Recomend a good 4-in-1 printer

youngishbear

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 10:02 am

That's for home use (small) and as economical as possible in the long run.

I need it to be wireless and have mobile printing.

Thank you.

OOTBubby

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 10:20 am

youngishbear wrote:

That's for home use (small) and as economical as possible in the long run.

I need it to be wireless and have mobile printing.

Thank you.

Brother makes excellent all-in-ones. I'd suggest you look at their line and see what is the smallest/cheapest that has the features you need. I strongly suggest you get laser over ink jet for long term cost.

doctorima

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 10:23 am

We've been happy with our Brother for several years. The model is MFC07860DW. It's wireless and does automatic duplex printing.

OOTBubby

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 10:25 am

doctorima wrote:

We've been happy with our Brother for several years. The model is MFC07860DW. It's wireless and does automatic duplex printing.

I have the MFC-L2740DW which also does the above plus it does 2 sided scanning which I find to be very convenient, but you may not need that and may be able to get a lower level model.

OOTBubby

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 10:29 am

youngishbear wrote:

The laserjets are bigger than inkjets, right?

I don't know; they've gotten much smaller over time. However, the websites give dimensions so you can check the size.

Ink jets are much more expensive to run over time as the ink cartridges don't last long and you're constant replacing them.

Also, for the Brother lasers there are very very cheap generic toners (maybe for the ink cartridges too) available from several sources.

youngishbear

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 10:32 am

OOTBubby wrote:

Apparently laserjets don't print color. That may be too important.

I'll look into brother inkjets.

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 10:33 am

I have an ink jet printer. (Canon) I'm not sure that I recommend it, it's fine and does the job but really nothing special.

That being said, the ink it needed costs $40. But I found a generic ink that is compatible with the printer (on amazon with high ratings) for $9. So now I don't feel so bad printing things anymore!

OOTBubby

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 10:34 am

youngishbear wrote:

Apparently laserjets don't print color. That may be too important.

I'll look into brother inkjets.

You didn't say you need color. Most companies, including Brother make color laser all-in-ones too. They are of course more expensive and the ink is more expensive too.

You do get much better print quality with laser though.

youngishbear

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 10:36 am

OOTBubby wrote:

I honestly didn't think that monochrome printers were still in existence in 2015... What

So color laserjets are not cheaper than color inkjets? Print quality is not the highest priority.

OOTBubby

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 10:38 am

youngishbear wrote:

I honestly didn't think that monochrome printers were still in existence in 2015... What

So color laserjets are not cheaper than color inkjets? Print quality is not the highest priority.

Color ink jets are usually cheaper to purchase than color lasers but more costly to run long run because you use more ink and the per page costs winds up more.

Amarante

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 10:39 am

I just got an HP envy. It doesn't fax but I haven't faxed for years. I can scan and then email if necessary.

The wireless works great and I have gad good luck with HP printers.

What is very innovative is that you can enroll in an ink program. You pay a certain amount to HP based on how much you print per month and they mail cartridges automatically when you need it. I pay $3.00 per month. I don't print much because who needs all that paper as I try to keep,records digitally but there are plans for people who print more. If you run the figures, it may not make sense. For me, it did.

The printer was less than $100 from amazon.

youngishbear

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 11:01 am

I thought fax machines were extinct. Until I needed to fax my resume. Scratching Head

I used a free app to fax it from my phone but then it started demanding money. If anyone knows of a free fax app I may be able to get a 3-in-1 printer instead.

Amarante

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 11:25 am

youngishbear wrote:

I thought fax machines were extinct. Until I needed to fax my resume. Scratching Head

I used a free app to fax it from my phone but then it started demanding money. If anyone knows of a free fax app I may be able to get a 3-in-1 printer instead.

My resumes are emailed as a PDF file.

I was replacing a 4 in 1 and when I researched, the fax capability limited choices and were more expensive. For the amount of times anyone would fax now, it is probably cheaper to spend a dollar at Kinkos to fax.

ETA whether to go with laser or ink jet really has to,do with your usage. Unless you print a lot, the laser is overkill IMO. Estimate how much you print and run figures in cost per page. Color laser is expensive as is the color toner cartridge but again, it really depends on usage patterns.

Last edited by Amarante on Fri, Sep 18 2015, 11:30 am; edited 1 time in total

youngishbear

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 11:27 am

Amarante wrote:

True, that.

The specific job I was applying to had no phone or email, only a fax number. From what I'm seeing, the fax feature adds another 20 dollars or so. Plus some bulk.

Amarante

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 11:33 am

youngishbear wrote:

True, that.

The specific job I was applying to had no phone or email, only a fax number. From what I'm seeing, the fax feature adds another 20 dollars or so. Plus some bulk.

Does the fax capability run wirelessly?

I also didn't want to deal with having my printer wired to the phone.

youngishbear

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 11:37 am

Amarante wrote:

Does the fax capability run wirelessly?

I also didn't want to deal with having my printer wired to the phone.

I was wondering about that, too. Even if it doesn't, dragging a cord through my house is still easier than getting to kinko's or wherever. I may be doing that each time I print, because I'm planning to keep it inside a closet, and using an extension cord to plug it in to an outlet.

youngishbear

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 11:43 am

OOTBubby wrote:

I've never seen a fax that operated wirelessly. They need to be plugged into the phone line.

Now that would be a useful invention.

Or maybe everyone worldwide should switch to the new invention called email...

ayintova

Fri, Sep 18 2015, 5:30 pm

We recently got a new printer at work and I liked it so much, I also got it for home. It is an HP Officejet 476. It does everything you need; black or color. The cartridges are separate for color and black so you only replace what you need. It's a newer technology than laser or inkjet. The only drawback is the size. It's larger than my past printers. It may also be overkill if you just need it for home use. Great if you have a home-based business or work from home.