Printer Died, Again, Would Like Advise On New Purchase, Please.

I had an HP Envy, that I bought a 15 months ago. The warranty I purchased from Amazon was beyond useless.
I checked the top 10 Inkjet printers under 100 dollars for 2018. I checked several different websites.
All 10 of them had horrible reviews on Amazon and Best Buy. HP has gotten out of control IMO with their Instant Ink program which I don't want. ( Getting rid of all the BS software is a nightmare)
Suggestions for: Inkjet Printer that can scan. I print between 30-60 pages a month. Reasonable ink prices or at least they last a decent period. I can't pay more than 100-125 dollars.

I am adding one of the lists- https://www.lifewire.com/best-photo-business-and-laser-printers-under-100-dollars-4075318
The reviews are awful for this so called best printers.
I would appreciate any suggestions, thank you!

 

Currently running an Epson Workforce WF-2630 which i originally purchased purely on value for Ink replacement.
Also liked the idea of the Epsom app which allows me to print from my Android cell, but im sure others also have this facility.
No issues across my network so far, and good value for money at Bestbuy (the above link).
I dont print great loads each day, but Im still running on the cartridges supplied at purchase!
No peddling of BS software either.

 

Thank you, I will check it out!

 

I agree with Replicator- I always have Epson printers- the all in ones are very good, and inkwise, its a no brainer - I usually buy replacement cartridges that are not original, and so cheap- and unless it is for pictures, when it is best to buy originals, --they last me several years, and I sometimes print a circular (funny stuff ) and make something like 140 pages, forming an 8 page booklet , printed both sides (side fold on A4 sheets).
I am currently running an old Epson XP-225 all in one, wireless, and have had this one over 3 years.

 

Not if you don't install it in the first place!

FTR, I never, as NEVER EVER install the driver package that comes with printing devices. Most users don't need them because they are MUCH more than just drivers - they tend to be HUGE suites of utilities and other resource hogging (privacy stealing!) bloated junk we don't need foisted on our systems!

HP is notorious for this. If your printer or all-in-one (AiO) is "network ready", chances are it has HP's "embedded web server" built into the device (I make sure it does before buying). Then all you need is the basic printer driver and surprise, surprise, if the device is relatively new, chances are Windows 10 already has that basic printer driver built in. No need to manually install anything. If Windows does not recognize it, basic drivers will be available on the devices website.

For AiO devices, we don't need the software suite to copy. That is always done locally (standing in front of the printer). And to fax or scan, you just enter the printer's IP address in your browser's address bar and viola! You are in the printer's embedded web sever where you can easily fax, scan, check ink levels, print test pages, and more.

Most network ready devices from other makers are the same way.

Do understand when you buy a budget printing device, you get what you pay for, a "budget" printing device. These tend not to last very long and are basically "disposable" devices because repair costs typically exceed their initial purchase and replacement costs.

And these devices all tend to have expensive "consumables" (ink). Increasing the budget for a better device is likely to get you a device that will [hopefully] provide you a longer service life. You might be able to use 3rd party ink but that introduces 2 potential problems. Damage caused by 3rd party ink is not covered on the printer's warranty. Also, not all 3rd party ink is equal - even between batches from the same supplier.

 

1. Don't add the drivers I just set it up following the directions.
2. I have looked at Printers up to 200 dollars and they still had Crappy reviews - hundreds of them. FYI- I am a disabled senior on a very limited income, so, it is easy to say you get what you pay for, however, sometimes you have to get what you can afford. For me, I scan a few pages a year, I print maybe 30 pages a month some months less than that.
3 The software suite just downloaded when I hooked it up. I have tried using third party ink, sometimes it worked , others times it did not.
4 HP's "embedded web server" built into the device (I make sure it does before buying). Not sure what that means and how to find out if it has it. For my simple needs I am not sure how spending money I do not have will help they all seem to have terrible reviews. The Canon Pixma is supposed to be number 1 and has awful reviews on many sites.

