It is time to buy a new printer as our Canon MG4250 inkjet has finally stopped working reliably. I’m rather reluctant to buy another cartridge based machine due to individual cartridge costs, so i’m looking at Ink Tank or Laser printer alternatives.
Requirements: Colour printing essential. Used for medium/heavy domestic and light business use. Mac compatibility. Must be able to scan/copy. Other than that we are pretty flexible and open to options… Now scouring YouTube reviews!
Any thoughts and experience of makes and models gratefully received?
After just forking out c. three hundred quid in colour laser cartridges for our home printer I’ve been looking at the Epson EcoTank models. They do look very good vfm and low running costs.
In fact I’m even considering one to replace our wax colour printer at work.
Had various HP/Lexmark/Kodak inkjets over the years and all had issues with cartridges drying out, bought an Epson ET 2751 EcoTank about 18 months ago, brilliant bit of kit and the Ink isnt evaporating
Had Epson EcoTank ET-4550 for coming up to 5 years. It’s excellent and just as importantly, the software is too. I’ve had nothing but trouble with different HP printers in the past and glad to get rid of them.
I have found Brother laser printers to be reliable and good. My current one is duplex (by which I mean it automatically prints on both sides of the paper if you want), sits on the network, is colour, also does AirPrint so you can print from an iPhone or iPad without installing any drivers or printing apps. But it’s true that the four toners cost about £300 to replace, which is more than I paid for the printer.
I got an A4 EcoTank printer probably 3 or more years ago.
Excellent value as I’ve only had to top up with new inks once after initial priming and still have half bottles of the inks `i bought for around £40-£50 for 4.
Some older models would not do borderless so if you need that check. Most will do double sided printing too.
For text or colour document printing they are very good, have had to do the occasional nozzle clean.
An absolute boon during the pandemic for home schooling when teachers asked kids to print loads of stuff at home (the cost of which with standard printers I raised with them as it might affect other families).
Apart from loading paper or occasional nozzle check it’s been fairly maintenance free to date and I think there was a 3 year warranty.
Photo quality is not up there with photo quality inkjets on the base models but since I got mine there are more photo quality ink tank printers available in A4/A3+ and I suspect higher end sizes.
Canon joined the bandwagon, I’ve always found their printheads more resistant to clogging, but the eco tank printheads are a different design to older epson printheads.
I’ve had a number of HP printers, then Epson printer, which unfortunately all clog up after a couple of years. Last year I brought an Epson ET-2720 (Eco Tank), and so far it’s been brilliant. Ink lasting ages.
I did once have a Canon which was very good on ink -It was B+W only, but died in less than 2 years.
Whilst it doesn’t scan, I bought a refurbed Dell colour laser printer. I use 3rd party toner cartridges now it is out of warranty. For a scanner, I use a refurbished Canon, bought at around the same time. I think the combined price was slightly less than £75 and after 10 years of use both are going strong. A set of 3rd party toner cartridges cost about £30 last time I needed to replace them and are fine for non-colour critical work and for my domestic use last for ages. My Epsom A3 photo printer inkjet cartridges cost well over £150 a set and seem to be empty all the time.
I have the Epson ET-7750 which, in hindsight, was overkill as I have access to A3 colour printers in the office. Still, bought during first lock down in uncertain times and I’ve been surprised how durable and non-clogged the tanks/ nozzles have been so far.
I have an Epson ET-8500 and quite happy it, especially now they have sorted out their Mac drivers. It’s relatively fast and quiet, with more than acceptable quality and costs practically nothing to run.
We bought the Epson EcoTank ET-3750 a few years ago and we are still on the original supplied bottles. Reliable and definitely worth the additional upfront cost. For mono we also have a Brother laser but the Epson does 90% of our work now.
