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.
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.
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.
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.)
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Yeah but it’s the same as if the oil filter in your car was super glued in and the dealership was the only ones that had the chemical to dissolve the glue.
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.
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”.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Actually they have a power wash feature you can use. It just wastes a lot of ink.
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.
Hands down the best printer I’ve ever had. Only challenge is cleaning the printer heads because I don’t print often enough.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Yeah but it’s the same as if the oil filter in your car was super glued in and the dealership was the only ones that had the chemical to dissolve the glue.
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.
That’s fine, but make it easily user replaceable then!
It is? It’s behind a panel on the back of the printer. Just take the single Phillips head screw off.
It would be nice of them to sell replacement kits, though
https://epson.com/Accessories/Printer-Accessories/EcoTank-Ink-Maintenance-Box-T04D100/p/T04D100
Or
https://epson.com/Accessories/Printer-Accessories/EcoTank-Ink-Maintenance-Box-T04D000/p/T04D000
It is designed to fail. But for other reasons and by different mechanisms.
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”.
Literally rocket science. I’m gonna have to pay a monthly subscription so a service tech can come out and do it for me.
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.
What materials could be used here that wouldn’t have that problem?
A fair market?
The market will magically make a better material? Are you a libertarian?
Ok, at this point I feel like you’re just joking. If not, you’re legitimately mad.
Yes, planned obsolescence is madness, MADNESS!
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.
Tell us how you really feel.
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
What did they do to you?