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I'm looking for a simple printer for occasional use in the house. I've had a couple of cheap ones in the past but the ink always seemed to clog up if it wasn't used for a few weeks
Use wise, it'll be for occasional things like emails, boarding passes and parkrun barcodes. I don't see myself ever wanting to print my own photos. I'd just get a laser printer but the kids want to use heat transfer paper to iron images onto t-shirts (which sounds pretty cool) so it has to be inkjet.
Not fussed for wireless or any fancy features (it'll be in the study next to a laptop anyway) a scanner would be a bonus feature but certainly not a deal breaker.
Priority is for something that'll work reliably when it's needed and won't cost too much in consumables.
Budget wise, whatever it takes no not end up with more landfill!
Any recommendations? Seen any good deals??
HP 2540 - from Asda, cheap ink, easy to use, airprint, wifi, etc.
I got one of these 6 months ago for same type of use - holding up so far:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Search/searchTerm/hp+2542.htm
I don't think you will find any are reliable for occasional use so buy cheap and treat as disposable. Laser would be best for you if not for those pesky kids 🙂
So far am impressed with my Canon. My experience was that Epson had gone down in quality and reliability, last one managed just over a year and their customer service is rubbish.
HP 2540 - from Asda, cheap ink, easy to use, airprint, wifi, etc.
I don't know if its the case with newer HP models - one of the things that consigned my Deskjet to the bin is the cartridges having a sort of electronic 'use by' date in them and the printer refusing to print from them after that point whether they have ink in them or not. That and having all the colours in one cartridge is costly and refusing to print a page a black text because you're out of colours but have plenty of black (... and the fact that I've somehow manage to bend the printer so the lid won't close properly, I've had to jam a broken pencil into it to make it think its closed)
I'm getting on better with Canon IP series printers - separate colours (with a large 'page black' dedicated just to text printing), very cheap and available aftermarket inks with no crapping about with the printer deciding if they are genuine enough. Not had issues with clogging (although I don't know if I print rarely enough for that to be an issue). The only issue I've had with non-brand inks is poor colour performance in very particular photo printing (an object illuminated by red light in the darkness- the red ink not strong enough) but for day to day they're perfectly good
Get a laser printer.
Tell your kids to get over it.
Get a laser printer.Tell your kids to get over it.
Haha, but +1 anyway.
Getting a laser printer after years of inkjet aggro was probably the best decision I've made in my long and accomplished life.
As above - Just buy them T-shirts or buy them some sharpies 😉
In time-honoured STW fashion, I won't answer your question but I'll tell you what I've got....
After many failed inkjet printers because they pack up if you don't use them everyday, I got a Dell C1765nfw LED printer (home version of a laser) and it's worked faultlessly for the last 2 years.
There's ink jet and there's ink jet.
For occasional use I'd get an HP. The cartridge you buy, as well as containing the ink, is the cleaver bit where the ink comes from. So if you don't use it for months the worst case is you get a new cartridge and it will work.
Most other makes have the nozzles separate from the ink cartridge, so they block and aren't easy or cheap to unblock.
The problem really is that inkjets and 'occasional use' are not happy bedfellows. If you're not actually that fussed about colour I can almost certainly source you a sub-£100 laser printer.
In time-honoured STW fashion, I won't answer your question but I'll tell you what I've got....
a brother - relatively low cartridge costs and seems happy to sit and do nothing
(have a B&W laser for most day to day print for god knows why tasks)
have had
HPs expensive cartridges, work for 2 years.
Canons cheaper to run but random faults of huge proportions
Epsons not sure what to say other than I'm sure swiss tony could come up with something like "looks pretty but reluctant"
Canon MJ series. Cheap to run too on manufacturers cartridges.
HP here. Was £45 about 4/5 yrs ago.
Throws a wobbly now & then, but still prints well.
Cartridges are the worst bit at approx half the cost of a new printer.
Tried cheap ones but they are just a POS.
I'd happily replace it with another HP.
My last £60 HP printer lasted really well, over 10 years of occasional use without any issues and no clogging...
HP.. I would never touch anything else.. Epson probably the worst of the bunch IMO
Take a look at the Ricoh and Dell lasers on hot uk deals. No liquid ink to dry up so will just fire up and work when needed.
Canon canon canon. There. It had to be said.
+1 HP 2540
Bought ours a few months ago and has been great for general printing duties.
Get a Brother Laser print and some fabric paints, you get a decent printer and they get to be properly creative.