Home printer recommendations

square_bear

Hello all
I need a new printer for home use.

It's really just used occasionally, maybe 10-15 sheets per week.
Mainly my son uses it for his homework and the other times for bank statements, bills etc.

Colour is a must so would the only choice be inkjet?

The cartridges are so expensive in the last printer we had, it required a cartridge for each colour but I see now that there are printers which take one cartridge for the 3 colours and one for the black.

Is this wise?

I mean, what if I'm printing a lot of pictures of yellow canaries for example. The cartridge would need to be changed when there would be a lot of the cyan and magenta colours left in it.

Also, is there a rule of thumb that says a more expensive printer to buy is more economical and with cheaper replacement cartridges?

Thanks

dipsomaniac

hp instant ink. 9 month free included with this printer

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/printers-scanners-and-ink/printers/hp-envy-5546-home-photo-all-in-one-wireless-inkjet-printer-10143742-pdt.html?awc=1599_1516886545_cfbef18221e9948e58e26d86e45c98ff&srcid=369&xtor=AL-1&cmpid=aff~HotUKDeals~Communities%20%26%20UGC~47868&awid=47868

macman

If you are going to print a lot of canaries, then a CMYK inkjet with 4 carts is a much better choice, as you can just replace them individually. Compatible carts are a lot cheaper than printer branded ones.
You don't need 4 col for bills and bank statements, so is it really essential for the homework?
If not, a mono laser printer (Samsung) would be much more economic.
All inkjet printers are heavily subsidised: the profit is made on the ink. Think razor blades...same business model.

tonyh66

you can get colour laser printers at a reasonable price.

grumpycrab

square_bear wrote: »

Hello all
I need a new printer for home use.

It's really just used occasionally, maybe 10-15 sheets per week.

HP instant ink "100 pages/month" package costs £3.49/month. If you printed 100 pages of canaries per month you'd still pay £3.49/month. Takes the worry out of cartridge buying.
Now which HP printer to get...no idea. See link above?

System

I bought a HP printer and embarked on the £1.99 per month replacement ink cartridge scheme which was said to give me about 50 A4 sheets per month.

That was in November 2016. They have taken my money each month and NOT sent any ink. Yet the ink which was included with machine is still going strong. Having spoken to HP several times, they maintain that if I had chosen NOT to be part of the scheme, each cartridge would have cost a great deal more. It's true I haven't printed a great deal, but clearly that which I have used does not equate to, or has used up the content of the cartridges, yet.

dipsomaniac

islandman wrote: »

I bought a HP printer and embarked on the £1.99 per month replacement ink cartridge scheme which was said to give me about 50 A4 sheets per month.

That was in November 2016. They have taken my money each month and NOT sent any ink. Yet the ink which was included with machine is still going strong. Having spoken to HP several times, they maintain that if I had chosen NOT to be part of the scheme, each cartridge would have cost a great deal more. It's true I haven't printed a great deal, but clearly that which I have used does not equate to, or has used up the content of the cartridges, yet.

afaik hp instant ink cartridges are bigger and contain more ink than std

how many pages per month are you printing (you can see in hp account)?

don't know if still available but hp were doing a 15 page per month FREE option

System

dipsomaniac wrote: »

afaik hp instant ink cartridges are bigger and contain more ink than std

how many pages per month are you printing (you can see in hp account)?

don't know if still available but hp were doing a 15 page per month FREE option

I didn't know about their larger capacity cartridges.

Will go and see how many pages I print, but think it is low.

Also didn't know about the free 15 pages, will explore that.

Thanks

dipsomaniac

been using hp instant ink for the last 3 years. its the best ink decision i have ever made.

£24 per year takes away all the hassle/resentment of buying ink

System

That free offer is thus:-

(a) New printers / new accounts,

(b) Only free for 3 to 5 months.

But thanks anyway. I followed through checking ink levels and it seems from the icon display, I am only a QUARTER of the way down on each. Ive never bothered too much about looking at the tiny screen of options as it has been too low, but now have printer raised so had a look. Then printed out a few different things from the options. All clear and give no concern. My next plan is to find a suitable template to print of a few photo's, about 4/6 on a A 4 page, but don't know how to do it.

Back to the £1.99 charge, seems it has cost me £24 or maybe £26 so far. In all probability buying cartridges individually would have been more. At least these are the genuine things.

Hoogle

I have 2 of these, I print a lot of photos A4 size they come with bottles of ink no cartridges, and comes with 4 x 70mls of ink in the box which is guaranteed 2 years worth of ink and if not they will send you as many packs of ink as needed within the first 2 years. Yes printer is slightly more expensive but when you consider a set of ink cartridges these days cost £40+ and each cartridge has about 3mls of ink in them. Where as these bottles of ink you can get as low as £16 on amazon for a full set. Also has a new print head design and as it is cartridge free can not dry out so longevity between printing is ok.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Epson-EcoTank-Multifunction-Printer-Refillable/dp/B015CMOYZW/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1516970753&sr=8-9&keywords=epson+et2500+ink