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A real guide on how to choose a printer for your home or office (cheap to operate)

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You’re probably wondering why I won’t write about photo printers? The reason is very simple – I order them externally. Most of the photos for customers I order through good photo labs, which have machines for several dozen or hundreds of thousands of zlotys and know how to set them up and calibrate them to print beautiful colors on durable papers. I also order such prints quite rarely because my clients can do it directly from the gallery with their photos.

Spis treści pokaż

For my own needs, I also order prints on-line. If I really need something for it already I have a Canon Selphy printer in the closet, which despite the fact that it has expensive prints, correct quality, but for 2-3 photos in 10×15 format (because only this prints) it is enough for me.

However, there are plenty of people who need to find out what to buy for a home or a small office. So I decided to make you aware of the many things that await you. In this post I will sometimes use the common phrase “printer” also for multifunction devices with a scanner, because many people also define them as such, because the most important function that interests us is printing.

Why was this post created?

I do not consider myself an expert, but in the field of consumer and office printers from PLN 200 to PLN 2,000, and sometimes PLN 3,000 I have already eaten my teeth, and seeing some rankings and comparisons on the Internet, I often grab what is written there, or how someone arranged it. A large part of the guides and reviews looks as if someone without a clue about the topic had to write a text for the website of a technology portal, an article for SEO for electronics stores, or some sponsored entry that praises one device in the sky.

Unfortunately, there is no perfect equipment, so it is worth knowing what we want to choose. On the other hand, I will not recommend solutions for large business and enterprise class here, because I do not use and have not dealt with large machines on a daily basis. Because if someone wants to print 10 thousand. pages a month or more it may find something for itself here, but it will not be equipment for years of such printing.

Butter butter on tech blogs

Sometimes in one entry I see contradictions where they first tell you that for occasional printing, buy a laser, because it will not dry, and toners, although expensive, it’s efficient so in total little per page will come out (and somewhere else, that are poured inkjet printers which are also cheap printing), and then that certainly a better choice will be an inkjet printer, because it is small, inexpensive and has replaceable carcasses.

This is not a sponsored post

Not to mention all sponsored entries, or comparisons of one company on the principle of “this is great”, and that “even more great” and their disadvantage will be something so trivial that most will wave their hand and run to the store without looking at the author’s intentions. There are also comparative tests of devices, which also raise considerable doubts.

The benefits I derive from this post come from affiliate links to Ceneo or Amazon. You do not lose anything on this, and I gain a small percentage from each purchase, which I can spend on the development of the blog.

Pseudo printer comparisons

For me, the hit is the comparison on videotests HP Smart Tank 515 vs Epson EcoTank L3151 , which you can find here . In my opinion, the method of evaluation raises a lot of doubts. The most obvious thing is that if we compare the printing speed of text, then we do not print images, as can be seen during the test.

Print Speed Test

An interesting treatment there is to give the current consumption and volume of the device to one bag, not to say by chance that Epson is loud, and so we have a draw, because HP is quiet, but it charges 1W more during operation. (in lasers these are 100W differences)

Another criterion is also comparing printing applications, instead of what we have a Wi-Fi standard and support for AirPrint or Mopria standards.

Apple AirPrint
Apple AirPrint in Epson is available only from the Epson EcoTank L3260 model, which is why the test shows a printout from the application.
Print with AirPrint
With AirPrint, we have support for any printer with this standard from any Apple device, without installing additional applications.

Photo printing? Epson actually comes out a little better in terms of details, but I would not compare prints on a regular 80g / m2 sheet, the more that in Epson we have a print without margins only on 10×15 cm paper.

What amused me the most, however, was the comparison of the filling system, which in both devices are equally simple, but in Epson they have a nice name “KeyLock” and is supposedly more stable, and I had the opportunity to fill both printers and I do not see the difference except that in Epson we will not confuse colors. The funny thing is that the first valves of this type to pour ink and not get dirty were introduced by HP in the GT 5820 device, when in Epson the tank was still hanging on the side of the device and you could dirty everything with ink, because the design was based, as in HP, on the design of earlier devices.

Of course, I do not think that EcoTank L3151 are bad devices, but such a comparison with HP Smart Tank 515, where there are a lot of errors is not right.

For people who make informed decisions

There are still a lot to list examples from one film, but to me this test looks very far-fetched and for people looking for simple answers in the style of “buy it, because more points”. Most people expect just such answers that company X is the best for everything. So this entry is not for such people, because I will disassemble the topic into prime factors, but at the end I will give some of my proposals for different scenarios.

I recommend Magda Gessler

I will not give you the answer to buy a laser / ink, because it is cheap to operate, because in every category there are cheap and expensive to operate devices. All the more so there is no such thing as a cheap to operate brand of printers. Someone 10 years ago had Brother for replacements and does not see that the world is changing, it’s hard to find such devices and you don’t have to peck the carcass with syringes to fill them, since you can have the original ones for pennies.

Brother J125
Brother DCP-J125, which. it wasn’t cheap, but you could put any fake in it. Today it has been replaced by poured printers.

Printers or MFP?

A multifunction device is a printer with a scanner, which leads to the fact that we also have a photocopier (save the scanner to memory, and the printer prints a certain number of documents). If we talk about lasers, then there you can see this division more and you can wonder if we want a scanner or not, because you can see the differences in price.

In the case of inkjet devices, where prices start from 200-300 PLN, we will not break a few more zlotys, because we do not need a scanner. Here it is standard, and the inkjet printers themselves are usually some solutions for printing photos and cost similarly, and even more.

HP 2710e prints scans copies and has wifi
A device for 200-300 PLN, which already has all the basic functions – scans, prints, copies and for this on Wi-Fi. Check prices.

Writing this entry in 2022, I will immediately tell you that if you only want to scan / copy documents, then the purchase of the printer itself, be it laser or inkjet and a separate scanner – will not pay you the price. The only plus is that it will have a higher resolution and scanning quality, which probably at home is not fully used.

Ranking of printers for home and office

When I checked such rankings, I always grabbed my head, what the author has in mind. Usually these are some random proposals of the most popular models. And as I watched such a ranking has Allegro under the title “Do you print sporadically? These printers are made for you” is 2 out of 5 proposals are printers with ink poured for PLN 900. Which, although cheap to operate, when printing 20 sheets once a month will pay for years, provided that they do not dry out.

Home Printer Ranking
Photo by Joshua Golde on Unsplash

At the end of this post I will give some nice suggestions, but it does not treat it as a list of printers from best to worst.

Which company is the best?

The best company is one that has a product that meets your expectations. The worst thing you can do is to be guided by the stamp on the case without reflection, because your brother-in-law recommends, because he has.

HP and Canon

HP and Canon have devices from 200-300 PLN and these are inkjet printers for inks with replaceable heads, which makes printing usually more expensive, although there are exceptions (HP DeskJet Ink Advantage Ultra with inks for 1500 pages for about 45 PLN). These are not the cheapest devices to use, but cheap to buy and safe for occasional printing, because the inks are exchanged with the heads. They are usually sold the most, so they have a lot of extreme opinions, but this is normal due to the large milling of these devices. For color printing 10-30 pages / month are fine.

HP and Canon Professional Devices

Both companies also offer good models of printer and endocrine, office and photographic devices. Where Canon also offers very professional models for photos such as imagePROGRAF 10-12 colors, and HP well-equipped OfficeJet Pro office devices, which can print and scan on both sides very quickly using all pigment colors (highest durability of prints), support print queue, scan to the cloud / pendrive / e-mail and many other functions to improve work, but are not as cheap as refilled devices. In Canon, devices of this type are the Maxify series.

PRINTER CANON IMAGEPROGRAF PRO-1000
CANON IMAGEPROGRAF PRO-1000 – View on Ceneo.

Models with added ink have heads that can be replaced if necessary, and photo printers and OfficeJet already have fixed but robust heads permanently mounted in the printer, which also supports special inks that offer high quality and durability of photos or documents depending on the model.

Canony Manify MB2150
Canony Manify MB2150 – see on Ceneo.

In this way, both companies cover the very wide needs of various customers, from low-cost devices that arouse controversy among people who have not checked the price of the ink before buying, but want to print a little, to high-performance equipment and for professional use.

HP OfficeJet 9022e
HP OfficeJet 9022e – see on Ceneo.

Epson and Brother

Epson and Brother offer only devices with fixed headsand Piezoelectric, so the cheapest models start from 500-600 zł and these are still on the usual cartridges with inks, where each color is separately. Original inks for them are as expensive as for cheap HP and Canons, but it is easier to get replacements – you just have to be careful about permanent heads, because its replacement is often very expensive.

