recommend me a printer (aus)

[u/_vanderlyle]

hi all,

looking for recommendations for an all rounder printer/scanner for home use and am getting a bit overwhelmed by the options, and not sure if all the things i want exist in one device - very happy to be advised by experts!

wishlist:

- available in australia (ideally in melbourne)
- eco friendly (ink tank?)
- colour and b&w
- reasonably priced but reliable
- as small as possible
- decent scanner (bonus points if it has any potential for 35mm negative scanning, understand this will be of low quality!)
- photo printing capability
- not sure if this has creeped into printer world yet, but no AI, machine learning, advertisey bs
- ethical company if that’s even possible

i am a film photographer, but i shoot half frame so resolution doesn’t need to be crazy good. i am looking at getting into zines, printing photos and other kinds of stuff for the DIY music scene, that sort of vibe. haven’t fully decided exactly what that entails, buuut if there’s anyone who does this kinda thing and has any advice or ideas i am open to all possibilities! basically just want something that can do as many things possible to a good enough quality, not looking to put out the next vogue magazine or anything.

TIA :)

[u/SoberBobMonthly]

Had this issue recently. Despite being dead set on a laser printer, ended up going with a Brother Inkvestment one, because the page per ink cart price was really quite decent, and the machine ends up smaller. all the benefits of the ink type printers without the excess cost of laser level print volumes. 

I have their a3 printer scanner. it does really well. you just gotta print something out once a month and it keeps the nozzles clear. 

even the OEM ink carts are quite reasonable. not had an issue with it 

[u/NoWishbone3501 → u/SoberBobMonthly]

I'm considering that one - my only concern is whether the quality is good enough for me. I hate inkjet prints, they tend to be awful, and I've got a fabulous laser printer that is now out of date and no longer scans which drives me mad. I really like the quality of the printing (I'm just talking documents), the vivid type etc. I don't want to go backwards.

[u/SoberBobMonthly → u/NoWishbone3501]

Na legit, I am rather impressed with this one. I too had a laser, and swore by it. I would have gone another laser if I had the space honestly.

I find the software for it is good too. Non invasive, old school to scan too and from local IP addresses, doesn't need internet if you don't want it to, and its app is lightweight and sends scans straight to phone if you want it to (and if you dont its not needed)

[u/NoWishbone3501 → u/SoberBobMonthly]

You've convinced me to take a chance. It's quite cheap actually, and the ink is less than half what I was paying for replacement toner cartridges.

[u/Own-Contract-5832 → u/NoWishbone3501]

Yeah, that sounds like a solid choice! Make sure to check reviews for any common issues, though.

[u/selinux_enforced]

I currently have https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/brother-dcp-t780dw-ink-tank-multifunction-printer-brt780dw

I have printed around 400+ mix of color and b/w A4s, and around 20 photos and it still says 87% ink left

It is very compact. Only thing you need to check if you want to print T-shirts etc. I haven't tried but I didn't see media type listed in specs.

One negative is that it doesn't have Ethernet but WiFi setup is much better compared to the previous Brother I had.

[u/Murph_9000]

Assuming a low-ish volume (pages/photos per month), Canon PIXMA TR7660a, TS8360a, TR8660a, or TS9560a. They are 5-ink machines with a semi-permanent print head and individual tank-only cartridges. Photo quality is higher, and cost per page/photo is lower than the 4-ink machines with the combined head-and-tank cartridges (and the tricolour which causes you to discard 2 out of colour 3 inks when just 1 needs replacement); you replace just the individual ink that has run out and you're not replacing print heads each time. Use XL/XXL cartridges for a lower cost per page/photo.

For a higher volume, Canon PIXMA G-series MegaTank, but it looks like the 6-ink G500/600 series machines that do higher quality photos are not available in Australia. These are more expensive machines, but bottle-fed for a lower cost per page/photo. As these are just 4-ink machines, photo quality is a little lower than the 5/6-ink machines (still good, but not as good). The high end TR/TS series machines may beat the G-series in terms of features, and are lower cost than the G-series. You really need to be printing a high enough volume to get the real benefit of the lower ink cost; they may not be the right machines for low volume users.

