• hperrin@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Epson EcoTank. They’re expensive printers, but the ink is so cheap they make up for it. I absolutely love mine and recommend it to anyone looking for a printer.

    • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      If you’re gonna spend money on a decent printer, go with a laser printer unless you specifically need ink printing.

      I have an HP I got like a decade ago, and only had to change the OEM toner carts in the last 6mo or so. The thing has survived 3 moves too, so it’s held up like a champ. It probably helps that it’s an older HP, so it was before they went to shit.

      • CatZoomies@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Hi, this is Hewlett Packard here. We read your post and are happy you love our products! Wouldn’t it make sense for you to upgrade to one of our newer models? I’m sure you’re tired of lugging your heavy, old printer these days.

        Our new ones are much lighter! Lighter in weight due to beautiful design! Lighter even on your wallet (at first, and for now)!

        Won’t you consider upgrading and locking in - I mean - “purchasing” a new printer, pretty please? uwu :3

        Here’s a friendly Kirby to convince you to upgrade! See, we’re cool and we know how to use product placement! Upgrade now or else!! We can’t wait for YOUR SOUL TO BE OURS.

        Your Friend, HP

        (We rebranded. Now the “P” stands for Predatory, but like the cute kind 😘. It’s okay to give us your money, trust us.)

        • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Won’t you consider upgrading and locking in - I mean - “purchasing” a new printer, pretty please? uwu :3

          Not a chance lol

      • PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Yup. Inkjet printers became popular because of digital cameras. But unless you’re printing a bunch of photos, you really don’t need an inkjet. And even if you are printing photos, it’s usually better to just go to a print shop or use Google Photos.

        • frezik@midwest.social
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          9 months ago

          I’d like to just say that I appreciate the nuance of printer usage around here. Reddit was single minded about Brother lasers, and had no idea what high end inkjet photo printers were for. It’s a niche, but >$1000 inkjets with 7 different ink colors exist for a reason.

          If people want a simple answer, then it’s that no printer under $150 or so should exist. If you can’t afford spending a little more up front, then you won’t be able to afford the ink on those printers.

      • laurelraven@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        9 months ago

        Honestly, if I printed enough to warrant it, I’d go for that Epson… But I stick with my color laser because it’s over ten years old and I print so little it still has the starter cartridges in it, ink would have dried out so many times during that period

      • errer@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Disadvantage with laser is they are bigger and heavier and when you do have to replace parts other than the toner, it’s expensive. I don’t have a large house and went with a small Canon inkjet for space considerations. We only print occasionally so it’s worked ok for us.

        • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Do you have issues with the inkjet heads crusting up and causing issues with ink waste? We only print like once or twice a month at most, and that was the reason I went away from them.

          • cegil1325@sh.itjust.works
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            9 months ago

            That was my issue. Pretty much print a handful of times a year, mostly around tax season and without fail my ink has dried out and needs to be repurchased. Got a brother laser printer 2 yrs ago, still haven’t replaced the original toner. Easily in the black for not having to buy ink 2x despite the laser printer being pricier than I’d prefer

        • Veneroso@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          At least you can replace parts. When is the last inkjet that had something user replaceable?

          Maybe the print head?

          Laser Printers are made for businesses and long lifetime generally.

          Anyway HP has turned me bitter.

          I love my HP LaserJet but it’s like 7 years old at this point…

          • Ann Archy@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            The paper tray, you could replace papers, but they never quite fit and would take several papers at times, sometimes blocking the feed.

            • Veneroso@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              Rollers seem to be difficult to swap. I did manage to combine two together to make a working unit once.

              But that’s noted.

              Lasers seem to have more things that can be maintained in a documented way.

        • Harriet_Porber@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          They really don’t have to be bigger and heavier. I have a Pantum P2502w laser printer and it is seriously one of the smallest printers I’ve ever owned including inkjets. I feel like laser printers always default to paper storage being underneath them instead of having a feeder tray that sticks out further from the body? And that puts them into a larger form factor.

          That being said, I’m fairly sure this is a much lighter duty laser printer than other heavier ones.

          Also this is not really an endorsement for Pantum, the software and firmware are buggy as hell, but the software isn’t bad enough for me to throw it out and the hardware will probably last a decade so good luck to me.

      • shalafi@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Boom. My HP is a tiny B&W from 10+ years ago. Runs like a champ, $20 for an easy 1,000 pages, or more. WFH and do a little company printing so they buy the supplies. MUCH love. When it finally kicks it, if I can’t find a refurb kit, I’ll go Brother.

