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PSA: Do not buy an inkjet printer, just get a damn Brother

Cyberpunkd

Member
Celebrating the weekend by dropping truth bombs:

Inkjet printers are rubbish. HP inkjet printers were designed by this guy:

the omen devil GIF by foxhorror
<------- the Devil moonlighting as HP's Chief Product Designer

You do not need a color printer in 99% of cases. You still want to print those photos you will never look at again? Just go to a print store with one of those self-service kiosks.

Just get a Brother laser monochrome printer, it will never break, never lose wi-fi connection, and you will pay $30 for a new toner after something like 3 000 pages. Here, read this:


I have the Brother printer mentioned in the article, here's TLDR version:

the force awakens GIF by Star Wars


Happy weekend everyone!
 

JCK75

Member
I agree
I got a Brother HL-2170W back in 2008
in that time my ex wife printed regularly and we maybe used two $30ish replacement carttridges in that time.

She's still using it to this day.. divorced last year and I just dropped $99 on a HL-L2325DW and since I print far less I'm betting it's 10 years before I need to change toner.
 

Lord Panda

The Sea is Always Right
I agree brother.

The BROTHER MFCL8690 CLR LSR MFC I bought a few years ago, is such a beast and one of the best things I've ever purchased for the family. I can't believe I'm saying this about a goddamn printer, but it's honestly great. Connectivity options through the wazoo, cheap to run, regular firmware updates, and it just works without fucking around.

So much so, that I bought one for my office and it replaced all the bullshit HP pieces of shit that have been leeching our souls and the staff all love it too.
 
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Drew1440

Member
Or just buy any printer brand but stay away from their cheap/basic models, especially any that try to push the 'Cloud' as a feature, 9/10 it's just a way to datamine you. Have owned various brands (Canopn/Epson/HP/Brother/Lexmark) all of which have their own quirks, but i've never had a bad experience with any of them to put me off the brand.
 

Thaedolus

Gold Member
I can’t ever get my desktop to print to our brother printer regularly. It’s more reliable to email a pdf to myself then print it from my phone.

I keep waiting for the fucker to just break so we can get new one but here we are going on 10 years with it and it keeps on truckin….
 

Kenpachii

Member
Celebrating the weekend by dropping truth bombs:

Inkjet printers are rubbish. HP inkjet printers were designed by this guy:

the omen devil GIF by foxhorror
<------- the Devil moonlighting as HP's Chief Product Designer

You do not need a color printer in 99% of cases. You still want to print those photos you will never look at again? Just go to a print store with one of those self-service kiosks.

Just get a Brother laser monochrome printer, it will never break, never lose wi-fi connection, and you will pay $30 for a new toner after something like 3 000 pages. Here, read this:


I have the Brother printer mentioned in the article, here's TLDR version:

the force awakens GIF by Star Wars


Happy weekend everyone!

Got a brother for 10 years now, no regrets.
 

Soltype

Member
All these companies are trash, my county has used Kyocera, brothers, hp, it's all a joke. Been servicing different printers for a bit, they all have their own bs.
 

BlackTron

Member
I was juggling various laser printers until I finally found myself in a small apartment with no printer just needing to print one thing. So I bought a $50 inkjet Canon from Walmart as a disposable commodity. Good thing too, because I only printed a few things with it over a few months before it broke completely.
 

Trunx81

Member
Printers in general are the worst creation of humanity. They eat paper and cartridges for breakfast, laughing into your face while your fingers get dirty inside of them, trying to rip out tiny pieces of paper. And they take no prisoners. Printers are the devils invention, purgatory on earths surface, designed by madmen, trying to drive you insane.
 

sono

Gold Member
You are so right. I have two HP8620 multifunction printers. It is a full time job getting them to print. every other attempt some issue with them. HP used to be a really great company, what happened.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I've had my brother laser for going on 15 years, the thing is built like a tank. I don't print as much as I did 15 years ago, thankfully, and I haven't changed the toner cartridge in this thing in about 8 years. I just did a test print, and it still looks fine and works great.

I got my daughter her own Brother laser printer when she started college at 18. She's getting ready to turn 26 now, and it still works great.

I work in IT, and we were an all HP shop (thankfully already all laser printers). Last year we all got together in a meeting and went around the table asking the IT people what type of printer they used at home. 9/10 said "I have a brother laser printer that's built like a tank and I never have issues with it and the toner is cheap and the thing just works" - so we switched to buying Brother printers for work as well. They have a really nice color laser unit now that's about $300 (although it uses 4 different toner cartridges, so the consumable costs are higher) that's also been great.

