/tech/ - Technology

>>26665
Laser printers are sturdy and cost-efficient. Inkjet printers cost less, but their operation is more error-prone, the ink dries without frequent use and cartridges are relatively expensive (recent HP printers only accept brand cartridges with a code).
>The question is important to me, i'm kind of on a deadline but trying to search this stuff is very overwhelming with everyone trying to sell me something, i'm not a big digital buyer.
Get a used one. Brother printers work reliably and have good driver support on nearly everything. HP printers are meh, but widely supported and often come cheap.

everyone says do the brother laser printers but theyre >$150 toner should last years but will be ~$80 to get refill. kinda wish i went with that

the alternative is to get a shitty hp for like $50 and a $10 16oz bottle of ink with a syringe a diy refill it. you gotta be careful though cause if you run it dry it will melt the print heads and you gotta pay nearly $30 for a new one and if you accidentally connect to the internet and update the firmware it can brick cartridges based on serial number after approx 120 pages. ive been using one and had to get around 5 or 6 new carts in just as many years but have printed thousands of pages on that 16oz of ink. every few months i have to fiddle with it for hours switching old carts with new carts until it fills up the memory for serial numbers and finally lets me print without arbitrarily rejecting the cart for being expired. they had a class action that forced them to rollback the drivers and they just did it again right after and if you get a new one they will try to lock you in to ink subscriptions. it also can help if you get a $5 suction clip for priming the refill or sometimes it wont work and you have to try to push from the top with a syringe or blow with your mouth and get ink all over the place. also the ink is water based and will smear if you get your prints wet. i've been on the same cart for the last year by just remembering to refill it every 60 or so prints and using linux with no hp software on it when it rejects the cart i just turn it on and off and then it works

>>26667
>everyone says do the brother laser printers but theyre >$150
They could also get a HP laserjet at a lower price. Mine works well enough.

invest in a laser tank printer. you'll save money in the long run. I have an HP LaserJet Tank MFP 2604. works great. prints are less than $.01