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Thought i would clean out my streaky printer, and put some new ink in it.
Forked out for the ink (more expensive than cocaine per g)
streaky results
bought a cleaner kit (another tenner) and now the ink is saying its empty. its not streaky, its FUBAR.
I appreciate that having to clean a printer, and doing a self clean is likely to cause as much harm as good, but my grievence is with the ink.
But its likley its a "Perfectly good" 1.5kg lump of plastic and electronics on its way to landfill because of some monopoly Epson want to keep on crap ink cartridges.
Does anyone know of a, for want of a better word, "ethical" printer where the ink:
1) Is cheaper than hard drugs
2) doesnt decide whether its going to work based on a little chip that reports back to the printer
3) doesnt decide whether its empty based on the say so of the little chip, and just reject a brand new, full ink cartridge.
/Rant
Also, for people who dont have the cynisism to believe big companies behave like this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebus_cartel
Get a laser printer.
I was going through a new inkjet every year or so, my laser must be six years old now and has only needed new toner cartridges every couple of years (£20-something each IIRC).
Mine's B&W, dunno if the colour ones are any cop.
Buy the same model laser printer that your employer supplies for your office.
HP instant ink printer is the answer.
Every time this question is asked! 😁
Yeah, get a laser. I've a colour Lexmark and whilst it's great you can't get unbranded toner, so I'd definitely look at the cheap Brother colour lasers.
I have an oldish HP that takes 940XL carts, I just buy out of date genuine carts on ebay cheap cheap.
I used to run an ancient yellowed Brother b+w laser that my employer was chucking out, I added a wifi print server and it ran on cheapo toner from ebay for about ten years until it needed a new drum.
I did have a laser, back in the day at uni. I was only printing out course works so it was fine B&W, and as you say much more reliable and long lasting that a colour.
Gave it to my sister when i left uni (and she started uni) and i think she flogged it.
Irritatingly we barely ever need to print (which is probably part of the problem), just the odd consent for for Rainbows or school.
I figure if we had one we could print out some of those photographs people take digitally and never ever look at, but dont know if it worth the heartache.
I could persist with this cleaning thing, except its CLAIMING its go no ink, so i cant print the test sheets! dont reall want to spaff another 30 quid on a cartridge (and who knows how many more after it) if its going to be more cost effective just to buy a new printer.
I wonder how many sheets this things has printed in its entire life. 50, i reckon, tops.
this was never a problem when i was in the office and could use their printers!!!
HP instant ink printer is the answer
This.
We bought HP with a year of free ink. Since then we pay £6 it something a month, occasionally sign up to 3 months free with different email address, and just press print when needed.
Depends. For high quality photo printing an inkjet outperforms a laser and is the right solution without getting into high end dye subs etc.
I have a B&W laser for documents and a Canon inkjet for photos. I do not object to paying the full price for proper Canon inkjet carts as the quality is exceptionally good and the ink doesn't fade, is consistent and for printing high quality photos, worth the expense.
But yes, there is no point running an inkjet for day to day printing duties given the price you can get a decent laser printer for these days.
Another relatively new instant ink believer.
I bought cheap HP printer. Came with a 30 quid instant ink voucher. I subscribed to the 2 pound a month plan (50 pages a month can't remember?), referred a friend to instant ink got 3 months free. Think I've still got £24 credit. I reckon this printer will break before I have to buy ink!!!
Get a laser printer.
+1. And do you really need colour? My Brother printer runs on generic refills, each of which lasts 10x longer, and the print quality is fine. I never found an inkjet that printed any better, anyhow.
Another happy laser user. It's a cheap colour Brother. Takes non branded ink, which last ages. Always works even when left. When the toner 'runs out' I can reset it and get a few more prints out which slowly show signs of a lack of toner, and then I replace it. For photos it's adequate at best. If they are going on the wall rather than the fridge then we get something done online or at the local print shop for a quid or two. Can't see me ever having another inkjet
Since then we pay £6 it something a month
Wow - big user!
Although we did go on the £18/month, 700 pages rate for a few months over lockdown 🥵. Didn't miss a beat either, and I reckon it must be 7 or 8 years old now, and it was a fairly bottom of the range model.
HP instant ink printer is the answer.
This - we are on the £3 a month scheme.
Epson tank based - expensive to start but ink lasts forever and is cheap when you need to buy it.
I just got one of the Canon tank printers (Pixma G550). Can't really speak to long term running costs yet but the quality is good and in principle it works out at a tiny fraction of the cost of cartridges.
Another vote for the Epson EcoTank, wifi printing- I can't believe I ummed and ahhed over getting this, its been just about the most reliable and capable printer I have owned.
How much do you print, and therefore do you actually need a printer?
I ask as someone who's had similar frustrations and now just prints what I need at work or at the local library. The latter is not cheap in a pence per page calculation, but it is a lot cheaper than buying and running a printer. I also have a local print shop who will sort out any volume stuff for cheaper than the library.
