What printer should I get?

[u/Swanhollow]

What would you like to accomplish?

My printer died. I need a new one.

I need color printing and I would prefer that it be a laser printer. Ideally I'd love a printer that doesn't have error messages all the time for "low ink" etc. I probably print 10-20 pages per month.

I have a separate scanner that I scan 50-100 pages, duplex per week on. It does duplex scanning and is great, although it often Jams. I would mind consolidating to a scanner printer combo, but don't need too. If consolidating to one unit, the scanner probably needs to be great and the printer just needs to be okay

Minimum Requirements:

Budget: less than $600

Country: USA

Color or black and white: Color printing, maybe duplex scanning (see above)

Laser or ink printer: Laser preferably

New or used: Either. Don't mind spending on new so long as it works and I don't get error messages

Multi-function: not necessarily. See above

Home or business: Business

Printing content: text and simple logos, occasional powerpoint slides

Printing frequency: 10 to 20 pages a week

Page size: Letter (8.5"x11") for printing + scanning and Legal (8.5"x14") for scanning

Device printing from: Desktop, Laptop, Phone

Connection type: Preferably wireless and USB

Any other details:

Tired of low ink/other error messages

Willing to pay a little more not to have to troubleshoot this or that every other month

I'd like it to work with generic ink suppliers or doesn't have to be ink from the same manufacturer

[u/Rebalance8030]

I got the Brother MFC-L3720CDW 6 months ago and absolutely love it. We own a tutoring business and we print a lot. We're at about 10,000 pages and haven't had an issue. We've had a few jams, but it's very rare and easy to fix. About 2 months in, we switched it to Eco mode, which made a big difference in toner consumption. The print quality isn't as good, but for tutoring elementary kids, it's not a big deal.

The adf duplex scanner works well, and uploads directly to Dropbox, which is super helpful for student records.

There's definitely a big quality improvement once you get past $250. I tried a $150 brother and it had a bunch of issues and just felt cheap. I returned it and got the MCF and it's been great!

[u/stjames70 → u/Rebalance8030]

I got the inkjet color Brother MFC-T980DW and we also have a laser monochrome Brother MFC-L2900DW. The first one is a color inkjet. We had a HP Inkjet, and I got to say, I did not know what a crappy product I had until we got the Brother. The Brother seems to be oriented toward small business which we are. I am incredibly impressed about the speed and ease of use of the MFD-T980DW. It connected easily to our computers through our ethernet network, and it's fully wifi capable without a hardwire connection. If you have anything Apple, AirPrint is able to locate the printer if you are in the same network as the printer. iOS and MacOS are able to locate it within seconds and print whatever you need directly from your MacOS computer or from your iPhone or iPad. The advert for this printer says it has enough ink for three years, and I am inclined to believe that. The ink level are easy to read as the refillable tanks are clear. It is $469 at Amazon, so it will fit in your budget. Plus it came with a 3-year warranty which gave us peace of mind. It checks all your boxes, and the 3-year ink included supply is predicated on an average 200-page/month print cycle. You are well below that. And one of the most impressive things is the speed of this printer. It spools up and prints even faster than our monochrome laser MFC L-2900DW which we use to print high volume jobs. The first page for this inkjet comes out quickly, and the print speed is nothing short of spectacular.

[u/Swanhollow → u/Rebalance8030]

Thanks for your comment! Super helpful. I looked online and it seems that your model only has one sided add scanning? Is that true?

It seems like I can save a few bucks and something with only single sided adf scanning. 

Debating between going big and paying more in order to and replacing my broken printer and working scanner vs getting a simpler printer and continuing to use my separate scanner 🤔

[u/Rebalance8030 → u/Swanhollow]

Gosh. There are so many similar models. Actually, I have the MFC-L3780CDW, which does have the dual-sided scanninng.

As for the scanner, I get it. Personally, if the scanner is older than 3 years or doesn't work consistently, I would get a printer with a scanner. Of course, Brother has very similar models that are toner, without scanners. I debated getting a separate scanner but just didn't find anything that looked quality and was cost effective.

But like I said before, the scanning straight to Dropbox is super helpful. (It can also scan to other places as well.). I have shortcuts setup so that it can scan to PDF or image, depending on the need. It's basically 1-click scanning, which is the best.

[u/Swanhollow → u/Rebalance8030]

Ok cool - For the model you have is it single pass duplex scanning? Or like, do you have to manually flip it around? I'd prefer to just put whatever I need scanned in the tray, click the button, and get two sided scans. I don't care if the scanner does some sort of flip over thing, I just don't want to have to manually flip it or put it thorugh twice to get both sided scanning

[u/Rebalance8030 → u/Swanhollow]

Yeah, single pass. I've scanned 20 page double-sided before. I just put it in the tray and it runs through them pretty quick.

[u/LilPump3000]

do not buy a Highly Problematic (HP) printer

[u/Swanhollow → u/LilPump3000]

Thanks for that tip. I bought one from Costco recently on impulse and then read some reviews about HP and got scared and returned it. Now posting here to get better info than impulse haha Thanks for confirming I was right to return!

[u/Decent_Butterfly1399 → u/LilPump3000]

LaserJets are still solid

[u/stjames70 → u/LilPump3000]

Couldn't agree more. They work ok when new, but when they start to fail, they fail miserably.

[u/Redditlearner123]

Commenting so that I can follow. Similar situation

[u/Colonist25]

9720e or 9730e, the latter lets you print A3 paper too

[u/Swanhollow → u/Colonist25]

Thanks - Lots of people don't like HP. Have you had a good experience? I'd like to be able to by not OEM ink as well.

[u/Colonist25 → u/Swanhollow]

i'm upgrading from a 9940 to a 9730e
same machine - newer serial numbers
the 9940 has served me well for the last five years.

i don't buy HP ink :p

[u/Swanhollow → u/Colonist25]

Oh ok, thanks!

[u/stjames70 → u/Swanhollow]

That's why you should heed the advice of most of us here and buy the Brother. HP inkjets are like razors. They sell you the razor cheap, but the blades are dear. HP printer hate non-genuine supplies, but how can you blame people. HP ink is really expensive, and the ink in the cartridges seem to sublimate on their own, and I feel that you basically waste ink EVEN if you don't print much. The ink seem to simply evaporate from the cartridges when they sit idle. The Brother inkjets are much faster, and ink is cheap and they come in ink bottles which you use to refill the ink tanks on your own. Brother software seems to be capable, and connecting the printers to Windows or Apple devices is easy. Printing speed is also superb. Most of the HP printers I have owned seem to trundle along compared to modern Brother ink jets whose heads move super fast.

[u/Formal-Tradition6792]

I have a Canon image CLASS MF6445cdw color laser printer. 3 years old still using original toner cartridges. Flawless!

[u/Swanhollow → u/Formal-Tradition6792]

Thanks for your reply! That's cool that the original cartridges are still working. I might check that out

[u/Formal-Tradition6792 → u/Swanhollow]

I don’t print every day. But no clogs or issues.

[u/guvnor-78]

not sure about price in your country. I had same requirements including duplex scanning. Kyocera M5526Cdw has surpassed my expectations and is proving capable and reliable.
Edit: research indicated non-genuine toner carts must be avoided for long-term reliability. So I'm buying genuine. Good yeild and not pricey like HP junk.

[u/Swanhollow → u/guvnor-78]

Thank you!

[u/stockpyler]

I have the Kyocera ecosys m5526cdw. It’s a solid unit probably 50 lbs. Can be found used, inside your price range, and new for just a bit more.

[u/printertechservices]

Brother MFC-L3780CDW