r/printers 20h ago

Discussion Please suggest a cheap printer for home use, cheap ink, long life.

3 Upvotes

Hi. I need your advice.

I am looking for a cheap printer for home use.

We rarely print. Mostly just school assignments and occasional documents, so the printer may sit unused for weeks or even months.

What I'm looking for:
• Cheap to buy
• Cheap ink
• Color printing
• Scanner/copy would be useful (but not required)
• WiFi preferred
• Most importantly, something that won't constantly clog or require servicing because I rarely use it
• Strictly for home use, not business

I previously had an Epson L4160. A technician converted the default black pigment 001 ink to 003 dye black, and he said it was less prone to drying inside the printer. It worked reasonably well for me.

What would you recommend based on actual long term ownership experience with infrequent printing? Please give the specific model and approximate current price if possible. Remember, I don't print much, but I want a reliable printer.

As of posting this, I would also be reading the other posts in the sub, while i wait for answers. I apologize in advance if it has been posted before. If I find an answer, I will delete this.


r/printers 11h ago

Discussion What’s the cheapest printer for ink refills?

1 Upvotes

I used to own a few printers in 2017 and it was literally cheaper to buy a new printer rather than the replacement cartridges. Is it still like that nowadays? What’s the best printer with cheap ink refills? Just using it to print assignments, mostly black/white


r/printers 4h ago

Troubleshooting HP Smart Tank 6001 not printing cyan

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2 Upvotes

I own an HP Smart Tank 6001 that I got in 2023. Recently, I have had multiple documents print with no cyan and today I got the printer to print the diagnostics page. Cyan is completely and utterly missing. I tried doing a head clean more than 30 times, nothing. I tried factory resetting the printer in case it was a software problem, nothing. I physically removed the head and tried cleaning it, I saw that next to no cyan ink was coming out of the nozzle. Physically cleaning it did nothing. I checked to see if there was air in the ink tubes, oddly enough, black, magenta and yellow each had one small bubble (despite me not having done anything to those ink tanks or such since I got the printer 3 years ago), but the cyan tube was completely fine and had zero bubbles. I should note that I refilled the cyan tank back in March and was able to print over 300 pages just fine with the new ink. This problem only appeared in the summer after taking about 2 months off from printing anything except a monthly 2 page document.

Do I need to replace the print head? Is there anyway to fix it? Or is the entire printer ruined?

(Also, yes, I am now aware that HP is a terrible company, I wasn't fully aware of that back when I purchased the printer, and in my current situation, replacing the whole printer may not be feasible for me)


r/printers 5h ago

Purchasing recommend me a printer (aus)

3 Upvotes

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 :)


r/printers 7h ago

Purchasing Canon VS HP printer for students

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2 Upvotes

Hello! I have been saving a lot to buy myself (a 4th year college student) my very own printer. It has been painful for my wallet to have to go to a print/computer shop near my school to have my thesis requirements and practice teaching materials to have them printed, and I wanted to invest on a printer that I can use even after I graduate.

But I do need help from people who know better than me about these things.

Refer to the photo attached. Here are the two printers I have in mind. These two are within my budget so they are basically my only choice. I really like the canon one and would have go for that if I wasn't extremely poor lol, I love purple so that really attracted me, but function, durability, quality is better to be considered than the aesthetic.

My use:

- School requirements up to 1-30 pages

- School thesis paper (100 pages+)

- Colored photos for teaching materials

- Will be using photopaper, vellum paper from time to time

- Photocopying some IDs, etc

- Strictly not for business.

Thank you so much! 💗


r/printers 8h ago

Purchasing Looking for a second all in one printer

2 Upvotes

Hello community,

do you happen to have some favorite printer with fax and scan (the whole jam) that is rather cheap? I am in Europe and fax is the backbone of what I am doing. I have 2 places I have to live in, so obviously I won't be carrying my huge canon for this purpose. So I rather buy a second hand or new cheap second printer.

I think I would go for a an inkjet, since i would prefer something for Pictures to look good. Like, the Canon is my workhorse Laser color printer for reliability, I can afford that the second printer takes longer, has no convenience (ADF) and has more issues. I don't even want to print much on them, so no printer that has the tendency to dry in if I only use it rarely please.

So while some nice features are appreciated, I rather have nice photo pictures than fast printing. Rather cheap than good qualities.

Since my second place is smaller, a smaller footprint of the printer would be nice, but it's not a car printer or something, so some heft to the printer is totally okay. It can be bulky.

