Oppo, please recommend me a *good* inkjet home printer. EDIT: okay, recommend any printer: with frickin' laser beams

"Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo" (thetomselleck) 06/05/2019 at 19:42 • Filed to: i guess if he can't afford the new car he'll buy a new box that applies ink onto the face of fallen compressed processed trees.

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Hi, I’m Dr. Zoidberg. You may remember from me such posts as, “Welp,” and, “OOOUAUUAUAGAHAAAHHAUHHH.”

Today I come to you in moderate defeat. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! a printer almost exactly one year ago today, and many of you warned me it was not the craftiest consumer purchase. Not Tercel-bad, but about as fleeting.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Well as other reviews you may find lamented: my wifi/wireless never worked, it’s cheap and crappy (which I didn’t mind, but I also like things to work), and the replacement cartridges? They cost as much as the printer itself. Also I’ve barely printed anything at all, yet black has been low and streaking for several months now. I have no interest in moving forward with this.

So puhleeeeeeeeez help me by recommending a good printer for my needs.

- we don’t print a lot of photos but want the freedom to do so
- ink that actually lasts
- wifi that works
- feeder scanner
- flatbed for copying/single scan
- isn’t a gigantic piece of POOOOOOOO
- fairly idiot-proof to set up, because I’m an idiot

Thanks!

jimz > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 19:50

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*good* inkjet home printer.

These words together in that order make no sense. they look like English but I can’t even begin to understand what they mean.

HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 19:53

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https://oppositelock.kinja.com/zoidbait-we-are-twins-1826514343

Throwback. Ours is still chugging along mostly fine, however.

Chariotoflove > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 19:54

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May I suggest an alternative? Go with a multifunction color laser writer. I am using an HP Color Laser Jet Pro MFP. It has copying and scanning functions in it as well. It’s faster and better than inkjet. I think it cost me around $200 with starter toner cartridges included. They practically give away the printers, hoping to keep you with them for replacement toner. The key is to buy refilled toner cartridges. I get mine on Amazon so I can peruse reviews and avoid the bad ones.

ETA: go on to Amazon and type “color laser printer”. You’ll see a few good options starting below $200. Brother, HP, and Xerox will serve you well.

RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 19:57

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I have never  had an inkjet that hasn’t clogged its nozzles before the first cartridge replacement was due.

Nibby > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 19:59

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get an MFC laser printer instead... will cost more upfront but over the lifetime of the printer you’ll save money. Inkjets are cheap for a reason... they make money off the ink, not the printers.

fhrblig > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 20:00

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I would, but mine is.... a Canon Pixma. For the record, it works fine and the wifi works. It is definitely loud as a chainsaw though.

Chariotoflove > Nibby 06/05/2019 at 20:02

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Yeah, you can get refilled ink cartridges, but you can also get refilled toner cartridges. For multiple reasons, a laser printer is a better investment.

Unless you plan on printing cake decorations.  You can buy sugar ink for your ink jet and print any picture you want as a cake design. Neat!

HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute > Nibby 06/05/2019 at 20:03

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Actually, this specific printer is cheaper than ink and comes with ink too. We have this exact one that Zoidberg has and our plan has saved us on ink and money surprisingly. We get these printers for like $29-49 depending on where we find it for sale and if my dad has rewards cash or something, I'm not entirely sure what he does but it works.

facw > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 20:05

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So what you want is actually a LASER printer! Maybe this one (currently $109, which is an all-time low according to camelcamelcamel ) :

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0763ZCH7K

Or its slightly fancier brother (which mostly adds two sided scanning and a color LCD): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0763X6TCW

It won’t print photos, but home inkjets aren’t great at that either. If you want a print a photo you are better off using an online service/office store/drug store all of which tend to have much higher quality photo printing. You get one cheap toner cartridge that lasts a great many pages instead of worrying about needing to stock 2-4 ink cartridges, special paper etc. With the laser, you also get duplex printing, which is awesome, and it’s generally faster which is nice .

