[msc]

Hi all,

I'm so sorry if this doesn't belong here...I'm new.

I was wondering if you guys can help me pin down the best inkjet non photo printer under $100 to buy because my old one is unfortunately nearing its end. I need it for basic things, mostly printing word documents, and would like the cartridge to last as long as possible.

[olePigeon]

Originally posted by msc:
Hi all,

I'm so sorry if this doesn't belong here...I'm new.

I was wondering if you guys can help me pin down the best inkjet non photo printer under $100 to buy because my old one is unfortunately nearing its end. I need it for basic things, mostly printing word documents, and would like the cartridge to last as long as possible.

Does it have to be color?

[SSharon]

If you don't need color, you can easily get a b&w laser printer for under $100. I know you mentioned and inkjet, but if you are only printing word documents this would seem to do the job well for you. I got rid of my epson 820 and replaced it with a brother hl-1450. Just my .02

[olePigeon]

Originally posted by SSharon:
If you don't need color, you can easily get a b&w laser printer for under $100. I know you mentioned and inkjet, but if you are only printing word documents this would seem to do the job well for you. I got rid of my epson 820 and replaced it with a brother hl-1450. Just my .02

That's what I was getting at. If you don't need color and you're on a budget, you just can't beat a B&W laser printer. If you do go with a laser printer, my only recommendation is that it has PostScript. If it doesn't, yuck. I have a Brother HL-1450 and the PostScript -> PCL conversion is horrid. Any vector graphics get screwed. (Text looks great, though.)

[tooki]

A very pertinent question is how much and how often you plan to print. Cheap printers tend to have the smallest, most expensive cartridges, so unless you print just a few pages per year, a more expensive printer will end up saving you money in the long run.

And yes, almost invariably, laser printers are cheaper to run than inkjets, and since you don't have to worry about the ink drying out in a laser, they are better for people who only print now and then. (Epson inkjets are the very worst for such people.)

If you:

print only on occasion, but they are large print jobs: low-midrange laser
print only on occasion, and only a few pages: Canon inkjet, or a very low-end laser
print frequently, but only a few pages: very low-end laser or Canon inkjet
print frequentlu, and they are large print jobs: midrange laser


I have a Canon inkjet printer that cost me $150, though a similar one is now available for just over $100, and it uses cheap, large ink cartridges.


I agree that if you get a laser, you should get one with PostScript support. You won't find one for $100 though.

Also, much as I love Canon inkjets, if you will be printing primarily black-and-white text on plain paper, I'd recommend an HP inkjet. Their ink is more expensive than Canon's, but the print quality of HP's plain-paper black text simply cannot be beat.

tooki