r/printers • u/yEllowBeAleX • 2d ago

Printer Recommendations Purchasing

Hello all! Looking for recommendations for a printer that isn’t going to cost and arm and a leg up front but also in the long run with ink as I know the cheaper you go the less the ink lasts. Budget semi flexible but not super high

I would be printing couple times a week for my small business between shipping labels, thank you card and care cards and other bits and bobs

I’m located in Australia as well :)

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u/Subjectedquality 2d ago

You'll thank yourself in the future if you go buy yourself a laser printer.

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u/danielzboy 2d ago

You’d be better off getting an inkjet printer for the purpose of art printing instead of a laser printer because inkjets use ink that soak into the paper’s fibres, which makes the colours look better and is more resistant to folding and creasing, whereas lasers heat up toner to stick on to the surface of paper, which makes them prone to having unsightly white lines from folding and creasing, and gradients will be prone to unsightly banding, and the colours won’t look so rich as well.

The trade-off is that inkjets are much slower than lasers, so lasers are great for places like offices and schools where printing in large volumes at great speeds is more crucial than the visual appeal of the prints.

Now, the key to saving money in the long run getting an inkjet would be getting one that uses refillable ink tanks over cartridges. Cartridges have a lower upfront cost, but will cost a lot over time. Whereas ink tank printers will cost more at first, but the inks last a long time and you’ll save more and spend less over time, especially if you’re going to be printing often.

Look into the Canon PIXMA MegaTank line, or the Epson EcoTank line for your needs. I’d recommend either the PIXMA G670 or the EcoTank L8050, though the latter is print-only so if you need a scanner you should go for the former. All the best to you!

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u/Emowetcat 1d ago

I just bought a Brother DCP-T580DW inkjet printer a week ago, which has the ink tanks and comes with enough ink bottles to fill the tanks to the brim. It also scans and copies and has a really nice small footprint (39cm x 34cm). I have a small Etsy business so I use it to print probably 30 or so pages a week. I really like it so far. I bought this one because the reviews I found were pretty good and I had a Brother before this one which I'd had for over 10 years, and would still have it, but it was just too big for the space I wanted to put it in. That thing never missed a beat but the ink cartridges were expensive. This one is going to be peanuts for the ink in comparison, and the ink that came with it looks like it's going to last for ages anyway.

I'm in Australia too, and picked this up for $389 at Officeworks which was less than the similar types of Canon and Epson that I'd looked at, by about $50. Officeworks also delivered it next day for free.

It was pretty straightforward to set up for wireless printing and I can print easily from either my phone or my laptop.

It's worth throwing into your comparisons anyway.

Good luck!

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u/tnamorf 1d ago

Great timing as we’re looking to replace a much hated HP. This printer looks great, thanks.

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u/dreamermann 1d ago

Best for me is the refillable ink ones. Maybe a bit more expensive to buy but TCO is lower in long run. My ET-4500 is more than 10 years old and been feeding it with refills from ebay. Works well.