Help! The price of ink is killing me [ASK MR. NOOBIE™]
QUESTION: I run an online business from home and I do a lot of black and white printing. I have an HP 1610 printer and the ink is costing me a fortune. Do you know of a printer that is reasonably priced and gets you the most prints for a cartridge of ink? I would appreciate any advice or help you could give me. Thank you for your time - Kris
ANSWER: I'm not surprised to hear that the ink for your printer is costing you a fortune. I hear the same story from almost everyone I know who owns an inkjet printer. That's why the printers themselves are really just loss leaders for the ink. They know they'll get their money back in ink down the road.
For this very reason, I almost never recommend an inkjet printer for someone unless they specifically tell me they need color output or want to print their own photos (another bad idea).
Instead, I recommend a laser printer. Now before you think I'm crazy, hear me out. Laser printers have come way down in price. And I mean way down. Yes, the cost of the laser cartridges are more expensive than inkjet cartridges ($50 - $80 for a laser cartridge vs. $15 - $30 for an inkjet cartridge), but when you consider that laser printers can print thousands (yes, thousands) of pages before running out of ink, it's a no-brainer when you compare the cost-per-page.
Two excellent choices
The exact model of laser printer you should get depends on your needs. But I am a big fan of Brother's brand. In fact, both the monochrome and color laser printers I own are manufacturered by Brother. And I love them both dearly.
A good entry-level choice would be the Brother HL2270DW (pictured below). It goes for right around $100 on Amazon right now (with free shipping) and has both wired (USB and Ethernet) and wireless interfaces as well as the duplexing capability (it can print on both sides of the paper).
The model I use, the Brother HL-5370DW (pictured below), is a little bit of a step up in terms of speed (pages per minute), paper capacity and resolution. You'll have to decide for yourself if these features are worth the extra money (it's nearly double the price).
For me, the extra features of the HL-5370DW are totally worth it but either of these Brother printers would be a great solution to your current ink dilemma.
Do you have a question for Mr. Noobie™? Submit your question here.
4 comments for this blog post so far...
September 06, 2011 at 9:08 am
asudduth
Personally, I currently have both an HP Black and white and color laser… love them both.
But just want to add, you may want to do some math and take the look at a price of a toner cartridge and divide it by the yield… although no matter which printer you choose, it certainly should be cheaper than an inkjet —typically the lower-cost the printer, the slightly higher per-page cost it is.
oh and for the record, I have two inkjets as well… but they are for very specific purposes… the lasers are what get the work out.
Lastly, my old faithful black and white printer (which I may replace sometime this year due to some mechanical issues in the duplexer that will be too costly to fix) I have had since 2001, and probbaly only purchased 3 toner cartridges.
September 06, 2011 at 9:11 am
Patric Welch
@asudduth, I would love to see the shelves in your home office. 5 printers?!? :)
September 06, 2011 at 9:18 am
Rosey
I’m glad to hear the price of laser printers is so reasonable. Our printer is suffering some kind of injury (it’s not printing right anymore) and when I opt for a new one, I think I’ll go laser this time just because the cost of ink is so atrocious (and it doesn’t take long at all to need replaced). Thanks for the great tip.
September 06, 2011 at 9:51 am
Patric Welch
Rosey, glad I could help. I know you’ll enjoy your new laser printer!
Add A Comment
Need help leaving a comment?
Just fill out your name, email address (for our eyes only) and web site address (if you have one, this is optional) above. Next, type your comment in the comment box. Feel free to use the Enter key to leave spaces between paragraphs.
The last step before submitting your comment is to enter the CAPTCHA word. This is the funny little series of letters and numbers you see below the comment field that helps prevent comment spam and ensures your comment can be seen on the web site immediately after you submit it.
The last step is to click the "Submit Your Comment" button. Thank you for commenting.