Customer Reviews-
HP OfficeJet Pro 6978 All-in-One Wireless Printer with Mobile Printing, Instant Ink ready (T0F29A) 99 dollar$, worse reviews than the 69 dollar one!
3.6 out of 5 stars
705
5 star

47%
4 star

14%
3 star

7%
2 star

6%
1 star

26%



Customer Reviews-
HP
HP OfficeJet Pro 8710 All-in-One Wireless Printer with Mobile Printing, Instant Ink ready (M9L66A) 119.00$
3.9 out of 5 stars
991
5 star

51%
4 star

13%
3 star

7%
2 star

6%
1 star

23%
HP OfficeJet Pro 8720 All-in-One Wireless Printer with Mobile Printing, Instant Ink ready - White (M9L75A) 199.00$
Customer Reviews
3.7 out of 5 stars
681
5 star

51%
4 star

14%
3 star

8%
2 star

6%
1 star

21% Not sure what to do, however, it's the time of year I have to do most of my printing and I am just not sure what to get. I looked at the Epsom that was mentioned and it has horrible reviews and they are not making the exact model baklogic mentioned.
I appreciate all the different suggestions. I guess I need to buy an extended warranty. Any suggestions which company is best I usually use Square Trade, Amazon used Assurion and I have had trouble with them honoring their product as have many others on Amazon.
I buy my computers from Dell , and my printers from Amazon or Best Buy.
Thanks again for all the replies.

 

MY concern I found this on Epsdon websitse-
EXPRESSION HOME XP-225
★★★★★★★★★★2.7 out of 5 stars. Read reviews.

2.7

(128)
So confused

 

To print to a networked printer, you must use a print server. Back in the day, the print server was a separate network device that sat between the printer and router. You connected the printer's cable to the print server, then connected the print server via Ethernet cable to your router.

Many printing devices today have a built in server, many routers have a built in server. So you just connect via Ethernet or wirelessly. In any case, somewhere there must be a print server for a printer be networked.

The HP embedded web server is just that, a web server embedded in (integrated with) the printer. But it also has a menu system you can log into with your browser, instead of using special software installed on each computer, to access all the extra features (like faxing and scanning).

How do you find out if your HP device (or one you are considering) has one? Look in the user guide if you have it. Download it then look in it if you don't.

I'm no spring chicken either so I fully understand this. I am just saying, if possible, it is often better in the long run to invest a little more up front for something that will [hopefully] last longer.

 

Many printing devices today have a built in server, many routers have a built in server. So you just connect via Ethernet or wirelessly. In any case, somewhere there must be a print server for a printer be networked.

The HP embedded web server is just that, a web server embedded in (integrated with) the printer. But it also has a menu system you can log into with your browser, instead of using special software installed on each computer, to access all the extra features (like faxing and scanning).

Thank you for your clear and concise explanation.

How do you find out if your HP device (or one you are considering) has one? Look in the user guide if you have it. Download it then look in it if you don't.
Sadly, the printer died last week and it has been disposed of I was told the door could not be fixed. So, I need to get one this week.
I am having surgery sometime this month after I have one more test.
If I could I would spend more, however, between medications that are not covered by insurance, co-pays, food, etc I would have to not eat for 10 days to be able to buy an better computer. In addition the 199$ HP did not have better reviews than the one that was for 69 $. If I did spend more what would you suggest? I am very frugal, use Big Lots, 99 Cents store , etc to save money. Even the printer at Costco has terrible reviews and it was 239$. I am at a loss.
I'm no spring chicken either so I fully understand this. I am just saying, if possible, it is often better in the long run to invest a little more up front for something that will [hopefully] last longer.[/QUOTE] Thank you
Thanks again from one spring chicken to another...

 

If you can get someone to do the scanning for you, and you're not printing colour, I suggest you look at a Mono Laser Printer.
Generally, they are cheaper and more reliable than a colour AIO.

