To just want a basic printer and not have to sign up for instant inks etc?

[Adollop]

Looking online for a very basic printer, mainly to be used for printing off eBay labels, return labels, similar. The cheapest around are HP it seems, but they all come with this Instant Ink subscription. I'd rather just buy my ink when I need it, not be tied into some subscription. I'm not planning on using much ink at all and I need to save money wherever possible.

Other printers seem to come with cartridges with all colours in one, so if you run out of one colour you have to replace all of them.

I'm not techy minded, so need a simple set up too. I've no CD drive, so it has to work without a CD.

Am I asking too much?!

Another recommendation for a cheap laser printer. We've had a couple of Samsungs over the years, I think I got a new printer because it was cheaper than a new full toner cartridge at the time, madness.

They come with a starter cartridge which lasts for months, if not years, and then you can then usually get a compatible from somewhere like Amazon or the Cartridge people for £10/20 that last for years, and don't dry out like inkjets.

If I was getting one today, I'd probably get this one from John Lewis for £60.

No you don’t have to pay for ink on top.

OP the Instant Ink subscription pays for your ink, there are no extra charges. I am on the free subscription, which allows me to print up to 15 pages a month, and when it sees I will need new cartridges it sends them to me. Free. If I start printing more than 15 pages a month, I have to start paying.

Barbara that looks great, but reviews say there's no printer cable included and I wouldn't know what cable I'd need. Presume I'd need a usb cable too... or is that what they mean?

The point of Instant Ink is that you're paying based on how many pages you print, NOT for how much ink you use. If you hardly print anything and can stay within the 15 pages per month free tier, it's brilliant as you pay nothing and get free ink.

Ok .. so it's the usb cable you need to buy separately. No mention of whether you have to use the CD set up disk or whether driver can be downloaded.

I'm not made for this world ....

Yes, you need a USB cable, probably normal flat USB on one end and a squarish on the other, not sure what they're called.

You can probably get one off ebay or a cheap computer shop for a pound or two, no need to pay £10/15+ in somewhere like Currys or ask around because many people have spare ones, hence not supplying one in the box.

www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1311.R3.TR11.TRC1.A0.H0.Xprinter+cable.TRS0&_nkw=usb+printer+cable&_sacat=0

You can almost always download the drivers off the printer website.

There might also be cheap second hand Samsung printers on ebay.

When I installed my parents' hp a year or so ago it installed it's own drivers etc so no CD or download required. It connects to their computer via wifi. If you know the name of the cable poundland or Amazon is your friend. They've gone for instant ink, it works out cheaper but when I replace my ancient hp with a new one soon I'm going with buying off brand cartridges from cartridge save - if for any reason the printer won't work with it, you can get a refund --and I'm a sucker for the free pen they always send too-'

There’s a free instant ink option though ,isn’t there ?
We’ve just bought a new printer and signed up for the free one which is 15 pages a month or something?
Received our first free cartridge last week

Ah sorry .. should have read tft

I use HP Instant Ink and think it's great! I've not had to pay yet as I got a few months free when buying, then shared the recommendation code to get more free months. When I have to pay, I'll go for £1.99 a month which I think is good value for 50 pages a month, with rollover. Would surely spend more than that on cartridges.

Forgot to add, before I had Instant Ink I was very stingy with printing as it was expensive, so cartridges actually dried out as I was using the printer so little. Ended up costing me more.

@icecreamcrackers.Sorry for being dim what does this mean?

"The print would need to be connected to the Wi-Fi at all times and it logs how many pages you have done via your up account. "

We have our wifi on all the time but only plug the printer in and turn it on when we need to print something. Then we turn printer off again. Would be need to have the printer on all the time for the instant ink account to work?

I think I have a HP.

I buy 6 sets of compatible cartridges on Amazon for about £7. There is the odd duff cartridge but they are generally ok.

I don't use them when I do photo printing but for general stuff they are fine and last a fair while.

Be careful with the Instant Ink, you pay an amount each month and that money is taken every month regardless of whether you've used up your allocated amount of sheets of paper or not.
There are smaller subscriptions you can do (not sure off the top of my head, but something like 100 pages etc.)
We do the 7.99 one a month, and occasionally get sent ink in the post when the other runs out - it's a good system, but I'm pretty sure we're spending much more than we're using - it's just that we like the fact that it will know when our ink is running out and just send us replacements....

We have our wifi on all the time but only plug the printer in and turn it on when we need to print something. Then we turn printer off again. Would be need to have the printer on all the time for the instant ink account to work?

No. My parents' is switched off until they want to use it, and the wifi is courtesy of a dongle that's not switched on all the time. They still get their ink deliveries etc just fine.

Just checked mine is a cannon not an HP.

The compatibles are good though and I last ordered Jan 18. so nearly 2 years as I am just about to replace.

Once you pay for "instant ink" you cannot go back to free.

I am fed up with my new-ish HP printer - ink keeps drying out. Never had that issue with the old (HP) printer.

We have instant ink and it works out much cheaper than when we bought the cartridges themselves (though we did always buy the branded ones as had previously had bad experiences with others). You don't have to remember to go out and buy cartridges. If you don't use your quote of pages you can roll them over for up to two months (so if you sign up for the 100 pages a month plan, you can carry forward up to 200 pages). You can easily change your package if you realise you tend to use more or less than the number you signed up to. Starts at £1.99 for 50 pages, so £24 a year which is not much more than the cost of one B&W and one colour cartridge.

Consider getting a brother printer

I've got a cheap Canon printer and buy replacement XL non brand inks from Amazon or Office World. I think it works out cheaper that way. I wouldn't get a b&w laser jet unless you're definitely only doing b&w printing. If you've got kids who need to print stuff for homework, you'll likely need the odd colour printed sheet.

This has been a useful thread - I have had the 50 page deal for £1.99 a month for a couple of years. I now do very little printing as was wondering if it was still worth it.

I've read on here about the 15 pages free deal and gone into my account to opt for it to find that it wasn't given as an option. I have looked at my usage over the last year and I frequently only do a page or two, only once going over 15 pages.

SO - I opted to leave the scheme and, as expected, rather than have me leave the offered me the 15 pages exclusive free. So I now have what I want and needed. They've had the £1.99 for long enough though.

@spongedog - Go to your account and say you are leaving - they will then offer you the 15 page free deal. (Or at least they did me)

@Hecateh thank you for the tip.

You probably don't need a USB cable as it will set up over WiFi. Ours did. I think the instant ink is better value if you don't print much. You don't have to buy ink ever. I always found with our old one the ink would dry up if we went too long without using it.