Cheap printer recommendations

[egomeister]

My mum is getting really fed up with her Epsom- always saying it is running out of ink when there is loads left so she's looking to replace it.

The options are to get another inkjet (spending sub £50) or perhaps get one of the cheaper lasers such as the Samsung on ebuyer available for a few quid more (we have another printer that could be used when colour is needed). It'll get general office use - mainly b&w text with occasional colour but very rarely any photos.

Any PH'ers had any good / bad experiences in this price range? I've been pleased with my Canon S300 bought a couple of years ago - what are the current cheapy canons like?

[ehasler]

I got a Samsung laser printer/copier (SCX-4100) for £50 from PC World just over a year ago, and have been really impressed by it! It doesn't look and feel cheap, and the print speed/quality is fine. I'm sure you can get quicker and faster printers, but for £50 it's a steal!

[egomeister]

I'm definitely tempted by the samsung laser - does it end up costing a fortune in toner?

[ehasler]

Not really - I replaced the toner about 6 weeks ago, and it cost me about £40 or so off the net. I guess it's a lot compared to the original cost of the printer, but it seems a bit extravagant to replace the whole printer every time it runs out of toner

[Plotloss]

Bought a HP Laserjet 1150 a couple of years ago.

Its a fantastic little thing.

Cold start to first page in 17 seconds, cracking bit of kit.

[bga]

egomeister said:

I'm definitely tempted by the samsung laser - does it end up costing a fortune in toner?

I picked up a cheapie Samsung for £49.99 IIRC. It costs £10 for 3 tubes of refill toner & it has given great service for 2 years now with wife using it lots for college work.

[wanty1974]

You could of course just keep using the Epson - they warn you the ink is running out when there's at least 20% left, just ignor it until the ink actually does run out!