I have a Canon i-Sensys LBP6030 Mono Laser Printer which cost about $50 (in South Africa). It included a 'starter cartridge' that yielded 1,635 pages.
The generic toner cartridge cost about $30 and the counter currently shows more than 2,100 pages.
I have printed 3,743 pages in 1 year & 7 months.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-I-Sensys-6030-Laser-Printer/dp/B00O863L5S

 

Always worth reading the reviews, but I have had no trouble with Epson.
I read some of those reviews- This is an old model, now, but as I said , I have had mine a few years,and never ha a problem- I never bought original ink,after the first that came with the printer,and as it has separate colour cartridges, I find it cheap, BUT GOOD QUALITY printing, even with inks from a compatible seller.
I have it installed on W7/8.1, AND W10-Wireless suits me- works a treat.
Somw people willnot follow instructions on anything,and then complain.
For me- EPSON suits me well, and all models I have had in the last 20 years have been the same- I tried other makes , but always finished up with Epsom-
I did not like HP printer I had some time ago, but like Eldon, I did like the mono-laser printer that I had some years ago (cannot remember the name now, but I had difficulty getting toner , so I did not keep it any longer.

 

Dont put any weight on online reviews, i mean who takes the time to do a review? I dont.
They are usually written by nuff nuffs who have nothing better to do than complain, or perhaps maybe even written by company associates who have a vested interest in the product itself, you just dont know.
Worst still, their competitors may even take the time to bag them out in an online review to make themselves look better........what im trying to say is that they aren't worth a pinch of salt.

The information given here is by vested, impartial computer geeks who give you an actual real life run-down of their experience with a product in an unbiased view.
Otherwise, why would you ask us in the first place, just base your decision on the review?

 

I do i look at the reviews.It helps you do more research be for you buy a product.

I want to get my moneys worth out of an item i buy or pay for.If i buy some thing that is over 100 dollars i want to make sure it last.

 

Its worthless research that aint gonna tell you how long something will last.

We are talking about sensitive electronic equipment.....how you treat it will determine its life, not what the Kardashians say.

What happens if you bump it, knock it, drop it, put bad paper in it or let it build up with dust?

Choosing a printer today is not rocket science....put pictures of the latest on a dart board and the one you hit should see you well for the printing future!
Base your decision on price and Ink value replacement, treat it well, look after it, and you will be ok.

 

A quick note about "user" reviews.

• Happy people don't complain so user reviews are often skewed.
  
  
• Most user reviews are solicited (by the retailer) and written within a day or two of receipt, not a year down the road when the information would be more valuable.
  
  
• Many products receive bad reviews because,

• The item was the wrong color,
• The post office delivered it next door,
• FedEx delivered it a day late,
• The box looked like it fell off the UPS truck.

​

I only pay attention to user reviews if there are many reviews about the exact same model number with the exact same complaint.

 

Hi, I am in California , therefore I cannot use Amazon.UK. I looked it up on my Amazon and this is what I got
Printer Canon I-SENSYS LBP6030

I read some of those reviews- This is an old model, now, but as I said , I have had mine a few years,and never ha a problem- I never bought original ink,after the first that came with the printer,and as it has separate colour cartridges, I find it cheap, BUT GOOD QUALITY printing, even with inks from a compatible seller.
I have it installed on W7/8.1, AND W10-Wireless suits me- works a treat.
Somw people willnot follow instructions on anything,and then complain.
For me- EPSON suits me well, and all models I have had in the last 20 years have been the same- I tried other makes , but always finished up with Epsom-
So, only Amazon UK sells it and it comes to over 300 with shipping.
Which one would you suggest then ... if you don't mind my asking. Also, I read that Epsom too has not added the disable function if you use 3rd party ink. However, they said do not allow updates and there is a place to go back and change the settings to a date before they changed the ink game.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...l-in-One+Printer+with+WiFi+(Print/Scan/Copy)+
Thank you, much appreciated.

 

Keep in mind, this is a mono printer only.
Here's the wireless model.
https://www.amazon.com/Canon-imageCLASS-LBP6030w-Wireless-Printer/dp/B00K5UZO0Q
Includes free shipping.

 

So, that means it only prints in black, using toner? I have only had inkjet printers in the past. Can you scan with it? So, if you are printing something - say a coupon that is in color it just comes out black? Sorry for the questions I am just needing to figure this out and I need something that is easy to set up, wireless and work with Win 10 and my Dell Desktop. Thank you Edlon for all of your assistance. Thank you all!