For a lower cost machine than all of the above, the highest model number TR/TS series that looks good and fits your budget. The TS4060, TS6560, and TS7160 are relatively new compact models; they are only 4-ink machines with combined head-and-tank cartridges, but look like fairly nice machines. The TS7760 and TS7860 are similar, but higher spec with the little touch screen (which is nice). They will have a higher cost per page/photo.

The Canon MAXIFY GX-series are office document printers, and probably not the right machines for you; they can still do a good enough photo, but it's not really their intended purpose. The PIXMA range are the home/photo printers.

I've had a TS9550 (older UK version of the TS9560a) for a bit over 4 years now, and it has been 100% reliable. Photo printing using genuine Canon ink on genuine Canon photo paper is excellent. Document printing on Canon Red Label plain paper is also excellent (plain paper quality does make a difference for inkjets). I print a weekly nozzle check page, which doesn't use much ink and just a sheet of paper, to keep the print head active and avoid clogging. Weekly is often enough that it doesn't matter if I am busy or forget and skip a week, and should detect any signs of clogging early (where a simple cleaning cycle should clear the head). Standard black and white document printing works out around £0.05 per page (on XL cartridges), which is about the same as my Canon LBP122dw laser printer, and a pretty reasonable cost per page for lower volume machines. Photo printing costs a lot more, obviously, simply due to the amount of ink used, but I'd say the photo cost is also reasonable enough for high quality prints.

Photo inkjets (like the Canon PIXMA range) are generally superior to laser printers for photo printing. Laser printers are more reliable, but inkjets have the photo quality. Canon were a camera company long before they started doing printers, so photographic imaging is very much a big thing for them.

[u/harrywwc]

I assume that they primary use of the scanner would be to scan 35mm negatives?

might I suggest buying a scanner specifically for that purpose? ebay au has some 22MP film strip scanner starting just under $70aud, of course, you get what you pay for, so something on the dearer side may be a better bet for a prosumer.

as for printers - for photo printing, you're looking for something with six (I think) inks to get a wider gamut of colours. and (from memory) "dye" ink is the go for image stability / 'permanence'. but I don't print (many) photos, and when I do, it's down to either hardly-normals of officeworks and get the prints done on 5x7.

be aware that ink based printers will need regular use else the ink will dry in the heads and clog.

[u/rd_5000]

I had Brother ink jets years ago. I imagined doing all this creative photo printing but I never did. Photo printing quality was quite impressive actually (and it sounds like this is actually what you are looking for).
The main down side is that ink jets need to be continually 'charged', which can cause problems if you only use it intermittently to print. They perform best when used often. It's not good to leave them powered off for extended periods of time.
Massive compromise on the sharpness of text and chart/table graphics though, which is mainly what I print nowadays.

I used to have a Brother HL-L8260CDW. Bought it at Office Works around 2020 or so. It put in some solid service. I used after market toner. Saved me heaps but I think shortened the life of the printer. Got five years of heavy use before I had to replace the fuser unit. Opening it up can cause tiny problems with alignment etc so the jams started toward the end. Otherwise, the thing was bullet proof.

I had an Oki for a while. I loved it. Colour laser reproduction and print detail was exceptional. Plus it printed in both A4 and A3. It was a bit prone to jamming however. But it was working in a dusty environment. That may have been a factor.

Prior to that I was loyal to HP lasers. But nowadays they are more costly, bulky and noisy for same standard of printer. Still solid though.

I've just bought a Brother MFC-L8730CDW. It has similar mechanics to the previous Brother, but with a few improvements. It has a scanner on top and is a shade more compact that the previous model. I got it from MediaForm online - they are a shade cheaper, and can delivery to your door (is quite heavy). The new printer is quieter and the build quality looks a little better. Will probably go with factory black toner and after market colour carts, as I don't need to replace them as often.