In general, these manufacturers have already set aside such devices a little and decided mainly on more expensive CISS devices, where inks can be added. Their prices oscillate around PLN 900 upwards for a multifunctional device with Wi-Fi and these are mainly models aimed at people who want to print cheaply.

Epson EcoTank L3251
Epson EcoTank L3251 – Check out Ceneo.

If we want a more advanced office harvester, Epson offers the WorkForce series, but it also has a combination of office equipment and CISS under the name EcoTank Pro, but then we are already talking about the expense of several thousand zlotys.

Epson EcoTank Pro M15180

Epson EcoTank Pro M15180 – View on Ceneo.

Brother has less precise, because we have a division into the MFC and DCP series, which for me merge and mix a little. MFC are for less intensive printing and more color inkjet and laser devices in them. DCP are printers for more intensive printing and there are also inkjet printers, laser and also LED laser printers.

Brother DCP-L2532DW

Brother DCP-L2532DW – View on Ceneo.

Other Printer Manufacturers

Some time ago in the market of laser printers was Samsung, which hp bought. There are also devices from Oki, Xerox and Lexmark, but there are often lasers that are difficult to find in stores, which makes it more difficult to buy toners for them. I will focus on these most popular brands.

A printer with good reviews?

If you want to buy a product, what do you do before buying? You are probably looking for reviews and opinions on the Internet. It so happens that it is not worth believing in everything that pops up from Google, in online stores, comparison websites or market places, because it has become common to buy opinions on the Internet.

Fake EcoTank Reviews
Here, someone who is probably a fan of Tolkien or similar climates, quite skillfully put up as many as 6 opinions on January 31, 2018. Or maybe a coincidence?

Fake printer reviews

Often these are even extensive opinions, which strangely contain a lot of details and keywords about products. People writing them praise them so that you feel like buying something yourself. Except that, as we know, people are more willing to pour out venom and grief about brands and products than to write a paper about what they bought. A lot of opinions are too good to be true. Sometimes I’ve also seen examples of someone adding the same opinion with a different signature.

Fake reviews about epson EcoTank printers
Has anyone forgotten his name?

A certain salvation are the opinions of printers confirmed by the purchase, but it is also easy to get around, because we have 14 days to return the product, and stores usually ask quickly for an opinion, which despite the return will often be visible. It is known that the more such opinions, the greater the certainty that they are reliable. So I would focus on them more.

Fake reviews about epson EcoTank printers
What can I write after a week of using the printer?

Companies selling reviews

Everything just needs to be approached with a large dose of skepticism and verify all the information. For a long time, whether about products, services, accommodation and everything that can be evaluated, there have been a lot of “advertising agencies” that deal with “obtaining reliable opinions”. Recently, it has become very fashionable to buy reviews on Google Maps, which I also mentioned about scammers who call with an offer to extend the Google listing. Often the same companies have Google Account farms with the status of “local guides” from which they sell reviews.

Buy Google Maps Reviews
One of the many sites offering fake reviews on Google Maps.

In Poland, it is not so verified and suppressed, because it is difficult to catch, and a market square such as Allegro or Amazon (a breeding ground for fake riviews) is on hand that the products have a lot of reviews. Sometimes you can find products that are not popular either in stores or on the web, and have a lot of positive opinions.

Epson EcoTank L6170 Owner Reviews
Here is also an interesting series of opinions about the Epson EcoTank L6170 device, which is not the cheapest and received a series of opinions at a similar time from “people” who sign with a lowercase letter and add a few random numbers at the end. 🙂

There are various reasons for this:

  • the product does not want to sell, so the manufacturer or store obtains opinions
  • employees, family or friends of the store or manufacturer want to increase sales
  • sometimes they want to increase the ratio of negative reviews to positive, which could be seen recently in the Amazon when they started cleaning the review of mirrorless cameras, where about 45% of the reviews were pipes and the rating of the Sony A7IV dropped from 4.8/5 to 2.5/5.
  • new products without reviews sell worse, so you have to give them stars
  • in the hotel and gastro industries, you also often hear about slandering the competition by issuing negative opinions

Such an example is probably the Epson EcoTank L2170, which is a monochrome multifunction device that fills with ink bottles. It has duplex, prints fast, consumes less energy does not stink like a laser, but costs over PLN 1300, like a good laser.

You probably haven’t seen it very often in stores, in commercials or anywhere, because it is a very niche device that should not be very popular. However, when you go to the MediaMarkt website, you will find 70 5/5 opinions about it and NONE is confirmed by the purchase. Case?

For example, I checked a very interesting proposal of Canon G6040 also on the MediaMarkt website, which has a rating of 4.57 / 5 and only 21 reviews, but 13 of them are confirmed by the purchase. It is slower, but it prints in color, has duplex, higher print resolution and is 10 cm lower. Although the heads in theory can withstand less, but they can be replaced, and by that time they should pay off.

Even better, if we take the cheapest hp 2710e device, which you will probably find now in every second house has 39 reviews and 2 confirmed by purchase.

Draw your own conclusions.

Fortunately, some time ago UOKiK began to take up this type of activities. Let’s hope they start cleaning up the Internet.

What can you say about the printer right after purchase?

Another issue is that the opnies are often fresh and added at the very beginning, before someone knows the equipment well. This is practically with everything we buy on the Internet. I even got a request for an evaluation before I could pick up the product. Sometimes you can even see opinions where someone writes about the store itself or shipping under the review of the equipment.

Did not buy but will evaluate

What features should I look for when buying a printer?

I understand that if someone does not know something, he fires up two identical products with the option to compare and flies after the technical specification and chooses where it is more and cheaper. In this way, laptop manufacturers serve us plastic laptops with cool parameters, but that’s not what this post is about.

Comparing laptops by specification
“If you can’t see the difference, why overpay?” someone thinks, he heard that like a laptop is DELL and does not see much difference between the Inspiron series and xps, except for the price.

I will tell you what you can pay attention to, how to look at these functions and what is behind it, because the dry technical specification is ok, but it can also do you in bambuko. Just as until 2006 there were no ISO/IEC 24711 and ISO/IEC 19798 standards that define a printout in 5% A4 coverage in normal quality, manufacturers could give the yield as they see.

IPM print speed

As today, the maximum speed in pages per minute is given in the lowest quality, instead of sticking to the ISO/IEC 24734 standard, which specifies the print speed at 5% in the normal quality of 4 pages of documents in various formats. The difference can also be made by the way the speed is given, depending on whether it is PPM (pages per minute) or IPM (images per minute).. Below is an example of such a small difference, because usually we will see the speed in pages per minute.

Here we go.

Ink and toner yield and printing costs

This is HIT, because everyone sooner or later pays attention to it, and I have seen very different approaches to this topic, where people compare the prices of carcasses, not looking at their performance and prefer to pay PLN 100 for a set for 200 pages, than PLN 200 for a set for 3000 pages. Because they will go to the store and spend PLN 100 less. They will wake up only when they buy carcasses for PLN 100 once again within a few months.

If we buy originals, we will know the performance in the number of pages that is most often given on the packaging of the printer or ink. In the case of substitutes, we will usually get information about milliliters because no one calculates it, and substitutes can differ greatly from each other in terms of quality and performance.

How to calculate the cost of printing one page?

Not ideal, but the easiest way to calculate the cost of printing one page is to simply divide its price with the declared number of pages. So ink for 50 PLN for 200 pages is 50 PLN / 200 = 0.25 PLN = 25 gr / page.

The color efficiency can be counted for a set, if we have, for example, 3 inks of PLN 50, which are enough for 200 pages. (3 x 50 PLN) / 200 = 0.75 PLN = 75 groszy per page.

Ink price / performance = price per page

Of course, everything is approximate and each printed page is a different consumption, at different intervals (ink consumption for nozzle maintenance), but in this way you can have some comparison of how much it all costs us.

In the printer we do not always replace the inks / toners themselves

It should only be remembered that while in inkjet printers service parts such as the head or “pampers” are hardly replaced by anyone, in lasers you also have to add to the cost of printing, for example, a photosensitive drum (if it is not part of a toner cartridge), or other elements in larger color prints, which may also be replaced after a while.

EcoTank Maintrance KIT
Cartridge for used ink in Epson EcoTank, which can also be replaced.

How to check the performance of the carcass?

As with the speed of printing, the ink yield is already given according to the ISO standard, which in simple terms consists in the fact that the manufacturer on given containers prints documents from several devices, where each color occupies 5% of A4 coverage in normal quality.

