[SOLVED] Want to buy a new printer for my home

[kanishknishar]

1. What is your printer budget? What is your country of origin?

India. Rs. 10,000-12,000

2. Preferred Brand(s) HP but any can work.

4. How many pages do you print per day? 5 pages per week.

5. Do you want your printer to perform other functions (scanning / copying / fax)? Don't need fax but definitely need scanning and copier.

6. Preferred website for printer (eg Newegg / Tiger Direct, etc)? They don't sell here.

1. Do you want your printer to have WiFi capability? WiFi or Bluetooth. I need it to print from my phone and PC (without wires preferably.)
2. Do you want your printer to have full color or black and white? Black and white.

9. How much do you currently spend on ink/toner? Rs. 1200 for new toners but I use refills at Rs. 350 - do refills negatively impact the life of the printer?

10. Do you print high quality or high resolution documents or photographs? I print text 99% of the time.

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Would getting an ADF significantly increase the cost of the printer? Double side printing and scanning seem like very cool features to have.

 

[Ralston18]

Start here:

https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-printers

Select a couple of printers that meet your requirements.

Then go to the manufacturer's website to find and read the applicable User Guide/Manual.

Also read the Forums and FAQs (if any). Pay attention to what is said and what is "not said".

And if all possible go to a store where you can physically look at the printer.

Price the ink/toner cartridges. Many stores having printer sales will reduce the price on ink and toner at the same time. Once the printer sale is over the ink/toner cartridges go up in price. Again....

 

[kanishknishar]

Start here:

https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-printers

Select a couple of printers that meet your requirements.

Then go to the manufacturer's website to find and read the applicable User Guide/Manual.

Also read the Forums and FAQs (if any). Pay attention to what is said and what is "not said".

And if all possible go to a store where you can physically look at the printer.

Price the ink/toner cartridges. Many stores having printer sales will reduce the price on ink and toner at the same time. Once the printer sale is over the ink/toner cartridges go up in price. Again....

The problem with the list is that it's for the US and these models are that they may not be sold in India. (I checked #2 on Amazon and it's not listed.) Furthermore the prices in India could be much higher than Rs. 12,000.

What do you mean by 'not said'? Are there sneaky bad business practices that printer companies use?

Also why are inkjets recommended? I thought it was widely known they are a nightmare by constantly running out of ink or companies screwing customers over with how much they can use a new ink cartridge.

 

[kanishknishar]

Side note: What happens if I dont use the color inks in laser jet printers? Would they allow me to print monochrome even if the color cartridges get dried?

 

[Ralston18]

"What is not said..."

By that I mean the company will not specifically say something does not work, does not work with, is not compatible etc. but do all they can via wording and photographs to make it appear otherwise.

It is a sneaky trick. Not at all uncommon.

"Compatible with" , "Universal", "Fits all" may simply mean, for example, that Part A will fit into Part B. Not that they will necessarily will work together.

If a desired feature or function is required then look for that being clearly stated somewhere. Do not just look at the ads and think that that feature or function is present. One good way to do so is to go online and read the User Guide/Manuals. Or, similarly, Installation instructions.

As for the inks

That is tougher question. Printer manufacturers tend to sell printers at a loss and make up those loses via ink sales. So they do whatever they can to encourage the sale of more ink. Even if you print only monochrome, the printer may be designed to stop working if one or more of the color ink cartridges is empty or dried out. Basically touted as a feature to avoid waste of paper etc. if a print job comes out missing all the green. Even if you only want black & white output.

So you are forced to buy colored inks as well.....

User Guide may contain more information about all that in the section devoted to refilling inks and also in the troubleshooting section.

Read the footnotes and fine print.