Home/home office laser printer recommendations.

cowman

cowman

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Looks like my Samsung is dead/dying and I need a reliable printer, who has one they like?

Need something with wired ethernet connectivity preferably that will just be detected by PCs on the network and work without installing a whole software package. Anything that requires a subscription or needs to phone home is a hard no. Color is nice but not a requirement. I just want a simple reliable laser printer that I can actually count on to work when I need it to. I can look up specs online, just wondering if anyone has one they really like.
 
We've been running a Brother HL3140CW at home for 9 years (holy moly! I didn't realize it was that long - had to go back and look at Amazon to see when I ordered it). It has worked like a champ - very minimal printing from a page count standpoint, which is why inkjets didn't work for us - but when we need it to, it just works. Can print from laptops, tablets or phones on the same WiFi (or wired) network and it just works without having to install anything special. It's not photo quality, but it's good enough to print out color Valentine's cards for my kid's class or my wife to print out some flyers for her pre-school stuff.
 
Last edited:
172andyou said:
I'm on a canon inkjet these days. Gave up on laser due to upfront costs.

My laser preference was always brother.
Click to expand...
We tend to go a few months without printing then suddenly have to do a lot all at once and I've always found inkjets to be terrible for that kind of use- the ink dries up/clogs the nozzles and it doesn't work when it's needed.

I hate printers.
 
I have a Canon MFC8580. Duplex Printing, Duplex Scanning, Fax (don't use that anymore).
 
We've had an HP Laserjet for ~30 years with zero problems. Originally bought to use with a Commodore 64. Cartridges are still available.

As far as color, been using an Epson inkjet with good results. Do have to use it regularly, or it clogs.

Ron Wanttaja
 
Currently running a a Brother HL-3180CDW. Bought it nearly a decade ago now. Love it. It replaced an older Brother B&W laser, which I also used for about a decade before deciding I needed color. That one is still in the basement and occasionally gets pressed into service (like once every couple years) because it can print on heavier cardstock.

Actually....now that I think about it, I did have another one in there. My first color laser was a Samsung. It lasted like two years. Then I decided I should go back to Brother...
 
cowman said:
We tend to go a few months without printing then suddenly have to do a lot all at once and I've always found inkjets to be terrible for that kind of use- the ink dries up/clogs the nozzles and it doesn't work when it's needed.

I hate printers.
Click to expand...
Yep, totally understand. For me, it was a requirement for color that made inkjets the winner.
 
My HP 6MP is over 30 yrs old, the HP 1006 about 12 yrs old, (both laser) but I will not get another HP only because HP has rigged new printers to 1) require internet and 2) refuse refillable carts, both ink and laser. Went with a Brother last year, works wireless or cable, very happy with it. If I need color, I use the color laser printer at the office. The Brothers go on sale periodically.
 
I'm also on a Brother of some vintage. It's sole deficiency is pre-dating AirPrint. Oh, it won't handle pre-punched 3 hole sheets, either, if I am searching hard for issues.
 
I'll also recommend a Brother of some sort, with duplex printing and wifi.
Cheap consumables and you can do aftermarket toner refills easily.
 
AV8R_87 said:
I'll also recommend a Brother of some sort, with duplex printing and wifi.
Cheap consumables and you can do aftermarket toner refills easily.
Click to expand...
Second the Brother. The aftermarket toner cartridges are pleasantly inexpensive and work well. My model is old enough to lack network connectivity, which is a pain. My router has a kludge software patch that lets you share via USB port.
 
GeorgeC said:
I forget how long ago, I got a Brother HL-L2315D, b&w, duplex, wifi. Cheap, works well.

Looks like the objectively correct choice for today is the HL-L2460DW, $159.99.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CPL2N5H6
Click to expand...
Looks like it meets the requirements and everyone is saying Brother is the way to go so I think that's the one.
 
cowman said:
We tend to go a few months without printing then suddenly have to do a lot all at once and I've always found inkjets to be terrible for that kind of use- the ink dries up/clogs the nozzles and it doesn't work when it's needed.

I hate printers.
Click to expand...

That was exactly our problem. Might need to print a page every 2-3 months, but when I needed to I'd waste half the ink and many sheets of paper cleaning the nozzles. Waste of time and money.

This last time we decided to spend a little more upfront, and have been nothing but happy. I think we managed to find a deal at Staples at the time for $299, but this price isn't bad.

 
Another vote for Brother lasers.

Ours is 10yo now. I found the Amazon order, $130 back then.

Brother HL-L2380DW | Monochrome Laser Printer with Duplex

The Brother HL-L2380DW is a reliable, affordable monochrome laser printer for home or small office use with the added convenience of copying and scanning.
www.brother-usa.com www.brother-usa.com

It scans, copies, double sided prints, envelopes, feed-through for card stock and envelopes, pretty much everything I need.

Next time: the flatbed scanner works well but it’s only a single sheet at a time. I would spend the extra few dollars and get a feeder. There are times I scan a dozen or more pages at a time, but 90% of the time it’s single pages.

I might have used it once as a copier.

Wireless wifi is great for printing from phones, tablets, and laptops.

In ten years the only thing I’ve done is replace empty toner cartridges and clear one really bad paper jam.
 
cowman said:
everyone is saying Brother is the way to go
Click to expand...
Everyone and their Brother?

I had a Brother laser. However, our needs changed and upgrading to an OfficeJetPro made a lot of sense. The HP better fits the mission, but I really do miss the reliability and dependability of that old Brother.
 
cowman said:
Looks like my Samsung is dead/dying and I need a reliable printer, who has one they like?

Need something with wired ethernet connectivity preferably that will just be detected by PCs on the network and work without installing a whole software package. Anything that requires a subscription or needs to phone home is a hard no. Color is nice but not a requirement. I just want a simple reliable laser printer that I can actually count on to work when I need it to. I can look up specs online, just wondering if anyone has one they really like.
Click to expand...
I have an HP Laserjet 3200 that serves my needs very well (which are seldom - but it is always ready). After giving up fighting a failing HP Inkjet (worked great when new, but gravitated
into a battle every time I used it), I bought the Laserjet for $35 off Craigslist. Of course it needed a new Toner Cartridge - but after that it has worked fine for 3 or 4 years now.

As for connectivity with your PCs, I think that has to do with the Operating System(s) you are running on them. I found that, with upgrades to newer versions of Windows (forced by a wretched
tax program), equivalent updates to the drivers for my aging printer and scanner were not available (planned Obsolescence?). So there was a struggle to find something that would work.
I eventually did - but should not have to do that, IMHO. Then my old (16 years) HP Desktop computer decided to die (no complaints - it served me well). I decided to replace it with one of
the cheap "Mini-PCs" that are everywhere these days - and I decided to take a foray into Linux to boot. Good choice - the Mini PC does everything I want, and I don't miss Windows at all!
But the real (pleasant) surprise was that when I plugged both my old HP Printer and Canon Scanner in (USB) - they just effing worked, with no further ado! So I think that I am done with
Windows and their nonsense. I still have an old laptop that runs Windows, so will continue to use it till it dies - but will buy no more Windows OS devices.

Dave
 
As a few others have mentioned, if you are not printing something in color (e.g. using all the jets) every day or at least every couple of days, DO NOT get an InkJet. Those comments about the up front costs of a Laser get blown past pretty quickly if you are always replacing the Ink cartridges.

Any of the big brands should be fine. I've had HP for years, and have had friends with Brothers for the same amount of time. The cost will really change depending upon if you want color or just B&W. Do you need it to do all sorts of double sided and FAST printing, or are you okay to wait for a slow printout? These are the things that will really up the price.

But the bottom line with a LaserJet is that it can sit there for months (like mine does now days) and print with no issues when I need it to. (Don't remember when I had to last change the cartridges.)
 
I have an HP Laserjet MFP. The only real gripe I had with it was that it doesn't play nice if it is talking to a wireless network. I cable connected it to the wireless router and that fixed everything. I don't really print that much so expensive toner cartridges aren't a big deal, I use it mostly for the document feeder scanner.
 
BROTHER MFC-L2750DW, have 3;
B&W
two-sided copy and scanning which is kind of rare but very helpful - "Duplex scanning"
wireless
plug and play, no software install on computers, for simple printing at least. People walk in, get the wifi code and can print from their iphone or laptop.
takes aftermarket toner
I thought everyone had given up on all the messing with inkjet; are they still available??
Oh, the scans using the paper feeder on this, and every machine I have ever seen are very slightly crooked. Annoying.
The flatbed scans are square.

DO NOT GET (new version) HP!
You can buy aftermarket toner and then using the wifi connection you allow the printer (and is needed for wireless printing) they will install software on it that blocks aftermarket toner! Verified by my IT guy who worked on the problem for me.
(maybe Brother is doing the same as a "Accept Firmware Update" is constantly on the display and I refuse to accept it)
 
Been running a Brother L2370DW for several years for work - we print pretty heavily for photo target information and it's been a reliable machine. Another happy Brother customer.
 
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