HP 650 Back Ink Pack

Many people will question this because there are a few things that need to be paid attention to. One of them is that the test was performed continuously, and the printers worked until the ink was exhausted. In normal life, we print, for example, 2-3 pages every few days. By which the printer periodically prepares before starting, by cleaning the nozzle. Some printers also do cyclic head cleaning.

After all, it is a point of reference, because relying on milliliters that are given on the packaging does not really say anything, because it all depends on the device, the print head and the way we use the device. For example, an HP GT52 ink bottle is 135ml and lasts for 6000 pages, while a 108ml Brother D60 bottle is enough to print up to 7500 pages.

The ink in the printer disappears by itself? Where?

That way, even if you hide the printer in a closet, when you plug it in to the power supply, it may not pay attention to how much time it has been there and will use some ink to blow the heads. In most HP and Canon printers you will find small sponges under the head and in the corner of the printer. pads on which the head “spits”. These are usually replaceable heads that do not need to be done intensively and often, so they do not need to be replaced. However, if you do multiple cleaning of the heads from the settings, they can get wet.

Canon carcass parking place
A place to park the ink in a heavily exploited Canon printer from a few years ago. There is a shear that covers the inks, sponges that take ink at the time of cleaning, and two transparent leaves that mechanically wipe the heads. These are moving parts that may vary depending on the manufacturer and model of the printer. For example, by putting sponges for cleaning, and at rest by parking the carcasses on the gaskets. There is also a similar sponge along the entire width, which also collects excess ink.
Waste ink cartridge hidden in the printer

In Epson and Brother, on the other hand, you have so-called pampers (waste ink pad/maintenance kit), which do the same, but in piezo heads, and even more so in CISS models, they need more space for ink. You will find out about it when you force the cleaning yourself to think in the settings. In normal use, no replacement is necessary. However, with prolonged use, this affects the automatic consumption of ink. The more so because such a container often occupies a large part of the device.

Pampers Epson L3110
A sponge container installed in Epson EcoTank devices that accepts ink used during the maintenance of the device. After it is overflowing, you should send the printer to the service, or replace it in its entirety, or the sponges themselves and use the “pampers” reset software.
Epson wants to be sent to service

Sometimes there is a message that the printer must be sent for service, but you can use the service software to do the reset itself, because it happens that the sponge is used in 1/3 or 1/2, but in the long run it must be replaced anyway so that the ink does not spill out of the printer.

What do we really print that the ink disappears?

A very common reason for the rapid disappearance of ink is that we count printed cards with invoices, charts or photos the same, and as I mentioned, the ink yield is given by manufacturers in 5% coverage.

If, for example, we copy some old documents, or that we put a card, it may turn out that we will print, for example, a whole yellow or gray card, which will use a lot of ink.

Yellow card scan
Copying such a document will consume a lot of ink, because here it will be 100% coverage. In this case, you can scan such a document on a computer and use software that changes it to black and white, and will raise the contrast so much that it will remove most of the background – this is how scanning applications such as the scanner in the OneDrive application for phones work (I recommend).

Connect the printer to your computer and phone

USB 2.0 Type B

Every printer for home and small office will have a USB 2.0 Type B interface, which has been used for over 10 years, so don’t blame the eco freaks that you don’t have a USB cable in the box, because if you’ve ever had a printer or some KIND of MIDI interface to your computer, you have such a cable at home. And if not, you can buy it for 10-15 PLN. Although today it will no longer be needed if you have a computer with Wi-Fi (and every working laptop has), because it is practically the norm.

USB cable for printer

Wi-Fi in the printer

Today, when buying a home inkjet device for PLN 200, you will have a Wi-Fi option. In photo or laser printers, there are still models without Wi-Fi to choose from, but less and less often.

Wi-Fi in the printer

2.4 GHz and 5 GHz for home printers

What you can pay attention to is the Wi-Fi standard. At the moment, every printer in the store will support 2.4 GHz and even the 5 GHz band.

Router Wi-Fi 5 GHz

2.4 GHz gives us a greater range of the network, but due to the fact that it is already a very popular radio standard, most of our neighbors broadcast in the same frequency. The same goes for most radio devices – mice, remote controls for remote-controlled cars, landline phones, wireless headphones, console controllers, IP cameras and other IOT devices. So as long as you live in a cottage, without the Wi-Fi network of neighbors and a large number of wireless devices communicating by radio, then 2.4 GHz is a good choice, without going into the technical aspects.

5 GHz has a lower range, because it penetrates obstacles worse, but it is less crowded bandwidth, which makes it more stable and by the way faster (in printers, speed is not so important, but it is usually 2x more than at 2.4 GHz).

2.4GHz vs 5GHz Wi-Fi range
2.4 GHz offers a longer range, but less bandwidth, and is more susceptible to interference from other networks.

If you are close to the router, the 5 GHz band is the perfect solution, because the best solution is to add the printer to your home network. You can still use Wi-Fi Direct in an emergency.

Wi-Fi Direct in your home printer

Wi-Fi Direct in printers is, in my opinion, option B, if you do not have a router at home or using only the Internet on the card in the USB modem, or you go with the printer to events and do not want to take the router additionally. Wi-Fi Direct usually supports about 5 devices, because the printer must work like an Access Point generating its Wi-Fi network to which we must connect before printing.

In the past, phones were stupid and lost access to the Internet, because they thought that the printer was a router and it was possible to print, but they no longer loaded content from the Internet. Today, phones handle it better, so if someone comes to you to print something, they can do it directly from the printer, without connecting to your Wi-Fi network to which you have the password somewhere on the piece of paper that you lost.

Bluetooth on the printer

Sometimes you will also meet Bluetooth and Bluetooth LE connectivity. However, I would not go this way, because the only printers that print via BT that I know are the no longer produced HP OfficeJet 100 Mobile printer and several other models released around 2008 (list of Bluetooth printers) had this option before Wi-Fi was used.

The latest Canon Pixma TS series printers, the list of which can be found here , have the ability to print via Bluetooth in addition to Wi-Fi. However, this is only possible with Android phones and tablets from version 6.0 upwards and this through the application.

For HP, Bluetooth LE is only used to facilitate pairing and searching for devices that lead to connecting them to the router. BT is not used for printing in them. Simply, the HP Smart App will recognize a new device nearby that is in setup mode when it is started.

LAN / RJ-45 connector in the printer

The RJ-45 connector is one of the best solutions if we want to use the printer in a home network or office, without delays and we can afford to connect it with a LAN cable. Unfortunately, but it is rather an option in more expensive home devices or laser printers, because most people do not have such infrastructure at home, although by putting the printer next to the router, you can afford to connect it if you have the opportunity.

LAN connector on the printer

Set a static IP address

By the way, we can immediately assign her a fixed IP number on the network, which is a very good practice. I myself use the printer in this way on Wi-Fi, but with a fixed IP address and I have never had problems with printing from PC / Mac and iOS / Android. I also recommend doing this for other devices on the network.

For a printer, W-Fi and LAN are the same network

Of course , the printer connected over the LAN will be visible after Wi-Fi if we connect to the same router. And we do not have to have high-speed internet or even access to the network by the operator. What is important is a good router at home, not what bandwidth your connection from the operator has. The Internet can only be useful for updating printer software or remote printing using services such as Google Cloud Print, or solutions from printer manufacturers such as HP Print Anywhere (printing with an email address).

Duplex printing

Duplex module is responsible for two-sided printing in the printer, which rotates the sheets to print them from two sides. This is convenient and economical, because we do not use so much paper, with large documents. It is not about the “duplex manual” option because we have it almost everywhere and we have to put the printed cards ourselves into the feeder in the right orientation so that it prints the other side. If we make a mistake, we have to print everything from scratch.

Printer with duplex printing

Duplex will usually also sort the cards so that they stitch all we will keep the numbering. Of course, this can be adjusted before printing.

It is usually found in inkjet devices with a paper tray at the bottom, but there are also exceptions such as printers with two trays, or devices such as Epson EcoTank L4260/L4266 which have two-sided printing and a tray on the back. And to complicate matters further, all Brother printers have a bottom feeder, but not all have duplex.

Bottom and top paper tray on the printer
In HP, as on the left, usually the inkjet device has a duplex, and the devices on the right do not have it.

In the case of Brother and laser printers that have paper at the bottom, we can recognize models with duplex by the letter “D” at the end of the name. There are also often letters “W” like Wi-Fi or “N” like Ethernet.

oznaczenie duplex wifi drukarka brother - Urbanflavour.pl
The laser device with Duplex and Wi-Fi will be recognized by the “DW” tip.