 

Yes, it prints black only.
And it doesn't scan - you posted you only scan a few pages per year.

 

True, about 15 per year, maybe 20 the most. So, it goes with Win 10 and just turns things that should be in color to Black? Thanks, again. I was just checking. I would love to have one last for more than 15 months

 

You didn't tell us what went wrong with your HP printer.

 

The door to the tray where the paper went would not close all the way so it could not print. About a week before I bought new ink. The printer was working well. Then I had to print out an important document. I tried to print and it said door is not closed all the way. So, I went over and it would not close, no matter what I did, what I tried it would not close. There was no piece broken it looked exactly the same , however, I could not close it and neither could my daughter. It would cost more to fix it then to replace it. It was always giving me problems, it would disconnect from the router and then I would have to reset it. It ate ink like crazy . I never signed up for the Instant Ink program, however, the ink is expensive and sometimes it would accept 3rd party ink and other times it would not. I had a Canon Pixma once, however, it was not wireless and it also used ink like crazy and the ink is not cheap. I know that is how they get you they lower the prices on the printer and then make the ink insane prices. Also the door was pretty flimsy. I will not make that mistake again.
HP Envy 4520

 

You really had bad luck - I have never heard of a printer doing that.
The problem with AIO printers is there are to many functions/features - to many things that can go wrong. My Lexmark AIO (printer/scanner/copier/fax/memory card reader/usb port/second RJ11 port/Wi-Fi printing & scanning) just stopped printing. I removed the print head and cleaned it as per the instructions, put it back and re-aligned it, and cleaned the print nozzles and... nothing!

That's when I bought the small laser printer only. It (see post #10) has a tray for the paper and a top cover, 2 buttons and 1 LED. 3,700+ pages and it works like the day I bought it.

 

I know I'm late to the party but, from the deep dark lair of big box store secrets on inkjets, here goes:

Best Value On Ink Costs: HP models that have the "Instant Ink" subscription available. The ink ships automatically and several plans are available. For example, $4.99 a month for 100 pages. It doesn't matter if you print 100 8.5" x 11" full color glossies. If you do a lot of color and/or photos, this is a steal.

Easiest setup (a.k.a. fewest people calling back for help setting it up): Canon and Brother (tie). If you do several hundred pages per month, the Brother "InkVestment" series ($150-$280 on sale) is worth it to save a small fortune on replacement ink.

Most trouble prone: Epson. Of the four brands the chain I work for offers, Epson is the slowest seller. When defective returns are shipped back at the end of the week, there are usually more Epson units than any other brand. The worst offenders seem to be the WF-2750/2760 and WF-7710/7720. From talking with customers at the returns desk, most of the issues deal with the inkjet head failing quickly.

 

Subscription plans are only good if you actually use that much ink. The problem with inkjet ink is it has a shelf life. And it is not very long. The period varies depending on environmental conditions but the general rule of thumb is 18 months after manufacture when it remains sealed and stored in its unopened packaging, and 6 months* once the cartridge is removed from its packaging and installed in the printer.

Many printers will actually stop printing once the expiration date has passed. While some accuse (and have sued) the printer makers of forcing users to buy new ink prematurely, there is a valid reason for using "fresh" ink - it does not gum up the jets and print heads like old ink can and will. If lucky, the cartridge with simply stop disbursing the ink. If unlucky, the old ink can damage the printer.

HP's Instant Ink plan, as seen here, uses cartridges that are even larger than HPs large capacity XL cartridges. So again, if you don't use it up in time, you risk the ink getting too old before it runs out. That is wasting money, not saving it.

And last, there's the notion your printer is "phoning home" to HP with information about your printing habits, tying that information to your real name and billing information. This might be (and should be!) a problem for those concerned about their privacy. While I do trust HP to use my personal information responsibly, companies large and small have demonstrated repeatedly lax security when it comes to preventing bad guys from hacking their networks and stealing their customer's information. In some cases, disgruntled employees have been the bad guys!

I am NOT saying these subscription plans are a rip-off. I am just saying they definitely are not for everyone.