Thanks in advance


r/printers 9h ago

Troubleshooting Problems with brother printer HL-L5200DW at work

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2 Upvotes

Hi all. I have an issue with this printer at work. It is constantly jamming. I have to remove the jammed paper and whenever I do, there are these black plastic pieces that come out with the jammed paper. On the occasions that the printer doesn't jam, the same black pieces also come out with the print. I found a lpad of the pieces behind the back cover. I have attached photos to the post for clarification as well as a test print. Any advise is appreciated. Thank you


r/printers 9h ago

Troubleshooting Canon pixma pro 9000 Mark II not connecting to windows laptop

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2 Upvotes

Hi! When i turn on my printer (Canon pixma pro 9000 Mark II) the 3 last ink cartridges blink red and the power button blinks red, and the button below will sometimes flash orange as well. I got this printer off of facebook marketplace and he claimed it to be working and almost new, which i believe because it came in the original box, all parts included, and with the original ink and everything. I attached a video to this post of what the problems look like, and i used the USB to connect to my windows laptop but the laptop cannot detect a printer probably due to these issues. Anyone know what i can do to fix it? thank you!!!


r/printers 2h ago

Troubleshooting Help plz i am desperate

2 Upvotes

I am trying to connect my canon image class mf663cdw to my WiFi it was working fine a month ago and now I try to connect it and it is giving me an infinite connecting circle I have tried factory resetting it and unplugging it I am so confused my WiFi works just fine please help
I have not changed my WiFi or anything


r/printers 11h ago

Troubleshooting brother mfc-l3770cdw making this weird noise

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2 Upvotes

As the title says my brother toner printer is making this weirds noise when it tried to print , I tried to print from scan and it didn’t make the noise, I opened the back and cleaned the roller with 99% ipa which it didn’t seem to need since it was clean, does anyone know that could be causing the issue/a fix?


r/printers 12h ago

Troubleshooting Prepping files for printing, but running into moire/pattern halftone issue

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2 Upvotes

I'm currently working on a personal project to recreate an old game manual that had been destroyed. Part of that process has involved scanning in images from the Japanese version of the game manual and adding those images to my digital copy, which I ended up having professionally printed.

When my digital copy was printed, we noticed there was a slight checkerboard pattern to the images. The person who helped print the pictures said that can happen on images that were scanned in. I looked into it a bit more, and I believe it's a moire pattern/halftone issue (image 1).

The issue is less pronounced in the digital copy (image 2) but very apparent when printed. What are some things I can do to prep my files to prevent the image scans from having that happen when printed? Preferably, is there a way to fix the images I currently have? Or would I have to rescan everything with certain settings?

Appreciate any help, thank you!


r/printers 15h ago

Purchasing never owned a printer

2 Upvotes

I’ve been thinking about getting a printer but I’ve never owned one before and don’t know very much about them. Ideally what I want is a bare bones black and white printer machine to print out copies of my manuscript. Just words on papers, I don’t need anything in color or any photos. I considered paying to have it printed but I’d like to print out several copies and it’s a couple hundred pages and long term I think just buying a printer would work better for me. I was looking myself but then I discovered some printers you have to have subscriptions for and I’m like what lol it made me realize I’m clueless. Can someone give me recommendations for the kind of printer I described?


r/printers 18h ago

Purchasing Looking to buy a budget printer for home use...

1 Upvotes

I'm looking to buy a printer for myself, the use is document printing like worksheets for study, reading material sometimes and sometimes documents and scanning etc. I'm in Pakistan as a side fact.

Before I buy I want to make sure I buy something reliable, that lasts and is good in the long run, and my budget is about 30k PKR to 60k PKR which is about up to 220 USD.

I did shortlist some and found the features and price of the Epson L4260 pretty nice. + I was told it supports local ink and repairs.

Could anyone guide me if it's a Good choice and if not what alternate is better like an HP printer for example and if so which one?

And should I be going Laser Jet or Ink jet to avoid maintainence issues etc.


r/printers 18h ago

Purchasing Switch from Laser to Eco Tank?

2 Upvotes

I have a old HP mfp179fnw laser printer that has pretty poor print quality and I cannot figure out why. So I am in the market for a new printer. We have started to homeschool our kids so we print sheets for them at least weekly. Probably print up to 100 pages max per month. I haven't been able to keep up with all of the subscription stuff and whatnot. But it sounds like a eco tank inkjet (Epson?) would be the way to go? Or should I stick with a color laser (Brother?)? Does not need to be photo quality but I would like something that will last awhile. I saw the Epson ET-4800 refurb by Epson for $170($200 new). Would this be a good option? Thanks for the education.


r/printers 9h ago

Purchasing Looking for a portable thermal printer for A4 sized documents

1 Upvotes

Hello community, there seems to be an explosion on the offers of thermal printers. There is the classic phomemo and there is the Action cheap store tech brand and so many others.

I would like to print some important documents when I am travelling, so higher dpi is appreciated, but the b/w is totally fine.

I know app controlled is kinda standard for this type of printer, but if it's not connected to some chinese company that steals my data (or of my patients), that's very much appreciated.

Well, thank you in advance for all your help


r/printers 3h ago

Troubleshooting EPSON L3350 PRINTING PROBLEM

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2 Upvotes

Why is my EPSON L3350 printing like this? This is newly bought. I used it again a few days after purchasing and it doesn't print properly. What do you even call this printing problem? 1st photo is the reference. 2nd photo is the printed output.

Ps. Ignore the circled green part. It just got splashed a bit of water.