I'm not sure why someone would buy an inkjet these days, unless they just hated themselves.
 

Dr.Morris79

Gold Member
No printer ever works for me. I hook it up, it fails, everytime. Doesnt matter what printer or configuration, what edition of Windows or PC. Everytime. It's like some weird curse and it's been this way since printers were a thing. The only printer that worked flawless for me was on my Amiga 500

My wife on the other hand, it'll work everytime and she knows nothing about computers or gaming, infact she hates anything computers. But first time it'll print for her..

I'd throw them all against the wall if I could. I did throw one down the garden.
 

Meicyn

Gold Member
Own a Brother Laserjet as well. Quite reliable. Previous inkjet printers failed me. Monochrome gets the job done. I don’t anticipate needing to buy another printer anytime soon.
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
Last year we all got together in a meeting and went around the table asking the IT people what type of printer they used at home. 9/10 said "I have a brother laser printer that's built like a tank and I never have issues with it and the toner is cheap and the thing just works" - so we switched to buying Brother printers for work as well.
Yeah, this is one of those "secret knowledge" things that is always good to discover - reminds me how all the watchmakers wear Jaeger-LeCoultre mechanical watches since for many years they were affordable and reliable AF. Any time you want to buy something just ask people whose lives and job depends on it - they will tell you the right thing to buy.
 
There is no such thing as a good printer. They are all trash.

I was looking into getting a printer for at home but I can't bring myself to do it. Why should I spend that much money on another fucking product to sit about my house? Then I need to maintain it with cost of paper and ink. No thanks!!

I used to go to my local library to print stuff off but that cost money. Not a lot (20p for mono page or £1 for a coloured page. That was a few years ago. They've probably put the prices up after covid and inflation) but it's still money. Plus it's out of my way and get this.... the printer wasn't always working!

Now I just use my works printer. I just email whatever shit needs printed to my work email and print it all off. Don't need to worry about paper, ink, or it breaking down. If that printer has an issue then it fucks over a lot of people so it gets fixed real fucking fast. Even if it does break there are loads more printers around the building.
 
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Esca

Member
I got a brother color laser printer and couldn't be happier. I just get pictures printed somewhere else for cheap when needed it though the pictures are pretty good it prints.
 

12Goblins

Lil’ Gobbie
I see a lot of ppl in this thread have not had a brother printer

I bought mine 10 years ago for less than 100 bucks

instantaneous flawless printing ever since. Few years ago it finally gave me the low cartridge error and so I put a piece of tape to block the sensor and it's worked perfectly ever since

Best investment I've ever made. I forget the model but it looks like this
aglYsLb.jpg
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
This is the one I have

31fxB-SHEwL._AC_.jpg


It was released in 2004 - nearly 20 years ago. Still works great like the day I bought it.
 

Soodanim

Gold Member
I read that some Brother printers are now being cunty with newer firmware, and downgrading isn't always quite as simple as it should be.

That aside, since I got my wireless Brother printer I've had no trouble at all.
 
I bought a fancy Canon inkjet printer for use at home this year (Pixus XK500) and I already regret buying it.

It prints really great quality photos. But inkjet is still horrible at printing documents compared to a laser printer.

I had not bought a new printer in 15 years. So I thought inkjet technology would have improved somewhat. But nope. Text still looks horrible when printed on standard paper.

It does not mater if the inkjet printer is 1million DPI. The problem is with the nature of Ink on standard paper. It looks wet and bleeds into the fibers. Compared to a laser where the text looks basically stenciled onto of the paper.

Also slow as fuck compared to a laser. And to get even slightly passable document quality from it, I have to use the high quality mode. Which is even slower.

The only thing that it is good at is color photos. When printed on special photo paper, it really looks really fantastic. It looks like an actual photo. But I am not wasting money on special paper for regular documents.

Only have had it for about 4 months. I have printed only 6 photos on it. But I have already printed hundreds of documents on it.

So yeah I wish I went laser.
 

daveonezero

Banned
It isn't a problem with HP it is just the inkjets.

I have a Brother inkjets (the inkvestment carts last a really long time) it seems fine. Toner last a while and isn't a fortune. It has an ADF and ability to do duplex so it works well for a cheap MFP.

I'd get a laser jet for document printing though as 99.9% of my printing is black and white.