* This 6-month time period varies too - depending on environment and usage. One suggestion to extend life of seldom used ink is to print something, anything that is full color once a week. This effectively "shakes up" the ink cartridges (like a can of spray paint) to evenly distribute and remix the ink that may have separated and settled. It also ensures the jets and print heads remain moist to ensure a free-flow of ink when required. A simple self-test print page is likely enough.

 

So the quickest way to avoid all the non-sense of broken printers and the whole concept of 'ink' is to avoid inkjets. There's a reason why businesses don't use them. They use lasers.

And laser printers used to be expensive, but not any more. And a cheap laser multifunction machine by brother can be <$100 used, and <$200 new when on sale or other other deal (overstock/openbox/etc). If you're lucky, you can even get a color laser multifunction machine like this one for under $200:
https://www.cdw.com/product/BROTHER-MFCL8610CDW-COLOR-LASER-MFP/4968956?pfm=srh#PO

And don't worry about the 'starter' toners in these printers. I have a brother machine that I bought in 2013 and I only replaced the starter toner in 2015 with a 'full' one. And I don't expect to touch it again until at least 2018.

And because you're having to buy toner so less frequently, don't cut corners and get knock-off toner--get genuine supplies to keep your printer running strong for decades to come. We have several Brother machines, many we got used with over 50k pages printed. The one we bought new in 2007 is still going strong--over 10 years later.

 

That's not true on both counts. Lasers break down too, especially budget ones. And many businesses still use ink jets because they typically offer better full color print outs.

 

They do, but not very often. Even budget ones if properly treated will run into the 10k page count before having an issue if at all.

If you have a desktop publishing service then sure, I've seen some of the older Epsons and other large format professional line inkjets there. But for any regular business, it's a laser and/or a thermal receipt printer and that's it. I have almost a dozen inkjets that employees bought over the years that were worthless in terms of reliability or cost-effectiveness, quality, or speed. Dot-matrix printers are more reliable.

 

And I've seen some ink jets last years.

There are pros and cons to both. If lasers were superior in every way you suggest, there would be no ink jets.

And frankly to compare professional lines of printers to the typically home use printer is just not a fair comparison. And who's to say what a "regular business" is? I have one business client with just 3 employees. Yet they go through a ream (500 sheets) of paper every day. I have another client with 20 employees. They may go a week without printing a single page.

 

So what? Nobody needs a history lesson here. And none of that has anything to do with the OPs question. And certainly which technology came first is immaterial too. First does not, in any way, imply better. And you left out thermal printers anyway.

And your conclusions are clearly biased. We get that you prefer laser but to suggest lasers win every time (even with your limiting conditions) is just wrong. For example, if your printouts include high-resolution, professional quality, graphics, ink jets win every time!

So for you, lasers may be the technology of choice and that's fine. But don't try to push your personal preferences down others' throats without fully understanding their printing needs.

The OP prints just 1 or 2 pages a day with a budget not to exceed $125. It needs to scan and print in color. That does not suggest a laser to me.

@mladynicole - note this Tom's Hardware Best All-in-One Printers of 2018 review shows the "Best" Overall All-In-One was not a laser, but the Canon Pixma TS6020 which is very inexpensive. You do typically get better reliability and longer life expectancy when you invest more up front, but the price of this makes it almost a disposable-use item. If it dies, you buy another and move on and still come out ahead.

You might check out Consumer Reports. Because they are a non-profit that accepts no advertising dollars from any product maker or service provider, they offer the most unbiased reviews and buying advice of any review organization. They also conduct much more thorough reviews, to include cost per page to print, based on the cost of consumables (ink, paper and energy).

And do NOT pay too much attention to "user reviews". I don't unless there are many that complain about the exact same problem. User reviews are typically very skewed. For one, happy people don't complain. And most user reviews are completed within a day or two after receipt of the device, hardly giving the device a chance show its true worth. This is were Consumer Reports review excel too - they test over extended periods of time to expose durability issues too. And many products in user reviews are down-rated because FedEx delivered it next door, the box looked like it fell off the UPS truck, or the Post Office delivered it a day late. Or it is down rated because the device was not the same color as the picture shown on Amazon.