As the bloke in charge of a print-shop - please don't go into one waving your ipad around demanding they print their very important document right away! Then have a sulky face on when told no! 🙂
I have an inkjet that dried out and got blocked. I manually cleaned the whole print head assembly, including pretty much submersing the whole thing. I put it back in the printer and it was dead. Took it out dried it again, still dead. Left it for a few days, or maybe longer I can't really remember. Then just before chucking it out somebody asked me to print something, it worked perfectly and has done for over a year now.
As the bloke in charge of a print-shop – please don’t go into one waving your ipad around demanding they print their very important document right away! Then have a sulky face on when told no!
Heck no.
I e-mail in advance and let them know what I need and when by. They seem fine with that arrangement, and the fact that I pay cash and I suspect it goes straight to their beer fund helps too.
For black and white our HP Neverstops 1001 is hard to beat. Boots up in a matter of seconds rather than going through a never-ending cycle of header alignment checks. It's really good on ink and really easy to refill. My wife prints a lot of stuff for work and it's the only printer we've ever had where I'm not called to have a look at it and fix an issue every few days.
Our trusty HP Photo Smart finally packed in - print system error in the summer. Tried a new head, nothing.
Plumped for one of the HP Office Jets, £149, but came with 9 months free instant ink, then on £2.99 a month. Comes with docu feed for scanning and copying, double sided so was great for my daughter.
I kept my canon printer running for years. Just a basic printer. No wifi, no scanner, nothing. After it died and I ended up with an HP Envy 6000 instant ink wifi printer I can't believe how much I like convenience of printing from anywhere in the house and never buying cartridges.
As an aside my planet caring side is coming out and I would rather not toss a brand new genuine Canon Pixma 546 xl colour cartridge in the bin. If anyone can use it message my your address and I'll stick it in the post.
As the bloke in charge of a print-shop
As the bloke in charge of a print shop, you can have my business "idea" for nothin.
SnapFish and touchnote will print and deliver photographs or postcards for a reasonable fee.
What i want is an "app" or service where i click print on any document my computer (or phone), and the document turns up in the post next day.
Im sure that a) if it was priced right this would be a winner with lots of people
b) it would have negligible overheads
you "just" need An A4 printer setup connected directly to the other end of the web service. When an order comes in it automatically prints the pages, tops them with an additional page with the customer address on (visible through a normal window envelope) and their invoice/account details (on a non visible bit of the page). The store just has to envelope each batch into prepaid envelopes, and dump them in the post each day.
Just the job for the odd Rainbows consent form.
HP Instant Ink.
I've no idea if it's cheaper per page, it might be - but it's so cheap per month (about £3) that I literally never worry about printer ink and haven't for many years now. It always works it's always got ink, and I don't have to fork out £60 at inopportune moments.
It's also nice being able to churn out photos with impunity as it only counts pages, not how much ink is on them. So I could print out photos of the night sky and it'd come out far cheaper than buying black cartridges 🙂
HP Instant Ink.
For all the reasons outlined above.
Ahem. Also instant ink.
No dicking about with cleaning the cartridge is the printing head. And they give you an envelope to return the old ones.
Lasers scanners are good but I would say when I REALLY need to print something I normally need it in colour.
Not directly related but I have an HP printer that uses 920xl cartridges. Latest batch of non HP cartridges wouldn't work, then I discovered the chip bit pops out ofthe cartridge, so just swapped the chips on the old emptiesand the new generic ones suddenly work.
Another HP Instant Ink user here. Just the £1/month 10 pages.
I used to spend a lot more than £12/year on ink for my old Canon.
Proper office quality HP laser printer (the ones with the service duty of 5000 pages a month or more), colour or b&w, look at reconditioned on eBay (though can pick up new for reasonable money).
Just the £1/month 10 pages.
15 pages, I believe.
Repeating what's above:
- laser printer. Doesn't matter how often or infrequently you print, it won't clog like bubblejets. Also, toner lasts ages
- Brother. I've had two B&W network Brother printers, and they just work every time.
- For me, ignore ink by subscription things. There's a reason printer makers have moved to it, and it's not to save *you* money...
- Finally, when the printer says "I'm out of toner, replace me!!", don't believe its lies. Depending on the model, look up online how to reset the toner level reading; then shake the toner cartridge a bit, and continue printing. My Brother printer told me 2 months ago that it couldn't print any more because it was out of toner. I looked up a YouTube video of how to reset that error message, and carried on printing - 2 months on, there's still no sign in the printouts that it actually did need new toner.
Buy the same model laser printer that your employer supplies for your office.
Thread should have ended here. At least in pre-covid times.
Buy the same model laser printer that your employer supplies for your office.
Thread should have ended here. At least in pre-covid times.
Haha, my employer is stealing printer ink from me now, effectively.
We bought a HP insta ink as recommended on here. The printer is shit and doesn't work, its sub 2 years old.
We went for the base model but we only print about 100 pages a year. Just need something for those odd occasions and this thing has just died. And of course i'm still paying £3 a month like a mug hoping that next time i try it will come back to life.
Instant Ink is the service, not the printer technology. We have had an HP 5640 Envy for ooh.. seven or eight years? It's been trouble-free.