My dirt cheap HP makes me log into an account just to scan and print my documents.

I fucking hate printers.
Yeah these new ones with no screen and require an account are a complete scam.
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
i bought a brother just last month. My wife had been slaving away printing on an HP inkjet replacing ink every few months and just being miserable.

brother is just insane. it just works. wifi is amazing.
 

Fbh

Member
I bought one of those Epson "Ecotank" printers for work as we need color.
It was like twice as expensive as a cartridge inkjet printer with the same features but the ink is cheaper and I thought "hey if it's more expensive surely the quality is better".

It lasted 3 months. I sent it in to Epson but I've been waiting to hear back from them for a month.
 
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Northeastmonk

Gold Member
PSA: Nobody prints anything in 2023

You're just exposing your old-ass GAF age to people by talking about printers like anyone still uses them
Not true. My company’s print division is onboard to make over 100 million revenue this year. That out performs IT services, VoIP telephony sales, and billable work. Companies like Sharp, Konica Minolta, Lexmark, and etc. You would be floored to learn how many contracts there are with local businesses all around the United States. People are printing. Plus you have a wealthy older generation who doesn’t trust technology, so printing is their method of choice.

Honestly, Brothers also try to install loads of bloatware on your PC. HP LaserJets aren’t bad, but I’d much rather have a Sharp. I don’t actually own a printer. The toner alone will drain your wallet. I Googled the color toner on a really nice HP that was about to get thrown away. Replacing one toner was $200. That was $1,000 to replace them all.
 
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LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
I bought a fancy Canon inkjet printer for use at home this year (Pixus XK500) and I already regret buying it.

It prints really great quality photos. But inkjet is still horrible at printing documents compared to a laser printer.

I had not bought a new printer in 15 years. So I thought inkjet technology would have improved somewhat. But nope. Text still looks horrible when printed on standard paper.

It does not mater if the inkjet printer is 1million DPI. The problem is with the nature of Ink on standard paper. It looks wet and bleeds into the fibers. Compared to a laser where the text looks basically stenciled onto of the paper.

Also slow as fuck compared to a laser. And to get even slightly passable document quality from it, I have to use the high quality mode. Which is even slower.

The only thing that it is good at is color photos. When printed on special photo paper, it really looks really fantastic. It looks like an actual photo. But I am not wasting money on special paper for regular documents.

Only have had it for about 4 months. I have printed only 6 photos on it. But I have already printed hundreds of documents on it.

So yeah I wish I went laser.
I see what you mean here.

Buying a Printer is something you want to get right without overthinking it. Sometimes seeing threads or articles like the one linked in this thread are good to simplify things.

Buying a car is one thing but when it comes to simple things like printers, you just want it to work when you need it. I'm also one of those people that doesn't need to print every day but have family or our own needs that we need to use the thing every once in a while. We can go a few times a month using it and then not touching it for 2 months.

But it's one of those convenience things like having your own washer/dryer. You absolutely appreciate being able to simply print from anywhere in the house or even when not home. I grew up poor and am still amazed that I can be upstairs in the can and print something downstairs wirelessly.

But when you get that simply decision wrong and stick with something like inkjet, I definitely know that feeling. I got lucky with the deal I got on this Samsung (now HP) laser printer and it works solid as can be. Love all the features including the scanning. I'm in the 21st Century boys, we did it!
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
I bought two Samsung M2070 a few years ago, one for work, one with WiFi for home. The work one‘s had some mechanical problems, but it always worked well. The home one has been used much less and only with original toners. It works fine, save for the occasional WiFi disconnection.

It’s really sad that HP has absorbed the Samsung line. HP is quite terrible. Our office has been given two HP printers. One is from the “e” series, meaning you can’t do shit if you don’t have a HP account. They print so fast it’s scary, but they also have frequent connection issues and the toners are made in a way it’s almost impossible to use non-originals.

If I were to get a new one, I’d get a Brother. But I’ve browsed the shops a bit and geez, have printer prices skyrocketed in the last few years. Brother used to be the cheap brand in Italy, you could get a good laser for €99, now you have the cheapest HP at €129 and from there the escalation of prices is ridiculous. Some BW toners alone can retail for around €80. And no, this country literally can’t work without paper. Until a few years ago you had to print everything, and today some people still print tickets and stuff at home even if there’s a QR code, because it says “print at home” and God forbid you stand an hour in a queue only to be told your e-ticket is invalid somehow.
 
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