Best printer for not drying up?

[Fastchas]

My son has started secondary school and needs to print out homework. My printer has gummed up AGAIN and I'm thinking of throwing it out. The inkjets aren't that old, it's because it gets very little use.
What printer can anyone recommend for sporadic printing? The cost of laser is too much, the initial cost of the printer and future cost of around £100(!) for four toners is too high. Does any inkjets perform well when used very infrequently?

[Sheetmaself]

Canon by any chance? If not dont get a canon, mine which is called something like pixma keeps doing the same

[Fastchas]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Yes, but it made no difference.
I gave the printer to my BiL to look at, he's recommended I throw it away! Advised I get a laser printer but I don't want to pay out that much for something that prints 1/2 sheets every month or longer.

[Sheepshanks]

Fastchas said:

Does any inkjets perform well when used very infrequently?

Do you turn it off? No idea if they all do this, but my HP does a little jig every now and again if it hasn't been used a for a while. I shut it off while I went on holiday and when I came back it wouldn't work again until I'd replaced the print heads.

[jamoor]

A laser is your only option, worth it in the long run.

[ging84]

surely the solution here is not to spend 3x as much on a printer that will barely get used, when you could just print out a few extra cat pictures

although that said i've never had an issue with my ink jet drying up, it probably goes 3-6 months between use most of the time.

[RobDickinson]

Epson tend to dry up more quickly than some others, canon seem better at lasting.

[bloomen]

There's load of cheap lasers out there well under £50 and if you choose right they have cheap toners too.

I have an Epson 2650 or something that's doing just fine after a year or two of extremely occasional use. Cheap ink too.

In retrospect I should've gone laser though.

[jamoor]

bloomen said:

There's load of cheap lasers out there well under £50 and if you choose right they have cheap toners too.

I have an Epson 2650 or something that's doing just fine after a year or two of extremely occasional use. Cheap ink too.

In retrospect I should've gone laser though.

I don't think you can get colour lasers that cheaply?

[sgrimshaw]

Fastchas said:

Advised I get a laser printer but I don't want to pay out that much for something that prints 1/2 sheets every month or longer.

You already have the best advice .... especially if you only print 1/2 sheets a month.

Buy the right laser and you'll probably never need to replace the toner ... and if you do, just buy a new printer instead and get new toners/imaging unit/drum/warranty etc etc as well.

By "right laser" I mean one which comes with decent size toners and has all the "features" you need.

Personally, I've found that for entry level colour lasers Lexmark are hard to beat.

Take a look here https://www.printerland.co.uk/A4-Colour-Laser-Prin...

If you're quick (or keep checking) you can get some great "open box" bargains.

This printer for example is a great deal in itself, and the toner will last you for years:
https://www.printerland.co.uk/Lexmark-CS510de-P130...

They have an open box one for £12 less https://www.printerland.co.uk/Lexmark-CS510de-Box-...
which includes 4 years warranty

[Murph7355]

Fastchas said:

Yes, but it made no difference.
I gave the printer to my BiL to look at, he's recommended I throw it away! Advised I get a laser printer but I don't want to pay out that much for something that prints 1/2 sheets every month or longer.

Listen to your BiL.

With that volume of printing, a laser is the way to go (though photo quality output is less impressive on them).

I have an Epson inkjet that doesn't seem to clag up that badly, but if left a while you do need to clean the heads a few times, which of course uses ink/costs money.

I also have a colour laser (HP unit) which never clags up. Printer cost 250 or so, maybe nearer 200. Toner that came with it lasted a while. Replacements are expensive (180 I think) but I did by high capacity ones. And the cost per print really isn't that much different to the inkjet.

[Morningside]

Purchase an old 2nd hand laser? I had a HP 4000 for years and due to it only printing a few documents every now and then I never replaced the toner.

Lovely old workhorse.

[51mes]

Another laser user here...

I have a 7 year old brother mono laser that I maybe print an average of 10-15 sheets a month on. I'm on the second toner pack and it just works.

Last year we bought a £50 quid Samsung equivalent for the OH (mono again) but this time with WiFi support for her small shop - costs pennies per sheet to run and the print quality is much better than inkjet unless you are printing photo's on photo paper. She loves it through does use it most days. .

Colour laser is the same but more expensive - I'd never go back to inkjet - I just get the few photo's I want printed ordered online - better quality and cheaper.

S

[maffski]

jamoor said:

I don't think you can get colour lasers that cheaply?

Lexmark CS410dn A4 Colour Laser Printer - 80 quid - Replacement toners are expensive but it looks cheaper to just buy a replacement printer when they run out.

[jamoor]

maffski said:

Lexmark CS410dn A4 Colour Laser Printer - 80 quid - Replacement toners are expensive but it looks cheaper to just buy a replacement printer when they run out.

Well thats rather silly isn't it?

Wouldn't it make more sense to get a more expensive printer with cheaper replacement toners?
http://www.ebuyer.com/413466-canon-i-sensys-lbp701...
Buy this and toners are £30 a set.

[Don]

Get a laser.

It is way less expensive once you take into account all the inkjet cartridges that you won't be buying.

[TEKNOPUG]

I bought a £50 HP Inkjet about 10 years ago and it's never suffered from dried/blocked jets. It might print 50 pages one month and then not get used again for another couple of months. Maybe it's the model/type of inkjet cartridges? Mine are HP 301 and I've only ever used proper HP ones.

[mr_fibuli]

I've been using cheep unbranded toner in my Samsung Laser printer - £12 for a cartridge vs about £44 for the genuine Samsung one. Print quality is identical.

[gregs656]

Printers do not hold their value. Look locally for a laser. I bought mine as part of a job lot, stuck a £9 cartridge in it and it's been in constant use. No way I'd go back to ink jet.

[Monty Python]

Canon iP7250 gets used infrequently but has never blocked. Old Epson Stylus Photo 900 used to regularly, irrespective of the cartridges.