Wireless printer for iPad - is HP DeskJet 2810e AiO Wireless Printer & 3 Months Instant Ink any good

Blue_Doggy

Hi, I use an iPad (5th generation, it says) bought in 2018. I need to get a printer for occasional printing. The least expensive seems to be the HP DeskJet 2810e AiO Wireless Printer & 3 Months Instant Ink, about £29 from my local Argos, but is it any good? 

 

If so, what do I need to be aware of to get the best out of it?
 

Thank you.

flaneurs_lobster

Can't comment on the technical aspects but make sure that you are happy with the terms of the Instant Ink service, it's a subscription model with differing price levels according to how many pages you print a month. 

Can easily cost the same as that printer over a year of modest printing.

Blue_Doggy

flaneurs_lobster said:

Can't comment on the technical aspects but make sure that you are happy with the terms of the Instant Ink service, it's a subscription model with differing price levels according to how many pages you print a month. 

Can easily cost the same as that printer over a year of modest printing.

Thank you. Is there any other (smallish) wireless printer compatible with an elderly iPad for small amounts of printing you could suggest?

MyRealNameToo

Blue_Doggy said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

Can't comment on the technical aspects but make sure that you are happy with the terms of the Instant Ink service, it's a subscription model with differing price levels according to how many pages you print a month. 

Can easily cost the same as that printer over a year of modest printing.

Thank you. Is there any other (smallish) wireless printer compatible with an elderly iPad for small amounts of printing you could suggest?

Does it have to be colour?

Small amounts of printing can mean inkjet nossels clog up and you'll use more ink running the self maintenance clearing programmes than you will in actual printing. Ink is where they get you, this particular printer takes two cartridges black and colour which will mean when one of the three colours runs out you are replacing the whole thing. Getting the XL version of the inks costs circa £40 - which could be worse but then you have the InstaInk subscription fees to pay if you dont want to just buy a cartridges when you need them. 

If colour isnt a need Id be tempted to get a laser printer, it'll be more up front but they are happy to sit there for months between printing without any issues, replacement toner is cheap and lasts forever... our basic Brother printer went 5+ years on the original toner and is 3 years into its replacement. 

Blue_Doggy

MyRealNameToo said:

Blue_Doggy said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

Can't comment on the technical aspects but make sure that you are happy with the terms of the Instant Ink service, it's a subscription model with differing price levels according to how many pages you print a month. 

Can easily cost the same as that printer over a year of modest printing.

Thank you. Is there any other (smallish) wireless printer compatible with an elderly iPad for small amounts of printing you could suggest?

Does it have to be colour?

Small amounts of printing can mean inkjet nossels clog up and you'll use more ink running the self maintenance clearing programmes than you will in actual printing. Ink is where they get you, this particular printer takes two cartridges black and colour which will mean when one of the three colours runs out you are replacing the whole thing. Getting the XL version of the inks costs circa £40 - which could be worse but then you have the InstaInk subscription fees to pay if you dont want to just buy a cartridges when you need them. 

If colour isnt a need Id be tempted to get a laser printer, it'll be more up front but they are happy to sit there for months between printing without any issues, replacement toner is cheap and lasts forever... our basic Brother printer went 5+ years on the original toner and is 3 years into its replacement. 

Colour would be nice for the occasional photo, but on the whole is not essential. I used to use the printers in the Public Library, but they’ve recently upgraded them, so that they are more complicated to use on a casual basis, so I thought having my own would be useful but don’t want to spend a ton of money. I only picked on this one as it was the cheapest available at the local branch of Argos. Where I live, there isn’t a tech shop easily accessible.

GDB2222

My local branch of Boots has a machine that can print photos. 

Are there companies that do this online?

Blue_Doggy

My nearest big branch of Boots used to have this service, but did away with it a while ago. 

 

Most of my printing would be occasional documents, so while an option for colour would be nice, it’s not essential. 

 

Sending things off to a company that would do it online would probably be expensive for one-off pictures of my dog. There are companies which print pictures of people’s pets or children etc onto mugs and placemats, but is not a service I need.

SteveJW

Our local Timpsons, located inside Morrisons has a photo printing machine

Blue_Doggy

SteveJW said:

Our local Timpsons, located inside Morrisons has a photo printing machine

Oh, thanks, that’s good to know. I know ours does passport photos, so I might ask them.
 

But photos are a very minor, and non-essential, thing. I mainly want to print occasional documents.