OT- Have ink jet printers gotten any better at not clogging up after sitting unused ?

Been using a Brother HL 4070 CDW color dry toner printer for years but I think it needs replacement and my use is so sporatic thinking maybe should go back to ink jet type.... but it might sit for two weeks without being used and that's where the problems come in.

(now counting the minutes before Captain Obvious suggests to print something with it every couple days whether I need to or not, to keep the jets clear)

Anyhoo, anything new (good new, that is) in ink jet printer technology of late with budget less than 500 bucks.

Have a large format (tabloid) Brother that seems to work when needed, and we print very little with it. So, yes, probably. Id; go get the model number, but I expect they don;t make it anymore, so that wouldn't help.

What we use it for most is as a scanner, it's one of those 3 in 1 print/scan/fax deals. Might go 3 weeks without any printing.

Captain Obvious, here, ducking a dope slap as I type. What used to work -- maybe not with today's printers:

If you have a switched outlet in your office, put a power strip on it and attach various parasitic loads, including the printer. Turn it on when you come in the office, off when you leave for the night. Most ink jets (used to?) go through a cleaning cycle when they're turned on. That kept a larger format ink jet printer working OK for me with weeks between use. Yeah, I know, still a hassle. But maybe not so much as actually remembering and taking the time to print something.

Newer ones park the cartridges in a way that they can go days (or more?) without drying out.

Do you need color? I've got a Samsung laser printer/scanner/copier I bought new off eBay for like $80. I print dozens of pages daily with it. Ink lasts a few months, then costs less than $10 for a new cartridge. I bought it as a disposable printer because of the environment it was going it (LOTS of grinding dust) but it's lasted over 2 years so far with minimal problems.

+1 for Laser. Ink Jets waste a ton of ink. See below.

The Dirty Little Secret Of Inkjet Printers - YouTube

If you don't need color BW lasers for low volume are short money these days. <$200

JR

Yes, need color. Not always of course...but sometimes do need it.

I have a Brother MFC-J6720DW ink jet wide carriage (11x17) printer, fax, copier, scanner, etc. I have been using it for about two years and love it. It often sits for about a week without printing anything, but I have had no clogs.

I love the ability to use larger paper sizes. It will print on both sides of the page - it automatically flips the paper after the first side. And it even copies the larger format pages. It has two paper trays, both of which will hold paper up to the 11x17 inch size.

I bought it due to the excessive cost of ink for my old HP. The Brother seems to have larger ink cartridges and even though I am told that the original ones that were shipped with the printer were not completely full, I am only now in the process of replacing them. So they lasted pretty long. I think I have saved the price of the new printer in reduced ink costs already.

Another feature that I like is that it has a rear port for single sheet feed. Some feel this is bad as they have to stand up and walk around to the back to feed a single sheet. But it is a great feature if you are using labels or thick stock because it allows a straight through paper path so the labels do not strip off inside the printer or the thicker sheets do not jam while turning the corners needed for a front feed. I also use this for printing checks: I have a page with four corner slots the check slips into and it goes through the printer with no problems. I have printed hundreds of checks this way with zero problems. And I did not have to do any fancy set-ups to properly locate the printing on the check: I just ran the page through once with no check and cut the corner slots where that printing indicated.

My Brother multifunction inkjet, runs a clean cycle every so often automatically. No muss no fuss..

Never clogs, but runs through all it's cartridges ($$$$) a bit faster than I like, even if only printing B&W.. And to ensure you buy color cartridges, it stops doing anything if one is empty..

Does look like otical fill sensor could be tricked, but then you would have jet clogging issues...

My previous Brother did the same, it's demise was only due to lack of new cartridges, after 8 or so years..

I miss the very reliable HP Laser B&W printers. Stick a new or refilled toner cartridge in and go, maybe some new feed rollers every 10 years.

Just get a cheap, metal, networked, hp color laser.
HPCP1515n, n means networked, networked means good. Or whatever is nearest today.
I had about 10...

The networked/metal framed ones last forever, and don´t get abandoned due to corporate sales.

I am a very experienced person in the field.
We now recently got a new big one from a different brand, but for high end high volume stuff, first time in 20 years..

Refill cartridges/compatible seem to work fine for your/low volume use, like we used to have.
In our use, we went back to originals.

We then bought the other, ineo, aka minolta.

Used to spend about 450€/month on hp cartridges (full set), now half that with free 18.000 $ printer.

Anything small: Metal, Hp, networked.

if you aren't using it , why an inkjet ? you can get a color laser for well under $200 ,.

inkjet printers don't fail, the cartridge's printhead membrane dries up and won't work . most of the ink ends up in
the big tampon-maxipad thing inside the case anyway . you can drill little holes in the box(es) and squirt more ink in there, but it will still eventually clog and fail .

tnmgcarbide said:

if you aren't using it , why an inkjet ? you can get a color laser for well under $200 ,.

