Inexpensive B & W Printers? (converter, volume, direct, USB)

[burdell]

I haven't had a home printer for years as I've had bad luck with them, infrequent use seems to cause them to irreversibly clog. Curious if this has changed?

I'd like to find an inexpensive no-frills B & W printer that will survive infrequent use and am curious if such an animal exists?

[james112]

HP Laserjet 1018 which you can find used or refurbished for under $300. I got a used one years ago and still flawless.

If I ever buy a new one it would be a HP laserjet monochrome.

[djmaxwell]

Originally Posted by burdell

I haven't had a home printer for years as I've had bad luck with them, infrequent use seems to cause them to irreversibly clog. Curious if this has changed?

I'd like to find an inexpensive no-frills B & W printer that will survive infrequent use and am curious if such an animal exists?

I've been happy with Brother laser printers. You can get some basic refurbs for less than $100. News ones, when available, aren't much more.

[SJ196]

Easy choice

Get a Brother HL-L2320D

Very dependable and one of the cheapest per page ink cost.

[ReblTeen84]

Originally Posted by djmaxwell

I've been happy with Brother laser printers. You can get some basic refurbs for less than $100. News ones, when available, aren't much more.

I had a Brother black and white for probably 10+ years. Got it for $20 at Staples when I worked there in college and they were getting rid of them. Kept it forever, the toner cartridges were dirt cheap, but the fuser was a separate unit. We don't print much so 2 cartridges lasted me years. I finally replaced it in 2017 with a color HP AIO laser.

[burdell]

Originally Posted by james112

HP Laserjet 1018 which you can find used or refurbished for under $300. I got a used one years ago and still flawless.

If I ever buy a new one it would be a HP laserjet monochrome.

Thanks for the reply! I print so little that may be a bit much for me, currently when I need to print a letter, etc. I just go down to my local library and print for $0.10/page. I think the last printer I had was an Epson that IIRC was like $39.95, worked well but my infrequent use seems to kill printers.

[burdell]

Thanks folks! I think three thumbs up for Brother printers will have me looking in that direction if I decide I really want a printer. Local library's within walking distance if I'm feeling ambitious and $0.10/page may wind up being the best choice for my infrequent use, just gotta solve the need vs. want equation.

[HJ99]

I have ancient HP Laserjet 4000. Bought it used for like $35. Last year had to replace toner/drum cartridge. Cost me $15 for new genuine HP from one of salvage sellers on ebay. Ready to print thousands more pages. Business no longer uses these so they sell off their maintenance supplies cheap to the salvage dealers. These old 4000s were as bulletproof as it got and were made for shared office use so for one guy occasionally using it, probably easily outlive me. For low volume use, laser is only realistic option, the inkjet cartridges will dry up and never work when needed. Plus the games the printer manufacturers play with cartridges is insane.

4000 always worked great on linux, CUPS has driver for it. Had to go searching to get it working on win10. Win10 doesnt officially support it, but using an old win7 64bit driver and Bobs your uncle. Also no computer has parallel printer port anymore, so had to buy a parallel to usb converter cord. Hint: dont get a cheapie cord, wont work. I cant remember brand I bought, but in comments some had bought it for same reason I did, to get old HP laserjet working on newer computer. Cost me like $15 or $20 few years back off Amazon.

No more than I use a printer, this one could easily last rest of my life.

[burdell]

Originally Posted by HJ99

I have ancient HP Laserjet 4000. Bought it used for like $35. Last year had to replace toner/drum cartridge. Cost me $15 for new genuine HP from one of salvage sellers on ebay. Ready to print thousands more pages. Business no longer uses these so they sell off their maintenance supplies cheap to the salvage dealers. These old 4000s were as bulletproof as it got and were made for shared office use so for one guy occasionally using it, probably easily outlive me. For low volume use, laser is only realistic option, the inkjet cartridges will dry up and never work when needed. Plus the games the printer manufacturers play with cartridges is insane.

4000 always worked great on linux, CUPS has driver for it. Had to go searching to get it working on win10. Win10 doesnt officially support it, but using an old win7 64bit driver and Bobs your uncle. Also no computer has parallel printer port anymore, so had to buy a parallel to usb converter cord. Hint: dont get a cheapie cord, wont work. I cant remember brand I bought, but in comments some had bought it for same reason I did, to get old HP laserjet working on newer computer. Cost me like $15 or $20 few years back off Amazon.

No more than I use a printer, this one could easily last rest of my life.

Thanks, food for thought! I agree that laser is likely the best choice for my limited use. I'll probably end up maybe just looking for refurb or surplus deals to see what's out there knowing the library is close should I need something.

[Brightsider]

Originally Posted by burdell

I haven't had a home printer for years as I've had bad luck with them, infrequent use seems to cause them to irreversibly clog. Curious if this has changed?

I'd like to find an inexpensive no-frills B & W printer that will survive infrequent use and am curious if such an animal exists?

Like you, have gone through 2 inkjets that clogged from disuse and cartridges always drying. With infrequent printing, have also found it easier to use library. Also again considering a printer. Would still print infrequently but really want to take on major scanning of docs to digitize. So there are all-in-one units where it still may be worth buying a laser printer, hoping it still lasts years with infrequent printing. But my main task will be duplex scanning so maybe just buying scanner. Have just begun reading; so many options.