One of my scanner/printer's sounds to have stripped a cog so I'm looking for something with these features:-

 

1. Suitable for sitting on a desktop
2. Network (LAN) - Bluetooth, (Apple AirPrint & Google Cloud Print would be a nice addition too) & USB as a 'normal' connection
3. Black & white with duplex ability preferred
4. Letter feed
5. Laser only - inkjet definitely not wanted
6. Scanner/copier with excellent resolution for the odd photo printing
7. Have a reasonable speed

 

It doesn't need to be the latest all singing-dancing machine as I'm open to having a bargain if there happens to be a 'last years model' available somewhere.

Obviously I'm going to start my search off with such as PCWorld and Amazon as they may have the best variety but not necessarily the best pricing.

 

I am able to use other printers as a stop gap but wondered if anyone had a particular preference or recommendation please.

Edited 18 June, 20205 yr by john999boy
Updated spec

Hi,

 

if you are happy to get an HP look at this URL for cash back on printers as sometimes whilst the purchase price on one model may be more once the cash back is applied it can be cheaper

 

https://h41201.www4.hp.com/WMCF.Web/uk/en/promotion/13044/Start/

 

John

Just as an aside......is it no possible to replace the cog? I assume its the one that drives the paper feeder (HP 3550s were known for it), might be easy enough to find, if a little fiddly to change. Personally I've never got on with any MFP, they always seem to break or have a software glitch😣

One of the first

1 hour ago, jjc said:

if you are happy to get an HP look at this URL for cash back on printers as sometimes whilst the purchase price on one model may be more once the cash back is applied it can be cheaper

Whilst not adverse to an HP, I did notice this deal. It turns out to not be quite as good a deal as I first thought due to the running costs though.

 

15 minutes ago, robt100 said:

Just as an aside......is it no possible to replace the cog? I assume its the one that drives the paper feeder (HP 3550s were known for it), might be easy enough to find, if a little fiddly to change. Personally I've never got on with any MFP, they always seem to break or have a software glitch😣

Maybe but it is now 14 years old so taking advantage of a potential spec upgrade.

As SWMBO decrees that she wants the printer to be at least on par with mine, then I may just have to say none are available and let her keep mine. If I then happen to see another higher spec one then............

 

Funnily enough, the broken printer (Samsung) seems to have been bought out by HP and another daily (Ricoh) seems to have gone upmarket price wise!

 

The hunt continues.

 

Buy a scanner, buy a printer.

I use a Brother laser printer, and I have a Canon scanner

12 minutes ago, Rustynuts said:

Buy a scanner, buy a printer.
I use a Brother laser printer, and I have a Canon scanner

It has to be a single item I'm afraid.

Funnily enough she used to keep asking me to scan various documents for her on my printer and being the obliging kind, I did as asked. It wasn't until today that I realised (forgotten) that her printer had a built in scanner!

Kyocera, Brother, Oki and Lexmark seem to have models that may fit the bill but further investigations need making before I commit. I have noticed that there is what appears to be a cartel regarding who can sell what brands though with the bigger sellers not being in the running.

Well, I've had a few colour lasers over the past 12 - 15 years, and the Brother I have currently is the best of them all. Okay, it's the newest one clearly, but it's been the best for reliability and compact size.

 

HP laser if you're not wanting to spend a lot, Brother if you're wanting something better. 

HP quality is usually good - but expensive consumables as 3rd party stuff isn't always available.

I've had no problems with my other colour Brother laser so that's a second Brisky vote for them.

HP lasers are generally good for cheap refurb cartridges because there's that many of them, I have a couple of the little £70 LaserJets. Refilled cartirdges are a tenner each and will last for a box of paper. It's their inkjets that are expensive to feed.

 

Brother had completely passed me by as a brand until someone gave me a Brother A3 inkjet with a clogged printhead. Once that was cleaned out, it's been absolutely brilliant. 

31 minutes ago, StevesTruck said:

HP lasers are generally good for cheap refurb cartridges because there's that many of them, I have a couple of the little £70 LaserJets. Refilled cartridges are a tenner each and will last for a box of paper. It's their inkjets that are expensive to feed.

Brother had completely passed me by as a brand until someone gave me a Brother A3 inkjet with a clogged printhead. Once that was cleaned out, it's been absolutely brilliant. 

I read this thread at HotUkDeals as a starting point and even though it initially says it was a laser, now think it's an inkjet. It was the ability of HP to do firmware upgrades and kill 3rd party toner use that didn't impress me too much.

The other problem is that it's the newer printers which have the newest features and therefore the dearest toners!

Currently looking at these:-

On 18/06/2020 at 20:18, john999boy said:

It has to be a single item I'm afraid.

Funnily enough she used to keep asking me to scan various documents for her on my printer and being the obliging kind, I did as asked. It wasn't until today that I realised (forgotten) that her printer had a built in scanner!