Print resolution

For me, it’s HIT, because it’s a bit like with those megapixels in phones – I have a lot, but I don’t know why. Here it is similar, because when I ask people what they will print, they say that the documents. Well, I will tell you that a laser printer as it has 600×600 is enough for a normal person for everything.

Well, why these 4800×1200, or 6000×1200?

Well, I do not know, because these resolutions apply only to printing on photo paper from a computer with the highest quality set. So when you print on plain paper photos from your phone (from your 120 Megapixel matrix) and you are surprised by “what is so ugly” well, it’s mainly about this paper. Only here you also have to be careful, because photographic paper, these are different weights / density and finishing with different layers and here also the quality and sharpness of photos changes.

How paper affects print quality
Without good paper, there is no good quality photos.

A sheet of A4 decent paper will be up to PLN 2 / pcs., and you still have to cover it with ink. So now think about whether you need this resolution, because usually it doesn’t. More important may be the ink that the printer uses, which affects the quality of color fastness, and tonal transitions.

Ink in the printer affects the durability of the print
The quality of ink and paper affects the durability of prints.

Therefore, in laser printers, the standard is 600×600 and most of the higher resolutions at the level of 1200 or 2400 are sharpening technologies. In HP, these are ProRes, FastRes, and in Brother HQ1200 or HQ2400 technologies, which give fast printing in good quality. Calmly enough for technical printouts.

ProRes I FastRes on an HP printer
For daily printing, 600 dpi is enough for us to print quickly and in good quality.

And an even better example will be the popular Canon SELPHY CP1300 thermo-sublimation printer, whose resolution is only 300×300 dpi, and prints decent quality photos that many people admire. I have one myself, but not because of its print quality, but because I can take it out of the closet, print 2-3 photos and hide it.

Types of inks

Pigment ink vs dye ink
Dye ink penetrates the paper and the pigment sticks to it.

As I mentioned above, when printing documents every day, it is much greater whether the inks are pigment or dye. Both have a lot of ingredients in them, and by the way they can differ in composition depending on the manufacturer or model of printers. In short , dye inks are watery and well create different shades of colors, because they mix better with each other and by the way penetrate deeper into the photo paper. On a regular piece of paper, however, they are easy to blur with water, coffee or beer.

Pigment and dye ink after pouring water
Pigment ink after contact with water still holds well.

Pigment inks

In the case of pigment inks, they are denser and more viscous. In the case of older Epson printers, resin was also added to them. Now I have not seen them for a long time, because Epson focuses on CISS printers, where the pigment is only in models above PLN 1400. However, we get it in every cheaper printer for HP, Canon or Epson cartridges. This can be the only black ink, or an additional black in the case of photographic models. There are also photographic models such as Canon imagePROGRAF or HP OfficeJet, which have all colors in the powder.

Pigment ink sticks to the surface of the paper and it is more difficult for it to get deep into the photo paper. However, everyday prints have better quality, durability, resistance to fading or blurring. They can be compared to laser prints (heated on paper).

Epson DuraBrite Ultra Inks
Once very popular Epson DURABrite Ultra inks with the number T1281-T1284, where each color was pigmented and with the addition of resin, but for printing about 200 pages, you have to pay about 200 zł.

Pigment black ink can be found in every HP and Canon printer, no matter if it’s home or office. In the case of Canons for photos, these are the wider PG-BK containers, and next to them we have this rarer dye CL-BK, which penetrates better into the paper. In the case of HP, in OfficeJet models you will often get all the colors in the pigment.

Canon Printer Inks
PGI-580 ink is pigment ink, giving the best quality and durability of text in documents, and CLI-581 inks are dye inks for printing photos and graphics.

It is worth noting that printers with pigment inks such as OfficeJet last longer without printing. Although they are designed for intensive printing in offices, they have such a bonus. (In tests I saw a few years ago, it was 6 months, compared to 3 months in home printers. Just remember that testing is not a guarantee of not drying out, but some idea of where we can go.

Pigment inks in office printers
In office equipment, pigment inks are the main standard, giving the best quality and durability for documents and advertising materials.

Dye inks

Dye inks are usually the cheapest, because they are so-called water inks, which are rare. However, in models for professional photo printing you will find special varieties such as Claria Photography Ink, Claria ET Premium in Epson, or ChromaLife100+ (the name suggests the durability of printing photos on photo paper) in Canon. Which provide the best colors, tonal transitions and, above all, the durability of prints, if you care about the souvenir for years.

I’ve seen pictures a few times on cheap dye ink replacements and cheap photo papers, where the photos changed their colors after just a few weeks. Tragedy

Beware of replacements – but use it as you like

When it comes to replacements, I think that everything is for people, but it is worth paying one attention. Usually people buy them on Allegro, and there are all sorts of strange things happening and the sellers respect what they sell. It is important for them to have a competitive price and earn. In this way, I order 2 toners for my old laser, because even the “new replacement” can already print badly out of the box. Back to the carcass.

If you use pigment ink in your printer, and the seller will send you ink or container with dye ink or vice versa. In such a situation, you have two different liquids – dense and rare, which after mixing in the printing system will turn into glutes, which can damage or clog your head. Something like mixing the oils for the engine, like a little bit, but in the long run you can meet with a mechanic.

Scanner resolution

The resolution of the scanner that interests us is the optical resolution given in dpi. If 1200×4800 dpi is given in the scanner specification, then its optical resolution is 1200 dpi, since the second parameter refers to the precision of movement of the mechanism moving the lamp.

LED technology in scanners

All scanners in MFPs are based on LED technology and there is no reason to expect extraordinary color quality from them, despite the fact that some have a higher resolution. In a home device, manufacturers focus on scanning speed, which is why they use LED technology, which is quickly ready for operation, and at the same time does not consume much energy.

You will know these better scanners for photos by their thickness, because they work in optical systems that can scan spatial objects in different planes, which is important in scanning films, slides, negatives and slides. They also offer technologies such as Digital ICE, which uses an infrared scan to detect scratches and blemishes on photos and remove them. By the way, they are faster and have better color reproduction.

ADF Scanner

In office equipment you will also meet ADF, which stands for Automatic Document Feeder. The ADF does the same thing as a paper feeder for blank sheets – it takes the sheets one after the other. In this way, we can put about 35-50 documents into it, which will be downloaded one by one and scanned.

In this way, we can scan or copy multiple pages without repeating the whole process page by page, waiting for one page to scan so that we can insert another.

Best scan resolution

For most applications, we don’t need a resolution higher than 600 dpi anyway. The more that copying and scanning. documents on the device are rarely done at the highest resolution, since this is not necessary. To scan ordinary text documents, 200-300 dpi is enough and manufacturers often give the scanning speed for this value, because it is often the resolution for a black and white copy. To scan photos and documents with graphics that we do not want to enlarge additionally, 600 dpi is enough. Scans at 1200 dpi or higher resolution can take up to several minutes, and the output files are large and take longer to open. We will often not be able to send such documents by e-mail due to the size of the file.

Printer paper tray

Bottom and top paper tray on the printer

The issue of the paper feeder is not only a matter of aesthetics, but also the possibility of printing on various papers and media. A closed paper feeder protects the paper from dust or animal hair that can get on the head and mechanism. It can also make it easier or more difficult for us to put paper in the printer, depending on where we want to put it.

The capacity of the paper tray is also important if we print a lot and do not want to put it in the printer every now and then. Some devices have several feeders for different applications. Some have paper weight limitations, so it’s a good idea to check where to insert the media.

Tray on the back of the printer

Paper tray on the back

In inkjet printers, the most popular feeder, which is in cheap printer models, is located on the back and we put the paper from the top at an angle. In this way, the necks of even thick 300 g/m2 paper can easily pass. In this way, we can more easily print photos on the best papers, or business cards and labels, because paper has a simple way of passage.

In this solution, as a rule, we will not find a two-sided printout if it is the only paper feeder, but there are exceptions such as the Epson L4260, which have a feeder on the back and print on both sides. Unfortunately, the paper in such a feeder on top collects dust, which goes to the device and to the printer head. This can affect the quality of the print, although printers have elements that remove it, after a while it can accumulate more. They will often appear on rubber rolls that take up paper and can become slippery over time.

Bottom feeder

Paper bottom tray

My favorite solution, because most of these types of feeders protect the paper from dirt and it is usually easier to lay paper in it, which will be well drawn in by the printer. They also often have a larger capacity, because the paper lies calmly flat under the device, so it does not press on the feeder rolls.

My favorite combination is a large lockable paper feeder in prejudice with double-sided printing. Because we do not have to add cards often, and in the case of a paper drawer, when we do not have a duplex and we want to print on both sides by hand, we have to constantly open the drawer. In cheap printers, we will often know just by the fact that the printer for two-sided printing, if the paper lies at the bottom. However, here too there are exceptions such as Brother, which always has a feeder at the bottom, and sometimes additionally an upper feeder.