The answer is always a laser for me. I've never liked the monthly ink subscription thing - I'd rather just have something you can stick non gen cartridges in. You don't have to worry about not using it for a couple of weeks, it just works fine. Not great at photos but fast and reliable for everything else. Mine's a Brother 3140 colour, I only paid £120 for it 2 years ago and have only put one (non gen) toner cartridge in it in that time. They're a chunk more expensive now but I got my Mum an HP Colour Laser 150nw for £190 a couple of months ago and that seems fine too.
You don’t have to worry about not using it for a couple of weeks
Mine goes months without printing and then starts up every time. It's also got a scanner.
Brother. I’ve had two B&W network Brother printers, and they just work every time.
Yup, same here. Can't get my head round paying £x/month for printer ink. Not everything needs a subscription.
Put my HP printer into "manufacturers mode" years ago, now it doesn't care what ink cartridges you use or if they are only half full anymore.
We have had an HP 5640 Envy for ooh.. seven or eight years? It’s been trouble-free.
5540 on its 5th trouble free year, with a teacher, 3x students and myself in the house all printing...
@uwe-r - I think the issue is more buying the cheapest printer, rather than one a couple of rungs up the line. The ink service is good and in my view good value.
I hate my HP WiFi printer with a vengeance.
You have to sign up and create and hp account and the HP software says device offline when that is clearly a lie, or alternatively it will say diver not found, despite going through the motions.
To scan a doc the other day I had to do it via the oldskool 'Windows fax and scan' applet and then it miraculously worked, despite the HP software still insisting it was not set up.
Hateful bag of shyte.
Not everything needs a subscription.
But it's "the Netflix of printer ink".
alternatively it will say diver not found
I've sent my HP LaserJet on a deep see rescue mission also and it never came back.
More seriously though I have been stunned with how good the HP app is. Unboxed my printer, hooked it up to wifi and it had made contact with my PC to let it know it was there before I even got back to my desk. Been pretty faultless....
Yeh I dunno what's up with mine.. It does work if I faf with it for ages, that's via USB or WiFi, Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Printers probably 2 years old so fairly modern.
Also I worked in desktop support for years before moving into service management and I just can't fathom it.
Can’t get my head round paying £x/month for printer ink. Not everything needs a subscription.
I totally agree that 'not everything needs a subscription'. Software is a good example here, there's plenty of things I'd buy as a one-off but I cannot justify a subscription for. Lightroom for example, I'd quite like it but I'd only ever use it once in a blue moon and there seems to be no recognition from Adobe that not everyone who buys this stuff will use it in a professional capacity. If they offered it as a one-off purchase for a sensible lump sum I'd probably buy it.
I picked up a "lifetime subscription offer" (or as it used to be called way back in the 20th Century, "buying things") for both Plex and a VPN provider, the former because I felt it was worth contributing towards and the latter because it's a handy thing to have in your back pocket; neither of which would've seen a red cent from me on a subscription model because it's just not worth that much to me.
HP Instant Ink though, it's worth the price of a pint IMHO. It's two pounds a month for a 50-page sub and £3.50 for (IIRC) 150 pages. Whereas a pair of cartridges is £32 and over the years I've probably thrown away more ink in sodded inkjet cartridges than I've managed to squeeze out onto bits of paper.
We've got two Canon Pixma G5050 (one at work, one at home). Huge tank of black ink, slightly less huge tanks of each coloured ink. It replaced a B&W laser at work and costs far less to run.
https://www.zdnet.com/product/canon-pixma-g5050/
First printer I've liked in over 30 years! (I remember finding my first Apple inkjet quite exciting in the late '80s, was quite a step up from dot matrix).
... the drivers are dogshit though. No arguments here.
Still happy with Instant Ink, though tbf it's got worse since I signed up. Getting a replacement for a duff cartridge is now bloody nearly impossible, and HP's app obsession is maddening- I wanted to attach my old wireless printer to a new network, literally all of the HP guides available now say use the app, and the app needs bluetooth. Eventually managed to find an archived manual which told me how to do WPS pairing like I did the first time using the printer's button. But HP have just erased that from all their references.
Not sure if this is helpful, as this won't necessarily work for everyone, but I was in the same position: WFH for an extended period means no access to work printer. Rarely need to print stuff but it's occasionally really inconvenient not to be able to.
I just found a slightly beat up, but working, printer on Freecycle, bought a refill kit, which came with empty cartridges that trick the printer into thinking they're genuine, and enough of each ink to last me a lifetime, for about £23. So far it's worked pretty well. If it gives up the ghost I'll only have lost twenty quid while getting a bit more life out of a printer before it goes to be "recycled" on a pile in south east Asia.
Have to buy a new printer/scanner every sort of 5-10 years as that seems to be how long they last for low usage (couple pages a day)
I've always: Looked up cheap a-i-o printers (80 quid ish iirc) got them open in a load of tabs, then looked at which has the most availability of 3rd party ink on amazon. And bought that. Has worked so far for me and also my mum. It's something like £10 for 2x sets of full colour/blacks, couple times a year.
It's usually Canon, because the heads are on the cartridges so if there is ever a 'clog' (there isn't - but nightmares from an old HP) you just dump it and put another one in.