Ditch the inkjet, you won’t regret it.

HammerheadFistpunch > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 20:05

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trick question - there is no good inkjet printer.

boredalways > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 20:07

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I have an Epson Workforce 840 that I’ve had for at least 6 years. Works fine. Even with generic ink cartridges.

But if you need to use a printer more than occasionally, then take the advice of others and get a laser.

Aremmes > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 20:07

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Forget inkjet printers, get a color laser printer instead. You can get a Brother duplex color laser printer with Wi-Fi and Ethernet for under $200.

jimz > Chariotoflove 06/05/2019 at 20:08

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this. I print so rarely anymore that I chucked my last ink-devouring inkjet and got a small Brother B&W laser. 4 years in I’m still on the starter toner cartridge, and I think I’ve been getting “toner low” notices for a year and a half now.

in short, fuck  inkjets. 

Chariotoflove > jimz 06/05/2019 at 20:10

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You can always take out the toner, shake it, and get a bunch more life, too.

Also, they build wireless into most of them so you can print from your phone or pad if you really need something.

jimz > HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute 06/05/2019 at 20:10

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well, when your plan is “just keep buying printers ‘cos it’s cheaper” you can see how fucked up this market segment is.  

RacinBob > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 20:10

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Done with inkjet. They are slow, their heads fail, and the ink is expensive. I love my brother color multifunction and would never go back to ink jet. N o way, no how.

Ink jet printers must be a spawn of this guy.....

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 20:12

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To echo everyone else: get a laser printer , and then go to CVS to print your photos.

You’ll be much happier in life.

Nibby > HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute 06/05/2019 at 20:13

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sounds like a total waste of money and resources t o me

jimz > fhrblig 06/05/2019 at 20:15

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the last ink vampire I had was some “OfficeJet” which I naively bought thinking “hey, it’s an OfficeJet, it can’t be as big a piece of crap as cheaper inkjets, right?”

Wrong. I dropped a review calling it the “Great Gray Whirring Machine” and described it as “HP advertised this thing as a “Color Inkjet Printer” which can produce 600 dpi printouts at 32 pages per minute.

What it really is, is a black and grey box which produces whirrs and clicks and magically makes ink disappear.”

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 20:16

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I do 100% of my printing either at work or at Fedex Office stores . The only time I ever owned a printer was in college because the school inexplicably gave them out for “free” to all students (“free” because for the amount of tuition being paid, nothing was free!). Ever since being a real adult, I have not considered  owning a printer as being a thing to do. 

jimz > Chariotoflove 06/05/2019 at 20:18

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mine has ethernet and wifi so it’s plugged into my router.  tres convenient

someassemblyrequired > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 20:18

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Seconding all of the Brother MFC laser advice. They’re great, relatively inexpensive, toner cartridges are reasonably priced and last forever (I’ve had mine 7 years, we print all the time and I’ve replaced the cartridge 3 times).

Here’s one on sale at Best Buy for $130: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/brother-mfc-l2710dw-wireless-black-and-white-all-in-one-printer-black/6138321.p?skuId=6138321&ref=212&loc=1&ref=212&loc=1&ds_rl=1266837&ds_rl=1266837&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0Jz0_8nT4gIVCrjACh1tfwOGEAQYASABEgI0DvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute > Nibby 06/05/2019 at 20:18

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Resources, maybe. Money? No. Like I said, we’ve saved money on it. How much, I don’t know because my dad deals with all that but he said it’s made a significant positive difference.

HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute > jimz 06/05/2019 at 20:19

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Oh yeah I can't disagree with that. But it works so you do what you gotta do, I guess.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 20:20

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HP printers are good but they come bundled with awful awful bloatware that’s included in the drivers and isn’t optional.