In lasers it is simpler, because each has hidden paper at the bottom, and the duplex function is specified in the name by the letter “D”, e.g. 1120D. In general, in lasers, it’s simpler, because “W” is Wi-Fi, “N” is Ethernet, so you don’t even have to read the specifications to find something.

Priority feeder

Sometimes the printer has such a thing as a priority feeder, but this is usually the solution found in lasers, e.g. Brother HL-B2080DW which I mention in the entry, has such a drawer on the front. You will put one card there, but it will be the printer that will download it first. In this way, the mentioned problem of opening the drawer you have out of your head, especially if you have loaded A4 paper and you want to print an envelope or stiffer paper. That way, you don’t have to pull out all the paper to print the envelope and reinsert all the A4 paper.

To print the envelope on a Brother laser printer with a manual/priority feeder, we must also open the back so that the paper is not wrapped upwards and they do not accidentally get stuck in the mechanism.

Photo feeder

Some home and photo printers have a separate drawer for smaller photo papers. Usually it is a 10×15 photo paper tray that you can insert and will be used by default to print photos. Due to the fact that the photo paper is thicker, it usually houses a dozen or so sheets, but it is better than putting them individually into the priority one. Such a solution can be found, among others, in HP ENVY Inspire 7220e.

Photo paper tray
Paper feeder for HP Photosmart C5180

Laser or inkjet printer?

Inkjet printers, as a rule, we will buy as cheap multifunction devices for the home, where manufacturers assume a monthly load of up to 500-1000 pages / month, the so-called normative duty cycle, which determines for what loads the printer / device is created. If we take the simplest monochrome laser printer, it will be a minimum of 5000-10000 pages / month, and the simplest color printer is already 20000 pages / month. Of course, it’s about durability, not toner performance, because these can be for 1000-3000 pages and replacing even 3 toners a month, the printer is made for this.

Duty cycle

Of course, you can not look at the normative work cycle as a determinant of how much we will print each month. This is the maximum value. And manufacturers give an even more illustrative indicator as the recommended monthly load. The normative duty cycle can be determined to the maximum speed of the car, which it can withstand for a short time and drive, for example, 300km / h closing the odometer. However, the recommended load can be given as a value of 80-200 km / h which allows you to keep the engine in good condition.

So if the manufacturer recommends printing 200-800 pages / month, then having a 3-year warranty and printing 28,800 pages during this time, then our equipment should serve us well for this time or even longer. It’s like with cars that are designed for various applications, you have to choose a printer for our needs, because maybe Seicento will carry for a million kilometers of bricks for construction, not everyone will withstand so much.

If we look at them in this way, then the conclusion is simple that laser printers are for printing large amounts of documents, and ink for occasional printing and that’s a fact. They are fast, have a lot of features and large contributions for several or tens of thousands of pages. Usually in offices you will find printers and laser devices, but this does not mean that this is the only choice.

An interesting alternative to printing in the office in color are special printers such HP OfficeJet, whether Epson WorkForce, which also have a lot of performance, a lot of functions and, for example, such hp OfficeJet Pro 9022e can withstand up to 30000 pages per monthwhether Epson WF-3720DWF 20000 pages / monthly. These printers already cost several hundred zlotys, they will work in teams of several people, due to the speed of operation, large memory and a lot of functions – they can scan and print on both sides, support storage media, scans for network drives, e-mail or cloud and all this in a small housing.

There are also office printers with similar functions as those mentioned above, but working in CISS systems – constant ink supply, but with similar functionality can cost 2-3 more. However, they will pay off in terms of operating costs. Here, however, we will suffer from the service life of such devices, because despite the similar construction and function, their recommended load and normative cycle will be lower, as evidenced by the warranty provision specifying the number of pages covered by the warranty. Sometimes the manufacturer gives guarantees for 30-50 thousand. pages when laser devices can do so much in a month.

Thermal vs piezoelectric heads

Thermal heads are the camp of HP and Canon, and piezoelectric heads are Epson and Brother. Each has its own benefits and comparing them in purely technical terms, without looking at what specifications they have and in what device they are located is like in 2022 about the car to answer only “Pasat 1.9 TDI”. You have to look at the wider context and the fact that both technologies are used in devices from several hundred zlotys to several hundred thousand.

Each print head consists of hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of nozzles that have a cross-section smaller than a human hair. The more such nozzles and their speed, the faster the printer has a chance to print. Printing consists in a very fast and precise movement of the printer head across the sheet, from which the process of throwing ink droplets onto the paper takes place within microseconds. And so line by line.

Thermal heads in printers

The principle of operation of the thermal head.

Thermal heads eject a dot of ink by heating the small directors in each nozzle to about 300 degrees, then throwing it out and sucking in another dot. In theory, this is a less accurate process than that in piezo heads, but every company develops its own technologies and you can meet printers with thermal heads that have a drop accuracy of up to 1 pico liter. So there are no rules when the world moves forward. Their advantage is also that with more nozzles, we have a chance for faster printing.

Piezo heads, electric, in printers

Piezo heads are known to Epson printers and therefore have their fanatics and opponents. Since it is common ground that piezoelectric heads use the movement of piezo-electric crystals to eject a drop of ink, they are more precise and more durable. This is partly true, but the most well-liked Epson L3151 device with constant ink power gives the smallest dot of 3 liters and prints up to 10 pages / minute (according to ISO / IEC 24711), and the manufacturer gives a guarantee for the head up to 35 thousand prints.

Epson L3150 head
The head for Epson L3151 costs about PLN 370, but it is worth adding the cost of replacement in an authorized service if you do not want to lose the warranty. At the moment, it is available only from one seller on Allegro.

Competing HP Smart Tank 515 printers have a food of 30,000 pages and very similar print speeds. However, replacing the head in Epson costs several hundred zlotys and must take place in an authorized service, and in the case of HP you can replace them yourself for half this price.

Head for SmartTank 515 for black
The head for the Smart Tank 515 device costs about PLN 65 and at a similar price to the color. You can replace it yourself without losing the warranty.

Piezo heads, although they often have fewer nozzles, are usually characterized by higher print resolution. In the case of Epsons it is 5,760 x 1,440, and in the case of Brother even 6000 x 1200. Which is of great importance when it comes to the sharpness of photos and documents on photo paper. Still another issue is the ink used for such heads, because currently in refill printers it is often a rare dye, as for photos it is good, but for everyday printing of documents it is literally “pale” which is often suffered by Brothery with added ink.

Head cleaning

Both types of heads can be cleaned from the printer or software, but you can not overdo it, because it consumes some ink. In Epson, when rinsing the nozzles, we will even use the carcass for several hundred pages, after which it may be necessary to replace the pampers.

In the case of replaceable heads, we can also remove the heads and wipe off the dust and debris that often stick to them. In the case of fixed heads, this can be done, but you need to have some technical familiarity and efficient hands, because you have to unscrew the whole device. Many people then have a problem with assembling the whole thing as it should. Cleaning is best done by using special penetrating fluids. Below is an example video of the integrated Brother head being cleaned by a professional service technician.

Head cleaning fluid
The liquid shown in the video can be found on Ceneo.

In general, if you print even every 1-2 months, you do not have to worry, but it all depends on the conditions in which the printer stands. Because when it comes to inkjets, you need to know that they do not like extremely low and extremely high temperatures, so window sills and places next to radiators, or right next to the desktop, may be too hot for them.

If necessary, you can put a leaflet on the scanner and copy it once in a while, or print an information page. For those more familiar with computers, you can be tempted to automate the printing of a document from time to time.

Printer start time

If you want to print really fast, your monochrome laser will start the fastest, because in standby mode they start printing after 8-11 seconds after heating, and then they print at least 20 pages per minute.

Home inkjet printers usually take about 15 seconds or more to start and print at an average speed of 10 pages per minute.

However, color laser printers are the worst if we are talking about cheap equipment. The simplest models like the HP 150NW have one photosensitive drum, through which they print much slower 16/4 in black and color, and warm up from 12 to 25 seconds. The larger the machines are faster the printout, but at the same time the heating time is getting longer.

By the way, it is also associated with high electricity consumption by laser devices, which reaches up to several hundred Watts, when inkjet printers consume a maximum of up to a dozen or so Watts of energy during operation.