Kyocera, Brother, Oki and Lexmark seem to have models that may fit the bill but further investigations need making before I commit. I have noticed that there is what appears to be a cartel regarding who can sell what brands though with the bigger sellers not being in the running.

 

Just purchased a Kyocera and I'm just about to send it back as an end user can't update the firmware, which is rediculous on a network device.

I've been ignored by Kyocera support and their customer support number either promises to come back (and doesn't) or goes through the menues and ends in a dead line.

 

Bar the cheap running costs (Which only matter once you've covered the higher printer cost), I don't currently see a lot going for it.

The official reply I had from the supplier, was that Kyocera don't issue firmware updates unless you contact technical support with a problem and then when they do it is an engineer install job.

 

I've started a thread asking if anyone knows otherwise, but if not, it's going back tomorrow.

 

On the Xerox, be careful, as the prices shown are only when you use the extra high yield cartridges, with the high yield ones being a reasonable bit more expensive and the standard yield ones being eye-wateringly so. (IMHO)

 

EDIT: FWIW I am looking at colour, so running costs may differ with the B&W cartridges, but worth checking still.

Edited 23 June, 20205 yr by cheezemonkhai

Funnily enough I've just started following your other thread to see what transpires. 

It does seem odd that you can't update the firmware yourself though.

 

Anyway, I ordered the 335DNi mentioned above and I'm just about to install it so will see if some of the negative network issues are as complicated as some other people have made out. Hopefully not!

It works out as a very reasonably priced printer - as long as it's going to be hassle free.

 

I had it confirmed by Kyocera on a phone call that it's an on site visit from a qualified support partner and that I can't register to get the software to do it (Even if I offered to pay for training).

 

Bonkers.

 

Now considering two options of:

 

- Send it back and replace with a workcentre 6515dn

- Surrounding the kyocera with firewall options and locking down the services on there and running it until the 2 year warranty expires, then sell it on or junk it.

 

The Running costs are so much lower, that it's a serious option once you've used the starter toner and one set of (the single sized) toner cartridges.

 

I have to say I really like brother printers, but at this point in their product lifecycle, they don't have anything that fits my need and isn't massive.

 

Be interesting to see how you get on with the Xerox. (If you're ordering Toner too, drop me a PM as I have a 10% for that site )

Edited 23 June, 20205 yr by cheezemonkhai

16 minutes ago, cheezemonkhai said:

Be interesting to see how you get on with the Xerox. (If you're ordering Toner too, drop me a PM as I have a 10% for that site)

It does come with the 'proper' size toner unlike the B215 but thanks, I will try and remember your kind offer when the times comes.

I have a big Brother office style laser printer. Older version of this - https://www.brother.co.uk/printers/laser-printers/dcp-l3550cdw

If you've got the space get an office grade printer.

 

I've been happy with that.

 

saying that I'm using a small Canon inkjet right now since I've no room for the laser. I've probaby spent more on ink for that in 6 months than I've spent on the Brother in 3 years.

Certainly a fan of brother, I am just selling on my old MFC-L8520dn which is a tank of a mono MFP.

If I didn't need colour there would certainly be no need to replace it and it's been going for years.

 

I like the brother machines, but sadly the current generation 8900/8690 are sufficiently large you have to add the cost of a new table into them.

 

The nice thing about the kyocera is the very long life of these parts as they're ceramic, but also the fact that the toner is just a tub of toner and not all the gubbins that are built in. This makes for a very low cost per page and low environmental impact.

Sadly the firmware issues above/in my other thread means they're mostly useless until that is fixed.

 

Xerox - Some are excellent, some models less so, but there are plenty of reports of things not working and support is very variable.

HP - Usually reliable, not too expensive to buy, but the toner costs are painful and as above the generics can be booted out pretty quickly with a firmware update.

 

 

On 23/06/2020 at 13:14, john999boy said:

Ayway, I ordered the 335DNi mentioned above and I'm just about to install it so will see if some of the negative network issues are as complicated as some other people have made out. Hopefully not!

It works out as a very reasonably priced printer - as long as it's going to be hassle free.

A bit of an update.

The initial setup did require a tech support phone call! The mandatory initial password change required the new password being repeated but the continue button was ghosted after the first attempt. If they'd only put a scroll bar on the digital screen lol. Multi networks were easy enough to set up and a direct log in was needed to turn off config page printing but other than that, it seems to be fine.

 

Re the Brother printers mentioned above. It turns out that my label printer (which I'd forgotten about) was telling me that the cassette was removed when it wasn't. All the recognition pins were working correctly too. Another phone call and the problem was diagnosed as the recent Windows update. A driver removal and reinstall soon sorted that.

How are you getting on with the Xerox?

21 minutes ago, cheezemonkhai said:

How are you getting on with the Xerox?

Absolutely no problems at all! 

Just now, john999boy said:

Absolutely no problems at all! 

👍 

 

After the problems with the previous printer, it was between an HP or Xerox, but an offer swung it to the HP.

 

Good to know the Xerox is going well too 😀