Cheapest printers to run (tank printers)?

YorkshireJames

So I have a Canon MG5750. Of 5 printers I've owned it's been by far the most expensive to run printer I've ever had. About 40-50p per sheet (not including money wasted on inks that dont work). I've tried non-branded inks, but it won't take them. It's cost us about £200 these last few years to print about 400 pages. All the inks just run out like there is no tomorrow - it's like they have a 12 month life expectancy.

We basically print 10-20 per month and it's nearly all black and white. I don't buy new printers until old ones break - well except this time! So I'm looking for advice on the cheapest reliable mono colour tank printers that I can refill. Any recommendations?

(I was reading the Which? Stats that say average tanks are 2p a sheet, laser 27p, and ink 40-something).

Also any good websites on home tank printers? All I seem to get on google is 'best deals right now' affiliates and reviews of larger multi purpose office tank printers.

Thanks for your help.

Neil_Jones

If its nearly all black and white and you don't use the scanner you might as well just get a little mono laser printer, something like this:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7833146

You'd get on average 1000 pages out of a black and white toner, which for that model average at about £50 a toner, 5p a sheet, even less if you're able to get more out of it, as that figure assumes 5% coverage.

Inkjets lose out in the "value for money" stakes as far as "genuine" ink is concerned as its often referred to as being more expensive than Chanel No 5, plus they rarely last in the page yield counts (plus of course if you don't use them regularly they dry up).

victor2

+1 for a monochrome laser. Toner costs a little more, but works out significantly less per printed page.

Having said that, when my mono laser died, I replaced it with a colour inkjet because I wanted to print photographs. I got an Epson Expression XP-342 (discontinued model now) and have used compatible ink cartridges in it from new with no trouble. Premium photo paper is expensive though!

dave_dph

I have the exact same printer and sadly it's on it's last legs :-(

Have you tried inkredible inks? Very cheap and in my experience, great quality.

https://www.inkredible.co.uk/canon-pixma-mg5750-ink-cartridges

I've been looking for a replacement printer for quite some time, can't decide what to go for.

matelodave

The big advantage of a mono laser is that toner doesn't dry out like ink does which can save a lot of money if you dont do a lot of printing

IvanOpinion

You could also consider the HP instant ink option.  
https://www.hp.com/uk-en/printers/instant-ink/faq.html

You would need to purchase an HP printer and then pay a monthly subscription. HP will automatically send you cartridges when you need them (at no additional cost).  

I know you mention mono but for an inkjet printer, based on your usage, you may need the £2.99 per month plan (which allows up to 50 pages per month), or you may get away with the 99p per month plan but (I think) that only allows 10 pages per month (although you can buy another 10 or so for £1 per month extra - so possibly you could get away with £1.99 per month.

They also have a similar deal for their laser printers with plans that start at £1.99 per month for up to 50 pages.

As far as reliability is concerned my HP Envy 5532 (inkjet) is 8 years old now and hasn't missed a beat (I print about 30-40 pages per month).

interstellaflyer

YorkshireJames said:

So I have a Canon MG5750. Of 5 printers I've owned it's been by far the most expensive to run printer I've ever had. About 40-50p per sheet (not including money wasted on inks that dont work). I've tried non-branded inks, but it won't take them. It's cost us about £200 these last few years to print about 400 pages. All the inks just run out like there is no tomorrow - it's like they have a 12 month life expectancy.

We basically print 10-20 per month and it's nearly all black and white. I don't buy new printers until old ones break - well except this time! So I'm looking for advice on the cheapest reliable mono colour tank printers that I can refill. Any recommendations?

(I was reading the Which? Stats that say average tanks are 2p a sheet, laser 27p, and ink 40-something).

Also any good websites on home tank printers? All I seem to get on google is 'best deals right now' affiliates and reviews of larger multi purpose office tank printers.

Thanks for your help.

If you cant get your MG5750 to accept aftermarket cartridges then you are doing something wrong, they are one of the easiest printers around to get to work successfully on compatibles, my guess is you either bought some really cheap junk online or you were sent the wrong cartridges, the MG5750 takes 570/571 cartridges however 550/551 and 580/581 cartridges are identical it's just the programming on the chip that's different 

outtatune

I've used the Colour Direct 550/551 cartridges on a Pixma MX925 with no trouble

https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Colour+Direct/page/E21D515D-749C-4D5F-AD1C-004DF3B0385F

However you really need to be printing something every day or the ink dries up, forcing it to do a slow, wasteful clean every time you print. I'd agree with getting a laser for low volume work, though ones with scanners are few and far between and quite pricey.

YorkshireJames

Thanks everyone. I'll look out for a cheap mono laser. That sounds ideal. Thanks for all your advice.