS etc. Wife hounded me to "buy a color printer" for a few years. Finally snagged a color laser for free from co-worker, only had to buy new toner. That was 5ish years ago, and we're still on the same set. Use case for her was "son printing color stuff for school". Picture quality prints is still outsourced.

Most of our printing needs these days is handled by a B&W laser. Both printers are Brother brands.

Sibley

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Re: Cheapest Home Printing Options? (Sick of Expensive Ink Purchases!)
« Reply #8 on: January 02, 2018, 01:44:00 PM »
Laser printer. And don't be fooled by the wifi connection, have a printer cable on hand.

ketchup

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Re: Cheapest Home Printing Options? (Sick of Expensive Ink Purchases!)
« Reply #9 on: January 02, 2018, 01:55:52 PM »
Laser printer. And don't be fooled by the wifi connection, have a printer cable on hand.
Absolutely this.  I bought a wireless printer last year and it worked great for about a month before stupid issues cropped up.  An ethernet cable solved them.  Never again.  Wireless on printers: not even once.

mustachemountain

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Re: Cheapest Home Printing Options? (Sick of Expensive Ink Purchases!)
« Reply #10 on: January 02, 2018, 05:39:14 PM »
i put stuff on a thumb drive and print it out at the library or the local print shop. not having instant gratification printing is good because a lot of print outs are unnecessary waste. i save money and the environment by doing a lot less of it. getting rid of your printer is just like getting rid of your car, after it's gone you realise you don't need it as much as you thought.

Llewellyn2006

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Re: Cheapest Home Printing Options? (Sick of Expensive Ink Purchases!)
« Reply #11 on: January 02, 2018, 06:27:11 PM »
Another vote for a laser printer although these days I save as much as possible as a pdf. I'm not sure where the OP is located but if you're in Australia the best (ie cheapest and quickest service) place I've found for toners is Ink Station. Never had a problem with them. Actually that's my recommendation for any Aussie Mustachians who need toners or cartridges.


RyanAtTanagra

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Re: Cheapest Home Printing Options? (Sick of Expensive Ink Purchases!)
« Reply #12 on: January 03, 2018, 10:56:52 AM »
i put stuff on a thumb drive and print it out at the library or the local print shop. not having instant gratification printing is good because a lot of print outs are unnecessary waste. i save money and the environment by doing a lot less of it. getting rid of your printer is just like getting rid of your car, after it's gone you realise you don't need it as much as you thought.

This, I would suggest you question why you think you need a printer.  Printers are the scourge of home/office technology and need to go away.  They're environmentally unfriendly, ongoingly expensive, and break nonstop.  What do you print for your Mom's group?  Can you move them to an email group or a text chain?  FB group?  Lot's of options besides wasteful paper.  Think outside the box.  For photos you'll usually get better quality print and paper if you have them done at a print shop, or just go to a Kodak machine.  And really, how many photos do you need to print out?  For every reason someone tells me they have to own a printer, I think 'that's an invented reason and could easily be done away with if you tried'.

jamesbond007

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Re: Cheapest Home Printing Options? (Sick of Expensive Ink Purchases!)
« Reply #13 on: January 03, 2018, 12:01:00 PM »
I found an after market ink cartridge for my brother laser printer on amazon for less than half the price of the OEM and with slightly more ink than the OEM. Even with little printing we do at home, it comes to cheaper than going to kinkos for us.

cchrissyy

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Re: Cheapest Home Printing Options? (Sick of Expensive Ink Purchases!)
« Reply #14 on: January 03, 2018, 12:45:35 PM »
You probably can live just fine without the printer!

there are many better-quality places to have your occasional photos printed FAR cheaper than the cost of owning your own machine, color ink, and photo paper.

As far as your more common b&w needs
- can you print at work?
- can you print at the library?  (for reference, mine is 7 cents a page)
- can somebody else in the mom's group be responsible for printing at their house or work? 

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!