Cheap printer to operate

I will stick to proven and reliable solutions, but at the end I will also write about cottage methods for so-called syringes, backfills and other inventions, but I am not personally a supporter of them, because most of them can lead to the loss of warranty. In my opinion, this is rather a game not worth the candle, because the prices of printers have soared and start from about PLN 300 for inkjet and about PLN 600 for lasers, but you have to take into account that we often have 100-200 pages to use for the start. And with “refills” with Wi-Fi that have CashBack, you will pay PLN 650 after all and you have inks for several thousand pages in the set.

A clever, but not necessarily good solution is also to look for printers looking at the cheapest inks and toners. Often these are cartridges for old models that you will no longer buy, and used printers with good and cheap replacements that can cost more than a new printer in the store. Mostly these are old lasers, which are more difficult to drive.

CISS printers so-called fillers

In relation to the purchase price, printers are now the cheapest to operate are printers with added inks, which start from about PLN 800, but they have inks for several thousand pages in the set, and a set of bottles for about PLN 160 is enough for another 4.5-8 thousand pages. Therefore, taking into account the ease of replacement and the quality of printouts, they can be an even better solution for cartridge replacements that have a capacity of up to several hundred pages.

Urzadzenie HP Ink Tank Wireless 419 dolewana - Urbanflavour.pl
We always get added printers with a set for several thousand pages of printout.

You can buy a bottle of black HP GT51XL ink for 6000 pages for the HP Smart Tank 515 (approx. PLN 800) for PLN 49 (in the set you have bottles for 18,000 pages of black print), which gives a print at the level of 0.8 groszy (PLN 0.008) per page. For a cheap Canon MG3650S device (approx. 300-350 PLN) you will get a replacement for the PG-540XL black cartridge which will probably be enough for 700-800 pages for some 50-70 PLN so it is still 10x less and gives approximately (it is difficult to assess the performance of the replacements and whether they will actually last until the end) so in the best case it will come out approx. 6 gr (0.06 PLN) per page. In addition, with such a Canon MG3650S you get starter cartridges only for 180 pages in black and color.

Replacements in printers with a fixed head come out a little better, because we buy 4 or more separate ink cartridges and we do not have the cost of the head. Then we will get for 40-50 zł a set of ink for 600-800 pages in black and color. However, there is no certainty how much exactly we will print, whether everything will work as it should, and their print quality and durability leaves much to be desired. While the printout of photos may be nice at the beginning, photos from such inks often fade after a few months.

CISS on your own

CISS for Epson Printer
In the past, such kits were sold, or already devices with the CISS system installed by companies that weathered the good deal in this during expensive cartridges. Today, manufacturers sell us devices with their own CISS system.

For people who print a lot, it is an interesting solution to put your own CISS on the printer, but it carries the same risk that something will not work and we will lose warranty. In addition, sometimes you need to cut some holes in the printer to let the hoses in and watch over the tightness of the entire structure. The amount of tools and components can overwhelm the average user.

HP OfficeJet CISS Mounting Kit
Part of the CISS installation kit on HP OfficeJet devices

Laser printers with cheap cartridges

If you do not need a print in color, you can choose Brother TonerBenefit solutions, where you have toners for PLN 100-130 for 2000 pages, or HP Neverstop and LaserJet Tank with baskets of PLN 130-140 for 5000 pages. There will also be photosensitive drums for about PLN 400 of 12.20 or 50 thousand pages depending on the manufacturer and model.

HP Neverstop 1000W
HP Neverstop 1200W device for “syringes” with starter toner for 5000 pages and refill for 120 zł for another 5000 pages.

It is true that for a model with a duplex you have to spend 1200-2200 PLN, but they will usually serve you much longer, because their normative load is usually 10-20 thousand pages / months compared to 1000 pages in most refills.

Brother DCPB7520DW TonerBenefit
Brother DCP-B7520DW with 2000 pages starter toner for another 2000 for 100 PLN.

Printers for cheap original inks

Apart from “refills”, “top-ups” or printers with cheap toners, it is hard to find anything else on the market with cheap originals at reasonable prices.

Hp Ink Advantage devices for 703, 704, 650, 651, 652, 653 and 46 inks used to be a great solution. Even before Covid and remote work, 650 ink could be bought in online stores, and even at a promotion in Biedronka for about PLN 35, so the set cost PLN 70 – as much as one small ink for similar devices.

Today, the HP 653 Black ear costs about PLN 60 for a black cartridge for 360 pages, which is a good result, because for similar performance we will pay at the same manufacturer and whether Canon, which uses similar containers several dozen zlotys more. Even now you can buy them on the Internet and for a model with a duplex and a closed paper feeder you will get for about PLN 500, and you will get a refill with such functions for at least PLN 1200, so for someone who prints little and rarely, it was a great solution.

Hp Ink Advantage 6075 Drivers
HP Ink Advantage 6075 for inks 653

At one time , Brother DCP-J105W also made a sensation, which they kept alive for a good 5 years and it was probably the last brother to which there were not only cheap replacements and originals (for this inky Brothers were once famous, which have a fixed head, very simple protections or their absence). Today you can buy a set of original inks for J105W for PLN 160 and you will have enough for 2400 black pages and 1300 pages in color. At the moment they are not available, and their last price was so high that, however, buy eg. DCP-525W, or any other refill of any manufacturer.

Which printer with added inks to buy?

 

HP Smart Tank 720

Hp SmartTank 720 Used Tractor
HP Smart Tank 720

In my opinion, the most interesting, and not so popular device from HP from the Smart Tank series as the Smart Tank 515/516 models, and I think it is worth considering this model, or a slightly higher Smart Tank 750 with an ADF feeder. Both devices in this class offer a very fast print of 15 ppm in black, 9 ppm in color and by the way have duplex. Despite such a high print speed, we still have a chance to replace the print heads, which I suppose should be enough for 30-40 thousand prints, but I can not find the exact information. In case of what you can exchange 1 of 2 heads for 60-70 PLN / pcs.

It is also the only device in this price shelf with dual-band Wi-Fi 2.4/5G and Bluetooth LE, which automatically resets in case of problems. It also has an Ethernet connection. By the way, we have all the mobile printing standards such as AirPrint (iOS) and Mopria (Android) so in a network environment we do not have to install additional software, only one driver, and sometimes none (AirPrint for iOS).

Black ink is on the pigment so the texts are durable, do not smear and do not fade, and the colors as usual in the dye to print good quality photos. This is a great combination that you will find in all Canon refills and more expensive Epson models from L4160 / L4260 upwards.

HP Smart Tanks are also the only devices that have an indicator and information about the lack of ink in the tanks, so we do not miss that the ink runs out, because with this performance we will forget that something needs to be replenished.

Parameters:

  • Print technology: HP Thermal Inkjet
  • Maximum photo print resolution: 4800×1200
  • Text print speed: up to 15 pages /min (ISO)
  • Print speed color: up to 9 pages /min (ISO)
  • Scanner resolution: 1200 dpi
  • Duplex printing: Yes
  • Connectivity: USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 2.4/5GHz, BLE, Wi-Fi Direct, AirPrint, Mopria, Ethernet
  • Warranty: 12 months (36 months after registrationand)

Advantages:

  • Cheap printing
  • Dark and expressive text thanks to pigment inks
  • Replaceable print heads
  • 250-sheet bottom paper tray
  • Silent print mode
  • Large paper tray
  • Detection of low ink level in tanks

Disadvantages:

  • No second top feeder for thicker photo paper

Operating costs:

ColourDesignationEfficiencyAverage priceCost per pageCeneoAmazon
Black XLGT51XL6000 pages40 PLN0.6 gr / pageCeneoAmazon
ColourGT528000 pages3x 37 PLN1.3 gr / pageCeneoAmazon

Ink starter kit for 18000 pages in black and 8000 pages in color.

Canon Pixma G6040

Canon Pixma G6040
Canon Pixma G6040

G6040 has similar features, performance and printing technology to the HP Smart Tank 720. Here we can also remove the heads ourselves. However, in Canon, in addition to the bottom paper drawer, we have an additional paper tray on the back, so if we want to print photos or documents on thicker paper, we have this option as an option. It is also probably the cheapest CISS device with duplex and like most bottle printers you can get it in the promotion with CashBack.

Unlike cheaper Canon Pixma models, we will not get a color display and a beautiful design, a card / pendrive reader, but we have all the most important functions and information on the top of the panel in the front of the device. You can see that this is a typical office equipment, the main advantage of which is a very cheap two-sided printing, and at the same time durable text printing thanks to pigment inks.