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Isn't it as obvious as nose on your face that is precisely the point of this topic...to see if inkjets have improved ? Apparently not, unless in "use too much ink" mode. Who has a decent color laser for under $200 with reasonable replacement toner costs ?

Milacron said:

Isn't it as obvious as nose on your face that is precisely the point of this topic...to see if inkjets have improved ? Apparently not, unless in "use too much ink" mode. Who has a decent color laser for under $200 with reasonable replacement toner costs ?

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I've installed Brother lasers for clients where the need could not justify a Ricoh Afcio. Low/no hassle, so I like them. Both.

My next printer will probably be a Brother colour laser.

If/as/when at least one of the two Epson 'Workforce' all-in-one with ADF here or the other one in Hong Kong ever gives us any trouble.

Most of the colour use is infrequent copying, the rest scanning the last five to ten years. So far, the Epsons have never once clogged or dried out nor set a foot wrong any other way even if sitting idle for many months. Even the ADF works better than it has any right to do. Some inkjets ARE better.

Ink is still pricey, but it is about as good as it gets for quality and reliability.

Nor have any of our Lexmark E2XXn lasers given problems other than going hard to find.

HP made good printers at one time. Long time ago though.

Bro'in Law is an HP exec. Nice discounts, but we have learned to NOT use their printers, nor even Pee Cees or laptops the last ten years or so.

Brother. Epson. No third place winner at SOHO levels.

Bill

i suppose the nose on my face doesn't ask obvious questions like " why don't you wipe your ass barehanded"
when the rest of me knows the answer .

i use this one and am happy with it: Samsung Xpress SL-C410W/XAA $110 . about $35 to replace the black.
about $80 to replace the color toners . it is not a crankin' full-time machine , but sounds like that's what you're after.

tnmgcarbide said:

i suppose the nose on my face doesn't ask obvious questions like " why don't you wipe your ass barehanded"
when the rest of me knows the answer .

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As that has zero relevance to anything I presume it's a "Oh Yeah ? Well you SUCK !" sort of response But thanks for the Samsung tip...will check 'er out.

Milacron said:

I presume it's a "Oh Yeah ? Well you SUCK !" sort of response

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Meaahh. Guess that's one way to not go barehanded.. but it's gotta be hard on neck and back muscles... or friendships...



Samsung makes good stuff. Got lots of it. Phones. Hard drives, appliances. Didn't even know they did printers.

But there's another point, given I HAVE TO order Lexmark toner online of late.

Might want to check your locali to see if decent stocks of toner or ink for a given brand are common, and at more than one outlet.

Bill

Foghorn Leghorn: Ask a silly question, get a silly answer.

FWIW - I picked up an HP Officejet Pro 8610 last fall and only print sporadically, maybe once every month or two, and it has been functioning flawlessly. I think it has already been replaced with the 8710 or 8620. Great all-in-one machine, print, fax, scan, copy, and web.

Hope this helps,

-Ron

One function that matters to me that I forgot is not standard is the ability to print on both sides of the paper. How do ink jets that have that capability perform compared to dry toner types that will print color duplex ?

Like you, I dont print much. Got fed up with always replacing ink cartridges.

About 6 months ago I bought a EPSON ECO TANK printer. They are ink jet printers, but they have refillable tanks of ink, not cartridges. Much cheaper, and comes with enough ink to print 6500 pages (manufacturer's claim).

I have probably only printed 12 pages or so in the 6 months I've had it, and after sitting for several months without printing anything, it has always performed.

I cant speak for the longevity, but so far, so good.

Its another option to consider.

Milacron said:

Isn't it as obvious as nose on your face that is precisely the point of this topic...to see if inkjets have improved ? Apparently not, unless in "use too much ink" mode. Who has a decent color laser for under $200 with reasonable replacement toner costs ?

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Here you go, only $79: Samsung C41W Xpress Color Laser Printer | Staples(R).

I've had good luck with Canon laser printers: Canon imageCLASS LBP711Cw Color Laser Printer | Staples(R)

If you like the Brother brand: Brother HL-314cw Color Laser Printer | Staples(R)

I've not used any of these, so can't comment. We have the earlier version of this printer, and it works fine, though we use it only once in a great while: Dell™ C176nw Color Laser Printer, STP-CGFYN-V2, New | Staples(R)

Unfortunately, none of these sub-$200 printers have automatic duplex printing. I'm not sure what sort of duplex is available in the inkjets.

Out of your stated price range, but if you decide to spend more, I have REALLY liked this multi-function printer: HP Color LaserJet Pro M277dw All-in-One Printer | Staples(R). The scanner is particularly fast. Auto-duplexing on the printing, but not on scanning. I don't normally think of using a color laser for photos - this is where the inkjets excel - but this printer is good enough for casual photos.

If you don't need the multi-function aspect, here is the equivalent printer-only: http://www.staples.com/HP-M252dw-B4A22A-BGJ-Color-LaserJet-Pro-Printer/product_1585213. Right now on sale for $249, so only a little over your price range.