Need to buy a home printer - what features are important?

[NigellaWannabe1]

I need a durable printer for occasion al printing but which can also handle card printing (for greeting cards). I know most printers out there should do both but I just can’t work out why some cost £40 and others £250. I don’t imagine the cheapest will be durable and perhaps they lack features I’m not thinking of.

Any advice?

Double sided printing! Honestly I thought this was a basic feature but no. I have to print on one side, take it out and put it back in face down to print the other side. It gives me the rage every time.

Check the cost of inks before buying - some really cheap printers are loss-leaders to make you buy expensive ink!

Wireless/Bluetooth connection is a must.

Epson eco tank. Pennies to run.

Cheap printers are sold at a loss to tie you in to expensive ink cartridges.

The ability to buy cost effective ink or refill. The reason a lot of machines are cheap is that the ink cartridges cost as much as the printer and they are hot on software updates so you struggle to use cheaper alternatives. It looks cheap upfront but there is a high long term cost.

Great, thanks! Aren’t the eco tank printers v expensive? What’s the printing quality like?

If you have any recommendations for a specific model, please let me know!

If you are only using it occasionally I'd recommend a laser printer. I had lots of problems with ink drying up when I had inkjets but no issues with a laser. I only print once every 2-3 months.

I've found an all-in-one with scanner useful, much better than scanning with a phone.

Definitely an Epson eco tank. We have one after years of a normal printer and it's brilliant. Previous printer (canon) used to need ink every couple of months at £30-£40 for new cartridges. The eco tank should apparently last for 2 years before needing ink. The printer is more expensive, around £300, but it is balanced by the ink costs.

I had an Epson eco tank, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you print fairly regularly- I don’t and the ink dried up in the tubes, meaning it needs to be dismantled to clean them. I never got round to doing it, as I only really used it for scanning, until it suddenly decided one day it had a paper jam, (despite the fact that I hadn’t been printing) and wouldn’t even scan. I got rid of it and bought a laser printer/scanner instead, which is much more reliable.

We have an Epson Eco Tank 8500, it was expensive but several years in and we are very pleased with it, it has never jammed, we've never had to refill it (only print maybe a couple pf pages a week admittedly) but it never dries up either. Does double sided easily, it doesn't have a feeder for the scanner, flatbed only, but I tend to use my phone to scan now and can also scan at work if I have a big document. It also means it's more compact, Not sure about printing to card though. We don't print images, only text but the quality is decent. The only niggle is that sometimes it's hard to pick up the connection on our apple devices and takes a few goes but mostly it's fine.

I’ve had no trouble with the eco tank. It’s had busy periods and quiet periods. Possibly not months without use though.

I printed small booklets yesterday, so 80 double sided sheets. Black and white. Perfect. I did it in three batches, so I could fold as I went, and manage the stack building up.

DS does coloured flyers. Also good.

If you do mainly BW like me, you may need to run a colour nozzle clean at intervals to keep that running nicely for when you need it, but it’s no trouble.

Being able to use cheap inks, we have an old Epson printer that readily accepts cheap Amazon inks

Dont buy an Epson as the ink is expensive and clogs after about 20 sheets so you have to buy new expensive cartridges!

I gave up on cheap printers - I had a run where every one I bought stopped working in weeks because the ink dried up.

So the most important feature i would say is to buy the 2 year warranty.

I replaced it 3 times under warranty.

Then gave up.

I bought a laser printer (that's the difference with the more expensive ones). The ink costs a fortune (c£120) but lasts longer and doesn't dry up. There are also eco tanks - those don't dry up either.

Other than that - double aided is good.

Scanning - most mobiles have a QR scanner.

I got my laser printer for a steal from Facebook Marketplace £60 rather than £200 I think.

Curry's website is good as you can compare features.

Use a cashback site like Quidco too to get money off.

And check out Money Saving Expert for cheap ink recommendations.

I’m also looking for a new printer. I find it annoying having to load a couple of sheets at a time into the back, and you can’t leave paper in there between prints as it bends backwards and goes curly. Are there home printers that have a tray that it takes the paper out of?
if anyone is really happy with their printer, please recommend it.

I have a Canon with a paper tray at the front ( actually it's underneath)
I love it because it takes up much less space on my desktop.
CanonTS6151 - a few years old now but there will be an up to date model.

They are all shit, TBH. I don’t know why. The cheapest double sided WiFi enabled you can find that fits into the space you have for it. It will either last a week or 5 years. You have no way of knowing which. Oh, and make sure it’s got something to catch the pages as they print. My current one doesn’t. I would like to hit it with an axe.

Have they changed so they don't accept cheap ink, our old Epson XP 312 has been going years and DH uses it loads and we just use the cheap Amazon ink. Printer was about £50 and has done us well, though things don't last forever so interested to hear about newer printers.

HP are the worst for this. All their new laser printers are dynamic security enabled which blocks the use of compatible laser toner cartridges containing a non HP branded chip. Periodic software updates ensure that these measures are kept up to date.

For home printing I wouldn't get a laser printer because they are usually for high volume printing.

The newer inkjet printers have ink that comes in bottles rather than inkjet cartridges.

Do you need colour or mono?
Do you want duplex printing?
Do you want a multifunction printer to include scan and copy functions?
Do you want Wi-Fi printing?
Do you require high speed printing?
Do you want to print photos?

We have the ecotank, printing is fine . I cant even remember when we bought it but have not had refill yet

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/epson-ecotank-et2850-allinone-wireless-inkjet-printer-10229344.html

It is quite neat, the paper fills from the back vertically

Thanks, so much to think about! I’d like it to do double-sided printing and colour printing, and it needs to be able to scan and print ocassional greeting cards. Thanks also for the heads up re the new HP printers! That’s why they’re so cheap…☹️

When researching ink prices, make sure you’re looking at the one off purchase cost. A lot of printer manufacturers try to tie you into a subscription (cheaper headline cost but more expensive overall).

All the software upgrades ensure it won't accept cheap ink, only official Epson ink £££

Thanks for that, I'm dreading our cheap to run printer failing as it must be getting in on for 10 years old. The Epson ink is very expensive.