Parameters:

  • Printing Technology: Inkjet, Thermal
  • Maximum photo print resolution: 4800×1200
  • Print speed of text: up to 13 ipm (ISO)
  • Print speed color: up to 6.8 ipm (ISO)
  • Scanner resolution: 1200 dpi
  • Duplex printing: Yes
  • Connectivity: USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 2.4G, Wi-Fi Direct, AirPrint, Mopria, Ethernet
  • Warranty: 24 months

Advantages:

  • Cheap printing
  • Dark and expressive text thanks to pigment inks
  • Replaceable print heads
  • Lockable bottom paper tray
  • Silent print mode
  • Second feeder for thicker photo paper
  • Large 250-sheet paper tray
  • Borderless printing

Disadvantages:

  • Small low-resolution display
  • Replaceable, but expensive to buy print heads (about 200 PLN / pcs.)
  • High cost of head replacement

Operating costs:

ColourDesignationEfficiencyAverage priceCost per pageCeneoAmazon
BlackGI-40PGBK6000 pages45 PLN0.75 gr / pageCeneoAmazon
ColourGI-407700 pages3x 30 PLN1.16 gr / pageCeneoAmazon

Ink starter kit for 18000 pages in black and 7700 pages in color.

Check on Ceneo.

Canon MAXIFY GX6020 for more demanding customers

Canon MAXIFY GX6020
Canon MAXIFY GX6020

If someone is looking for more serious equipment, there is a more modern equivalent in the edition MAXIFY GX6020, which already has a larger color display and, above all, all carcasses in a pigment, which makes it very good at printing high-quality and durable documents, but tragically photos come out on it, because it has a maximum print resolution of 1200×600, but thanks to this it prints up to 15.5 images / min. However, it is difficult to buy inks for it in Poland and you have to look for them on Amazon (check prices), and the device itself costs around PLN 2200 (check prices).

Brother DCP-T525W

Brother DCP-T525W
Brother DCP-T525W

Of all inkjet devices, Brother is the fastest here, because it prints up to 17.5 ipm in black and as much as 9.5 ipm (ipm – images per minute) in color, so already at normal speed it is really fast.

This Brother can print even faster in draft mode, but there is a small problem. Probably through all dye inks, including black, despite the high resolution, the prints are a little pale and for deeper black you have to change the print quality to the best and the speed will unfortunately decrease. For most everyday uses, it doesn’t matter that much and it’s the fastest printer at this price point.

The DCP-T525W works similarly to Epson on an electric Piezo head, which gives it greater strength and at the same time has a lower risk of drying thanks to the cyclic cleaning system. This has its pros and cons, because even if we do not print, it reduces the chances of paper drying, but on the other hand, it consumes cyclical ink, which lands to the so-called. pampersa and can do it in the middle of the night, so it’s better not to have such a printer close to the bed.

Like Canon, it has a second paper tray for thicker paper, e.g. for photos, but here we have a manual feeder that accepts only 1 sheet of paper.

Parameters:

  • Printing technology: Inkjet, piezo
  • Maximum photo print resolution: 6000×1200
  • Print speed: up to 17 ipm (ISO)
  • Print speed color: up to 9.5 ipm (ISO)
  • Scanner resolution: 1200 dpi
  • Duplex printing: No
  • Connectivity: USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 2.4G, Wi-Fi Direct, AirPrint, Mopria
  • Warranty: 36 months after registration

Advantages:

  • Cheap printing
  • Lockable bottom paper tray
  • Second feeder for thicker photo paper
  • Closed 150-sheet paper tray
  • Borderless printing
  • Automatic head cleaning

Disadvantages:

  • Loud work
  • Print documents in normal quality

Operating costs:

ColourDesignationEfficiencyAverage priceCost per pageCeneoAmazon
BlackBTD60BK7500 pages35 PLN0.46 gr / pageCeneoAmazon
ColourBT50005000 pages3x 30 PLN1.8 gr / pageCeneoAmazon

Ink starter kit for 15000 pages in black and 5000 pages in color.

Check on Ceneo.

HP Smart Tank 515/516

HP SmartTank 515 used Tractor
HP Smart Tank 515

Hp Smart Tank 515 is usually cheaper than Brother DCP-T525W and may not be so fast, but in this price shelf it still outperforms the competition and has pigment inks as in higher models. At the start, we also get from this manufacturer the largest set of starter inks, because as many as 18,000 pages on black and 8000 in color.

The advantage of these devices is the same Wi-Fi 2.4/5 GHz as in the Smart Tank 720 which gives an easy and stable connection to any device on the network, except that we no longer have an Ethernet connector here, but for home needs good Wi-Fi is enough.

The device also has a free 3-year warranty , which must be registered, and by the way the manufacturer often offers CashBack in the amount of PLN 100.

Parameters:

  • Print technology: HP Thermal Inkjet
  • Maximum photo print resolution: 4800×1200
  • Print speed: up to 11 ppm (ISO)
  • Print speed color: up to 7.5 pages /min (ISO)
  • Scanner resolution: 1200 dpi
  • Duplex printing: No
  • Connectivity: USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 2.4/5GHz, BLE, Wi-Fi Direct, AirPrint, Mopria, Ethernet
  • Warranty: 12 months (36 months after registrationand)

Advantages:

  • Cheap printing
  • Best Wi-Fi connectivity
  • Detection of low ink level in tanks
  • Dark and expressive text thanks to pigment inks
  • Replaceable print heads
  • Silent print mode

Disadvantages:

  • No lockable paper tray

Operating costs:

ColourDesignationEfficiencyAverage priceCost per pageCeneoAmazon
Black XLGT51XL6000 pages40 PLN0.6 gr / pageCeneoAmazon
ColourGT528000 pages3x 37 PLN1.3 gr / pageCeneoAmazon

Ink starter kit for 18000 pages in black and 8000 pages in color.

Check on Ceneo.

Epson EcoTank L8160

Epson EcoTank L8160
Epson EcoTank L8160

L8160 is a very cool and modern model for people who want to print photos in really great quality thanks to much better Claria ET Premium inks than those that are in office models. It is usually the quality of the ink that is responsible for the quality of colors and their durability, and thanks to 5 photo inks and 1 pigment ink, we get a great device for documents and photographs. The manufacturer provides printing of 2300 photos in 10×15 format on the starter kit or 6200 A4 documents. It is true that these are already bottles that cost about PLN 90 / pcs., but with this efficiency and quality I think it is worth it.

The print resolution is the same as in any cheaper Epson Eco Tank – 5.760 x 1.440 dpi, but the minimum droplet size is already 1.9 pl., compared to 3.5 pl. in models for home. Print speed is 16 pages. / min in black and 12 pp. / min which is also a very good result, thanks to the emphasis on color printing.

The scanner has a higher resolution than in other devices, because 1200 x 4800 dpi, but still, if we want a really good scanner for photography, it is better to buy a separate scanner like the V600, or a higher model, but it’s hard to get them in normal money, so what is in the device is still a great option for today.

It is probably also one of the first Epson devices in stores that I have seen with support for 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks, and by the way it has Ethernet ports, which with large image files can be important. Alternatively, we can also use a USB port or SD card reader and thanks to a large display select photos for printing and set the appropriate parameters.

Parameters:

  • Printing technology: Inkjet, piezo
  • Maximum photo printing resolution: 5760×1440 (up to 1.9 pl)
  • Print speed: up to 16 ppm (ISO)
  • Print speed color: up to 12 ppm (ISO), 10×15 photo in 25 seconds
  • Scanner resolution: 1200 dpi (1200×4800)
  • Duplex printing: Yes
  • Connectivity: USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 2.4/5G, Wi-Fi Direct, AirPrint, Mopria
  • Warranty: 12 months/months or up to 50,000 pages

Advantages:

  • Cheap photo printing in very good quality
  • Lockable bottom paper tray
  • Second feeder for thicker photo paper
  • Closed 100-sheet paper tray
  • Borderless printing
  • Quiet operation when printing photos
  • Large colour touch screen
  • Card Reader and USB PictBridge Connector

Disadvantages:

  • If we are looking for a good printer for photos, it’s hard to fault it. It is true that it is more expensive to buy and operate than other poured devices, but it is still a very cheap print.

Operating costs:

ColourDesignationEfficiencyAverage priceCost per pageCeneoAmazon
Black pigment1156200 pages/2300 or 10×15 photos70 PLN1.11 gr / pageCeneoAmazon
Photographic inks1156200 pages/2300 or 10×15 photos5×70 PLN5.64 gr / pageCeneoAmazon

Starter kit for 1800 photos 10×15. Probably not 2300 as on full inks, because part of the ink must fill the ink hoses and the print head. It’s nice that Epson gives the performance of the starter cartridges in this way.

Check on Ceneo.

What cheap printer to buy so as not to spend a lot on inks?

