[REQUEST] Recommend a Printer (That's In Stock)

[Appletax]

Edit: it's not what I wanted, but it will do trick: Brother HL-L2325DW. Only $90 at my local Walmart. Does duplex printing and is wireless. Might buy myself a nice photo scanner to go with it.


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After 23,000 pages printed, my Brother HL-L2395DW monochrome laser AIO took a dump on me. I think there's an issue with the fuser roller. Pitched it.

A new one is 2x the price ($200 now, $100 in 2019) and is out-of-stock everywhere. Dang COVID.

What I want:

- $400 for color (nice to have, not needed) or $250 for monochrome - open to both
- NO HP
- Duplex printing
- Wi-Fi
- Copy + scan
- Bigger touchscreen
- CHEAP toner or ink options such as refurbished
- Good driver support - software that just works

Would be nice to have something that's built to last and is more repairable (e.g., fuser goes bad I can easily get a reasonably priced replacement).

I suspect that would cost dearly unless I bought a refurb.

Been curious about Epson EcoTank Supertank printers.

EcoTank ET-3850 Wireless Color All-in-One Cartridge-Free Supertank Printer with Scanner, Copier, ADF and Ethernet | Products | Epson US

Discover a New Type of Printing Experience.

epson.com

Edit: out-of-stock everywhere. Would have to buy HP equivalent.

 

[timeshifter]

Fuser replacement might be a good bet. Keep what you have.

 

[Markverhyden]

Normally I'd say keep and repair it. I really hate the disposable mentality. Fusers are relatively easy to replace. That being said the whole refurb fuser market pricing has gone through the roof. You might find it advertised with a low price but when you go to order it they're out of stock. Just had a customer with a MFP M427 looking like it needed a fuser. That's a $500 printer and the people who had the fuser in stock wanted $380. Normally they'll run in the $150-$190 range.

 

[britechguy]

All I'll say here is that I have had incredibly good luck with Canon inkjet printers over a period of decades now, and really like the fact that from their mid-range and on up they have separate ink tanks for all colors they use.

I use refillable auto-reset chip (ARC) tanks in my TS6320 that I've had for some years now without issue. I think that they also now have machines with the equivalent of the giant ECO tanks, but I haven't been shopping for a printer for several years now.

And as for "in stock," that varies by locale, so I won't even try to speak to that part. You can still often find things in brick and mortar stores that are on the shelf that are not currently available online.

 

[SlickMinnow]

Probably after the fact here, but if I understand the problem and if you're feeling handy, you might get away with replacing just the fuser sleeve. It's a bit more work than just replacing the fuser, but not terribly so. Not sure I'd bother with it with a $90 replacement nearby, but I've learned to pay attention to consumables on the newer printers. Seems they get smaller and more expensive...
@Markverhyden I did just that recently with a gimme HP 425dn (sleeve cost me about $20) with great results.

 

[timeshifter]

Interesting, I guess just Google or eBay for a fuser sleeve? Wasn’t aware of that possibility.

 

[Markverhyden]

Probably after the fact here, but if I understand the problem and if you're feeling handy, you might get away with replacing just the fuser sleeve. It's a bit more work than just replacing the fuser, but not terribly so. Not sure I'd bother with it with a $90 replacement nearby, but I've learned to pay attention to consumables on the newer printers. Seems they get smaller and more expensive...
@Markverhyden I did just that recently with a gimme HP 425dn (sleeve cost me about $20) with great results.

I know some other techs that used to do that. While the skill level isn't great it's something I'll pass off to a refurbisher. If I was in a bind I'd certainly look at individual parts.

 

[Appletax]

I got the $90 printer from Wally World and am glad I did so. Very economical and works great. Does everything I want except scan. Prints so much nicer and quieter than the old, worn-out printer. Now I need to buy a standalone scanner, which will hopefully be of a better quality than what I had before.

Probably would want to find a fuser kit for that old one so it's all back to new. The cost is too high it appears. Not worth it for a (now) $200 printer that's got a lot of miles on it.