Recommend me a multifunction printer

[KenZ71]

Huh, forgot about this post.

I picked up an HP Multi Function from Amazon's warehouse deals.

The instant mail order ink seems like a good deal for me. Hope it works well.

 

[Botill26]

cannon wifi printers give me a headache, they're just over complicated to set up.

Same experience. Epson Wifi printer is a better choice.

 

[sfx2000]

Brother printers cant properly be used with generic drivers and canon is just terrible with software

Brother

I've had good luck with out of the box on Windows 10 (pure plug and play discovery there), MacOS (same thing), iOS (iPhone and iPad just found it with AirPrint), and Google CloudPrint (for the ChromeOS device I'm testing) - just works there...

Linux, yes, is a bit more of a problem at the moment - but CUPS has AirPrint support, but there's still a bit of work to do there - recall that CUPS is owned by Apple - so it's an upstream concern there...

 

[topazann]

My favorite are either Canon or Brother brand. both works just fine wired or on wireless with full functionality. Lately I noticed Canon checks printer when trying to update software or driver. If it detects 3rd party ink cartridges update is aborted. So I keep a genuine Canon cartridge set

separate for the reason. I use only Canon for photo printing. For other jobs I use Brother AIO(print, copy, scan, fax) color laser printer.

Either printer is trouble-free always. On wireless jn sleep mode faithfully waiting for jobs. Never lose connection. If you get HP, good luck with it.My experience with HP was all bad. Ink costs more, frequent paper jams

 

[System Error Message]

i never use wireless on my printer despite the fact that it supports it very well. Wireless printers dont bother to use wireless N or AC because it is just extra cost thats useless but my printer has ethernet.

If you think about it the ethernet if on printers is only 100Mb/s but is still faster than the wifi they have. USB on the other hand is 480Mb/s so connecting it to your router or a raspberry pi and setting up cups and xsane.

On windows server 2016 it installed the drivers for my brother printer as microsoft already have it. With older windows versions the default driver doesnt always work well. By generic i mean that since the printers are basically computers as well with their own CPU, ram, storage, etc they can run cups and xsane for driverless printing and scanning. I really wish printer manufacturers would at least try this for their network printers, sticking to a standard that every device can use rather than waste time and money to develop drivers for various platforms.

 

[sfx2000]

Wireless printers dont bother to use wireless N or AC because it is just extra cost thats useless but my printer has ethernet.

My last two MFP's supported 802.11n (the old HP Office Jet, and my current Brother MFC) - They're 2.4GHz, but they work ok...

 

[System Error Message]

My last two MFP's supported 802.11n (the old HP Office Jet, and my current Brother MFC) - They're 2.4GHz, but they work ok...

seems my brother MFC also has wireless n as well. The fact that its 2.4Ghz that its an issue because of how busy it is. Wiring everything up usually works better. Unlike laser MFCs inkjet printers tend to have wireless that doesnt always work. My hp inkjet wireless wasnt able to connect to my wifi AP after a while regardless of any configs or changes.

 

[Tomsonn]

Is it possible to get a multi function printer under $100?
I searched a lot, could not find any option.

 

[System Error Message]

Is it possible to get a multi function printer under $100?
I searched a lot, could not find any option.

you can with inkjet. My brother MFC cost me less than £200 though and like many laser MFCs its possible to refill the cartridges and reset them. Brother isnt as crazy as hp when it comes to not buying hp cartridges every time but neither companies will sell the raw toner as they will want you to always buy cartridges and parts each time.

You can get a decent inkjet for under $100 but it'd last a year or 2 before you have to buy another one. If you go with a laser MFC that isnt a recent model you should check first if compatible parts are available for a lot less. Perhaps some MFCs use the same parts or other providers may sell compatible parts. What i found is that if you bought replacement parts and cartridges from the printer manufacturer it is very expensive in price/page even more than some good inkjets. So it is possible with laser MFC if you maintain and get non genuine parts that you could keep the cost per page at 0.01p per page but that only works if you dont buy overpriced paper as well. You only need high quality paper for images and critically important documents.

under the $100 mark its hard to find a printer that will last.

 

[KenZ71]

My ink jets usually last 5 to 7 years but I also don't print much - maybe 500 to 1000 pages a year.

 

[System Error Message]

well with brother network printers the WSD drivers dont let you scan with good quality and the network bit (LPD and other network based stuff allows you to use the printer without needing to install drivers.

Since my printer has touchscreen and networking what i did was set up scanning so that it will save it to an ftp server that is basically my wifi AP with a hard drive attached which worked fine for driverless usage. So i imagine if you got a printer that had built in networking capabilities (not talking about cheap wifi printers) you could eliminate the need for PCs when printing/scanning and still maintain local control instead of printing/scanning with online services like dropbox integration if you are paranoid. At the very least scanning to ftp lets me use the full quality that you cant get with the WSD print driver.

Because i use windows server as my main OS brother drivers wont install, they only provide the files for windows server for manual install which doesnt help when you want to use the printer properly. This may be true for other brands but i imagine HPs software is much better. So with brother printers dont expect much from drivers as far as making full use of your printer goes.

 

[louwaydon]

We're using HP Envy 7640. You can consider that as well.

 

[Mindthoughts]

For a multi function printer, I'll recommend Canon multifunction laser printer because it can deliver key capabilities such as copier and fax. It is an all in one office printer.

 

[louwaydon]

Aside from HP, the printers used in our office are cannon. Well, generally speaking its okay but the problem is the ink consumption. Whooa, believe me it eats too much money, though.

 

[TonyH]

Printed in ink is not permanent. Water is enemy to documents printed in ink. I am sold on laser printers.
Only use Canon ink printer for pictures. I don't use ink for document printing. Our Brother color laser multi function printer for home use never causes trouble. Only thing, it may use more power when printing.

 

[sfx2000]

I like Brother - esp. for Ink Jets, as their consumables are very reasonable compared to the others...

Laser - Brother is good - another consideration is Kyocera.

Brother does good with drivers for Windows and Mac - not so much for Linux...

Brother has decent AirPrint and Google Cloud Print for those with iOS and Android (and I'll include Chromebooks in the same bucket there).

 

[sfx2000]

Aside from HP, the printers used in our office are cannon. Well, generally speaking its okay but the problem is the ink consumption. Whooa, believe me it eats too much money, though.

No doubt - and Canon, Epson, and HP - not sure what's going on there - but it seems to be like car warranties - times or pages, whichever expires first... I don't print much - but with my experience with my most recent HP - it really seemed like it was time based rather than usage...

 

[sfx2000]

Is it possible to get a multi function printer under $100?
I searched a lot, could not find any option.

Staples.com - just remember - there is life cycle profit designed into every device - if it's low cost on the front end, it'll level off over 3 to 5 years for most vendors.