    • Pika@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      I won’t go eco tank personally, clogs and cleaning is a royal pain on them and there’s no good purge feature. I would fully recommend going this path only if accuracy on color is requirement further then laser printers do

      • hperrin@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        I’ve had mine for about four years. I’ve had clogged print heads once, and I ran the auto cleaning five times, then it worked. I’ll give you that it was a pain, but the purge feature works. You’ve just gotta do it multiple times if it’s a really bad clog.

    • teamevil@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Hands down the best printer I’ve ever had. Only challenge is cleaning the printer heads because I don’t print often enough.

      • hperrin@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        I just run the automated thing like 4 or 5 times until it prints well again. It always works eventually.

    • fake arch user they/them@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      9 months ago

      Actually eco tank printers are also designed to fail as they have ink pads that can only be replaced by the manufacturer I recommend you watch this video explaining the problem with tank printers like the eco tank.

      • hperrin@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        That’s an ink absorber, and all inkjet printers have them. It’s not “designed to fail”, it’s a physical limitation of the universe. You can’t just keep dumping ink into a sponge forever. Eventually it will become saturated and you can either clean it or replace it.

        I’ve had my printer for about four years and haven’t needed to replace one yet. They only cost about $10 when you do need to replace it. If they cost several hundred dollars, I would see your point, but the savings in ink more than makes up for having to replace a sponge every decade or so.

        Edit: I missed that you said only the manufacturer can replace it. That’s not true. It’s user replaceable with a Phillips head screwdriver.

        Edit 2: Added links.

        • fake arch user they/them@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          5 months ago

          What I meant by “designed to fail” is that most of these ecotank printers need the counter to be reset by epson themselves. You can easily replace the pads. But you can’t easily reset the counter. It is possible but it involves trusting sketch sites and paying for a license to use the reset software. Older cartridges based epson printers had waste tanks with chips so that it could know when it was replaced. Newer eco tank printers don’t have the chip that let’s it know when the waste tank is replaced.

          • hperrin@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            That’s not designed to fail, that’s designed to be serviced. Do you call cars “designed to fail” because they need new oil filters and the check engine light comes on when you need an oil change?

              • hperrin@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                You just said there are other ways to do it besides Epson. There are multiple sites that provide utilities to reset the counter.

                The sponges are cheap. Way cheaper than using a cartridge printer. You can even just clean out the sponge and put it back in. You don’t have to buy a new one.

                Even going through Epson’s first party maintenance program is way cheaper than using a cartridge printer. Like, orders of magnitude cheaper.

          • hperrin@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            It is? It’s behind a panel on the back of the printer. Just take the single Phillips head screw off.

          • hperrin@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            It’s not designed to fail. It’s designed to be user serviceable. You can buy a replacement and replace it yourself. It literally only requires a Phillips head screwdriver to take out the one screw on the back panel. If that is designed to fail, then a car needing an oil change is “designed to fail”.

            • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              It literally only requires a Phillips head screwdriver to take out the one screw on the back panel.

              Literally rocket science. I’m gonna have to pay a monthly subscription so a service tech can come out and do it for me.

            • Ann Archy@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              It is made out of materials that have a set lifetime or propensity for easily breaking, like glass screens that explode into a supernova if you look at them wrong.

      • PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocksB
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        9 months ago

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    • fake arch user they/them@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      9 months ago

      Actually eco tank printers are also designed to fail as they have ink pads that can only be replaced by the manufacturer I recommend you watch this video explaining the problem with tank printers like the eco tank.

      • PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocksB
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        9 months ago

        Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

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    • areyouevenreal@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      Yes and no. I have one and they work fine until you unplug them for any length of time. Then you have to deal with cleaning all the printheads and getting it to work properly again. Typically needs multiple passes before it will print right. I know it’s a problem with all ink jet printers. It’s a shame toner is more expensive and colour laser printers are so expensive. If not I would switch to one of them.

    • rambaroo@lemmynsfw.com
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      9 months ago

      Nah. After getting a laser jet I’ll never go back to an inkjet printer. For the cost of an eco tank you can get a solid laser printer with zero maintenance and it will last much longer.

      I’ve had mine for seven years and only changed the ink twice.

    • Zozano@lemy.lol
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      9 months ago

      Fuck Epson, fuck them fuck them fuck them fuck Epson, Epson can suck my dick, Epson can lick my asshole, Epson can dance in traffic and go to hell. Fuck Epson.

        • Zozano@lemy.lol
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          9 months ago

          Epson is the only one for me, my beloved. She prints in black, when the colours are empty. She has simple and intuitive router pairing. She did not fucking explode a FUCKING INK CARTRIDGE ONTO MY FUCKING FACE I CANT KEEP THIS CHARADE UP I FUCKING HATE EPSON PRINTERS RRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH