Can anyone advise me on a cheap printer?

[AmenAmin]

I’ve run the same workhorse for 15 years, the new stuff is overwhelming

i want something I can buy, own, put ink in and use it up slowly. I print a few pages a few I reckon. I don’t want a subscription or time limited ink or anything.

Help!

Epson cheap as chips one. Can't remember the name of mine but it was about £30 ten years ago and still chugging along happily. Never had a problem with it. Before that I had a Canon that was useless.

I bought a HP Deskjet 3760 but have cancelled that instant ink nonsense. I signed up for a trial, kept it and didn't realise that one month when I needed to print my work certificates I was charged quite a lot on top of my monthly fee despite that the ink cartridges came with the printer and were presumably mine. And when I cancelled the instant ink plan, the cartridges suddenly stopped working. What a load of shite. Now I use the proper HP inks but when I'm not using it for a while I remove them and seal them up to make them last. When I get sick of doing that, I'm buying cheap knockoffs/refills.

The printer itself is great though. It prints great quality photos and is quick printing both photos and documents. It's also quite small which is perfect for home use.

@WhenIWasAFieldMyself I too had an Epson. I was gutted when it finally died after a good 10+ years. The only issue I had was it kept rejecting inks saying they were empty. I bought a chip re-setter though for £6 and saved a damn fortune. My new HP is great as well but I still have love for my huge Epson.

Be careful about a 'cheap' printer. With some, the compatible ink is extortionate.

Go on Which? And if you don't have it, the Library gives free access.

I've just bought a Canon one for £30 in Currys to replace my Kodak which packed in after about 10 years. Easy to set up and ink seems reasonable enough for all I'll use.

If you will be mainly printing text, get a laser printer.

If you want photos printing, pay someone else to do it, I think it's cheaper anyway. Last time I looked it cost more to buy photo quality paper to print at home than it did to go to a supermarket or use an online service.

Back to laser printers, the basic ones from Canon, Brother, Xerox etc are fine and usually come with a starter cartridge that will last years for a light user. Will cost around £90, but you won't have to spend any more money on it (except paper) for years.

Sold in all the usual places, Currys, Argos, Amazon. I got my last one from Printerland as it was at the start of the pandemic and they were sold out everywhere else.

This!

We have an HP subscription that matches our usage. It was £8/month in Lockdown, now £1.99 because we have reduced usage so much.

This my fear!

Ive had a boxy laser printer for years. I just to buy one, buy a cartridge and use it until it runs out

My Epson takes compatible from Amazon.
If it dies on me I'll try and get the same one. It's older than almost everything in the house 🤣