Recommend a cheap printer

[coco69]

Cheap but decent and the cartridges dont cost an arm and a leg please

 

[Levo-Lon]

I would say have mine ,its cheap and the cartidges dry up if you dont use it often..
I bought new cartridges yesterday for 20 quid via Amazon..4 pack so not too bad..

i have a HP wireless from currys that cost about 70 quid 3 yr ago..

i will pay the extra and get a laser jet next time

 

[vernon]

Epson XP-305. It doubles as a scanner/copier and the ink cartridges can be replaced individually i.e. running out of one colour doesn't mean having to replace an integrated colour cartridge with all three colours. Generic cartridge replacements have worked well and I've had no problems with the print head drying out.

The XP 322 looks like it's replaced the 305. £50 give or take a penny.

 

[welsh dragon]

Epson xp series 400 are quite good. Copies, scans cost about £60. And you can buy cheap inks on ebay. The one I have is an xp432. It works well and doesn't take up a lot of room.

 

[TreeHuggery]

I've got a cannon MG5500 happy with it, it was a fair price, it scans and copies and the quality is good enough for what I want... and the inks can be replaced separately ... but like all printers the ink is ridiculously expensive....
Sure that I read somewhere that ml per ml champagne is cheaper.....
Half wish I'd kept my old office job where I used to sneakily print off print heavy documents.

 

[Over The Hill]

Really depends on what you plan to print.
I use mine for work (working from home) and so print off about 250 pages black and white per month. Brother laser printer with scanner and copier does a good job and is cheap to run. I then have a cheapo inkjet colour printer that I just plug in for odd colour jobs that sometimes come along.

Low volume < 100 copes per month go for inkjet.
> 200 or so and OK with black in then get a laser.

Colour laser printers are still quite expensive and large.

Laser printers are expensive to buy but cheap to run. Inkjet cheap to buy but costly to run. You will spend far more on ink than the initial unit cost so price it based on the ink use. My Brother laser seems to do 8,000 pages black ink on one £16 refurbished cartridge from ebay. You can wind back the monitor that tells you it is empty after about 3,000 copies. Some are more difficult to override.

 

[Over The Hill]

I've got a cannon MG5500 happy with it, it was a fair price, it scans and copies and the quality is good enough for what I want... and the inks can be replaced separately ... but like all printers the ink is ridiculously expensive....
Sure that I read somewhere that ml per ml champagne is cheaper.....
Half wish I'd kept my old office job where I used to sneakily print off print heavy documents.

Dave Gorman did a whole show on it when a friend gave him an old printer.

 

[swee'pea99]

Really depends on what you plan to print.

Absolutely. And how much. I also have a b/w laser for almost everything (vastly cheaper than ink: I got an HP laserjet 1020 off ebay for a tenner, and get cheap compatible catrtridges, also off ebay, for about seven or eight quid, which last for thousands and thousands of pages) and have an inkjet for the occasional bit of colour. Bottom line: I do a lot of printing; it costs me next to nothing; and the quality is top notch.

One important starting point though: stop thinking in terms of 'a cheap printer'. Most printers are loss-leaders. Think about lifetime cost, for the kind of printing you plan to do.

 

[Profpointy]

my current printer is a modest priced colour laser printer. Got fed up with the cost and hassle of dried up and costly ink for a series of inkjets I previously had - all of which were a pain.

Admittedly inkjets can do photo quality, but for normal use (ie occasional home printing) laser is much less hassle. I think it cost about £150 - canon maybe, but I'm sure any pukka make would be on a par for a given price poi t

 

[Over The Hill]

Absolutely. And how much. I also have a b/w laser for almost everything (vastly cheaper than ink: I got an HP laserjet 1020 off ebay for a tenner, and get cheap compatible catrtridges, also off ebay, for about seven or eight quid, which last for thousands and thousands of pages) and have an inkjet for the occasional bit of colour. Bottom line: I do a lot of printing; it costs me next to nothing; and the quality is top notch.

One important starting point though: stop thinking in terms of 'a cheap printer'. Most printers are loss-leaders. Think about lifetime cost, for the kind of printing you plan to do.

You then get into the true cost which is down to -
How tight are the controls on the printer and how much can you override.
Most makers want you to buy a new ink cartridge off them after 1000 copies for £30 or so.
Most owners want to run a cheap copy or refurbed cartridge for £10, turn off the thing that says it is empty after 1000 copies and have it run for its full life which is often more like 8,000 copies.
I found HP a bit too controlling on what I did but Brother to be fairly easy to override or reset.

With the inkjet I make sure I take out the cartridges when not in use and put them in little clips that cover up the head with a seal.