We use an Epson for copying at work (Lexmark  lazors for everything else) and it works pretty good.

jimz > HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute 06/05/2019 at 20:21

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I guess it depends on whether or not you do a lot of color photo printing.  Inkjets rule for photos.  But if you don’t, then a consumer laser makes eleventy billion times more sense. 

HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute > jimz 06/05/2019 at 20:23

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We definitely do print a lot of pictures, especially for my siblings' school projects and whatnot.

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > jimz 06/05/2019 at 20:24

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I did the brother BW route. Zero regrets. Thing hasn't jammed once!

sn4cktimes > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 20:27

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Laser or nothing at this point. Ink cartridges are highway robbery when used and straight up federal gold reserve robbery when left to dry up. It’s m ore to buy a laser. Toner is pricey as hell. But t oner never “expires”. And printers don’t gunk up like they can with ink.

David Baker > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 20:29

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No home gamer printers are reliable but, Brother and Epson seem better than most. Avoid any HP product like the plague.

InFierority Complex > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 20:33

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Go back to the original like printing enthusiasts intended

AestheticsInMotion > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 06/05/2019 at 20:44

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This x 1,000,00

EngineerWithTools > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 20:55

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I’ll go against the laser bandwagon, while admitting lasers have advantages.

I have an Epson WF-7620, which has an auto feeder, two paper trays, two sided printing, large cartridges, works fine with aftermarket ink, is fast and the prints are high quality. Mine also prints and scans (through the feeder) 11x17 because engineer.

There is an 8 1/2 x 11 version of the same printer. (There is also a newer version of the 7620.)

I looked at laser, but the 11x17 requirement drove those into a much higher price range. I also had a sorta-but-not-really equivalent HP 11x17 machine. HPs software is awful, and performance is strangely unpredictable. Also, for no good reason, HP put an 8” wide scanner on top of a 11”+ wide bed.

Anyway, good luck and happy printing!

Boxer_4 > HammerheadFistpunch 06/05/2019 at 20:55

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The Deskjet 720 was pretty decent.  The deskjets of that era were all pretty good, but that could be the nostalgia talking.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 21:20

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There is no such thing as a good inkjet printer...

MM54 > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 21:25

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As others have said: get a laser one. If you need real photos printed, have them printed somewhere and come out ahead by not needing to replace dried out ink annually. There are a lot of color laser multi-function printers which should suit your needs.

(Personally I have an HP Laserjet 6P which is black and white and ancient, but works great. I don’t really print pictures, and on the rare occasion I need color on something I do it at work. Most of my printing is service manuals, diagrams, invoices, etc.)

Brickman > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 21:46

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I have a Canon TS6020. Its actually just abit larger footprint than a regular sheet of paper, reliable wifi, ink lasts me 6 months to a year depending on use. Can print pictures without guzzling ink, and easy to set up.

https://www.amazon.com/Canon-TS6020-Wireless-Printing-Business/dp/B01NAGKZ9A

wafflesnfalafel > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 21:50

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personal opinion - HP makes good printers but my experiences with their drivers has been so sh! tty for so long I will never buy one again. I’m looking for a decent buy on a Canon...

Future Heap Owner > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/05/2019 at 23:02

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oPpO I wAnT aN iNkJeT pRiNtEr

bhtooefr > HammerheadFistpunch 06/06/2019 at 01:29

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I hear that some of the larger office-oriented inkjet printers are actually decent nowadays... but inkjet ink effectively has a time limit on it for evaporation , where toner really doesn’t.

All of this meaning that an inkjet for someone that occasionally prints is actually a really bad idea, and a laser is a better idea.

jimz > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 06/06/2019 at 06:02

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The drivers themselves have become bloatware, all of the actual printing “smarts” have been pulled out of the printer itself and are done in software/drivers.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 06/06/2019 at 10:23

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liam > Chariotoflove 06/06/2019 at 20:42

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I second or 3rd this. I have a Xerox Workcentre 6515 and it is a laser that does a decent job of printing photos.