Here we have a choice of Russian roulette and buy a cheap printer with the hope of cheap replacements, fill them yourself, or even set up the CISS system yourself. However, here the level of complication and chance of failure is high. Reverse engineering often works here, which today will rarely work if you look at cheap replacements and then look for a printer for them. Usually, these will be already used equipment with an unknown history.

I will focus on solutions for an ordinary blacksmith who does not play with cottage replenishment of containers, but wants to be sure that everything will work, and if not, he can take advantage of the warranty on carcasses and equipment that he will not lose through combinations.

All proposals are for people who print little and sporadically, so the purchase of poured devices will either pay off for a very long time, or will be risky, due to the chance of drying the ink.

DeskJet 3750 / 3760 I similar

HP DeskJet 3750 used Tractor
The HP DeskJet 3750 is the smallest MFP for the home, with a slotted/roller scanner due to its size.

It is a classic because the 3700 series are the smallest home inkjet MFPs in the world. They are so small because of the slotted scanner, which makes them look like a printer without a scanner, but they can scan individual sheets of paper and even an ID card if we put it in the right one. Unfortunately, we will not scan the book and rigid or stitched documents on it, because they have to squeeze through the scanner slot.

Parameters:

  • Print technology: HP Thermal Inkjet
  • Maximum photo print resolution: 4800×1200
  • Print speed: up to 8 ppm (ISO)
  • Print speed color: up to 5.5 pages /min (ISO)
  • Scanner resolution: 600 dpi
  • Duplex printing: No
  • Connectivity: USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 2.4/5GHz, BLE, Wi-Fi Direct, AirPrint, Mopria
  • Warranty: 12 months

Advantages:

  • Each new ink is a new head
  • Printer and scanner work without all cartridges
  • The smallest MFP on the market

Disadvantages:

  • Unable to scan books and stitched documents
  • Print with margins
  • Low container capacity

Operating costs:

ColourDesignationEfficiencyAverage priceCost per pageCeneoAmazon
Black304120 pages60 PLN50 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
Carny XL304XL300 pages130 PLN43 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
Colour304100 pages50 PLN50 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
Color XL304XL300 pages120 PLN40 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon

Ink starter kit for 105 pages in black and 100 pages in color.

Single-container printing

It is not a cheap print, as befits the cheapest printers on the market. Fortunately, in HP we can remove one of the containers and the device will still work, unlike canon (each), which I describe below. So we can put only one container and print, for example, only on black, or only color (not very economical, because it mixes colors to obtain black). The cartridges have a head in them, so they are easy to howl for cleaning or simply replaced. This only works for devices and printers for two bins.

Instant Ink – Print Subscription

The second option is the Instant Ink service, which HP introduced some time ago to the market and by the way buying a compatible printer you can get 6 months of Instant Ink service for free. The condition is to join the free HP+ service, which by the way extends the manufacturer’s warranty by one year and gives a few more options based on software and the cloud, but you can read about it on the HP+ website. An important condition is only that the printer will not accept any replacements that it detects.

HP+ Benefits

Like any subscription, this one is loved and hated. On the one hand, we will not print as cheaply as on a printer for ink bottles, and on the other hand, we can have a cheaper print on a cheap device than on ordinary containers. How?

HP Instant Ink price list

The Instant Ink subscription consists in paying for a package of sites that we can turn on and off from month to month, so there are no obligations, and unused packages go to 3x pages from a given package. So no panic. You can buy a printer for PLN 300, choose a package of 700 pages worth PLN 129, which will be free for 6 months (if you have a printer covered by the promotion and you enable HP+ and Instant Ink at the beginning) which gives a maximum of 4200 pages of printouts for half a year. Only paper you have to buy yourself. And best of all, there are 4200 any pages, maximum in A4 format, so you can print for 300 ZŁ – 4200 photos and the manufacturer will exchange inks for free.

But let’s go back to the gray everyday life.

If you print these +/- 50 pages a month, you will pay PLN 18.99, which after a year of use gives the cost of PLN 227.88 for printing 600 pages, which gives almost 38 cents per page – no matter whether the text or photos for the whole page. You also do not pay for delivery, because you get the carcass by courier at the door, so you do not have to look for containers in the stores. So it’s not a bad average like a print from a device for about $300. Of course, you can also use packages of 10 pages for PLN 5 or larger, which can be changed every month.

Comparing it to ordinary containers, this is a good price, because a set of XL cartridges for 400 pages in black and 300 pages in color (assuming that each CMYK color covers only 5% of the sheet) you will pay about PLN 260.

In Canon, which I still recommend, you will print 600 black and 300 color pages, buying 2 XL inks at a similar price. Only when you run out of color ink, for example, you have to fly to the store, because it will not want to print or scan. For which they have already been suedand, but nevertheless I think that the Canon MG3650S is one of the better options to have a cool device for occasional printing.

And here do not start adding 600+300=900, because that’s not how it is calculated. You’ll print 600 pages in black, and half of your documents will also be 5% red, 5% blue, 5% yellow and ink, and in Instant Ink you can make up to 600 pages of full text and images for entire pages, and even print photos – without worrying about how much ink you physically use.

Canon MG3650S

Canon MG3650S - Urbanflavour.pl
Canon Pixma MG3650S

The MG3650S comes in white and black case color. It is a typical printing device from the holidays, but it already has a flatBed A4 scanner with a resolution of 1200×2400 dpi and a duplex module. Of course, it also has Wi-Fi and supports AirPrint and Mopria standards.

At the moment, it is not the cheapest inkjet device to operate, because it works on 2 cartridges with heads, but it is safe, because the new ink = new head. At the moment, the price of these containers, in relation to their performance, is the best, although XL cartridges cost PLN 120-150 per piece, they are enough to print 600 pages in black and 300 pages in color. It is just a bit annoying that we must always have 2 containers with a minimum amount of ink for the device to work.

Parameters:

  • Printing Technology: Inkjet, Thermal
  • Maximum photo print resolution: 4800×1200
  • Print speed: up to 9.9 ipm (ISO)
  • Print speed color: up to 5.5 ipm (ISO)
  • Scanner resolution: 1200 dpi
  • Duplex printing: Yes
  • Connectivity: USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 2.4G, BLE, Wi-Fi Direct, AirPrint, Mopria
  • Warranty: 12 months

Advantages:

  • Fast document printing for a cartridge ink printer
  • A lot of functions, i.e. duplex, wifi, AirPrint in an inexpensive device

Disadvantages:

  • The machine does not print or scan when one of the inks runs out
  • Only one open bottom feeder up to 250 g/m2

Operating costs:

ColourDesignationEfficiencyAverage priceCost per pageCeneoAmazon
BlackPG-540180 pages80 PLN44 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
Carny XLPG-540 XL600 pages120 PLN20 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
ColourCL-541180 pages100 PLN55 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
Color XLCL-541XL400 pages120 PLN30 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
MultipackPG-540/CL-541180/180 pages160 PLNCeneoAmazon

Ink starter kit for 180 pages in black and 180 pages in color.

HP Ink Advantage – if you find

I wrote about the HP Ink Advantage series in part about cheap originals and if there are new printers somewhere, it is also a nice option. There is no standard and XL ink, there is one size and the last series of devices works on HP 653 cartridges, where black has a yield of 360 pages, and the color has 200 pages, while they cost about 60 zł / pcs. You can also use a single container in them and the printer will continue to work.

HP Deskjet Ink Advantage 3775 Used Tractor
HP Deskjet Ink Advantage 3775 Used Tractor

Every Ink Advantage printer has “DeskJet Ink Advantage” or “DeskJet IA” in its name, so don’t confuse them with the previously mentioned DJ 3750, which has the same shape as HP DeskJet Ink Advantage 3788/3790/3762 I recommend the most HP DeskJet Plus Ink Advantage 6075 Used Tractor, which has a faster borderless print, with duplex, a lockable paper feeder like in Brother and 5 GHz Wi-Fi.

Cheap to operate laser printers

If you are thinking about cheap laser printing, and you do not want to spend more than PLN 2,000, you will limit yourself to black and white printing, or you have to look for something on the secondary market where replacements will enter, but this is always a risk. Especially when you buy a used printer after the warranty. If you want to print a lot on a color laser for some reason, it is better to invest in a large machine that will be cheap to operate, or a solid office model with CISS. I will tell you what black and white printers are worth looking for.

We can choose from Brother TonerBenefit and HP Neverstop or LaserJet Tank solutions, which offer very cheap printing on originals. First I will tell you what needs to be replaced.

HP LaserJet TANK/Neverstop vs TonerBenefit

In practice, it looks like that in TonerBenefit printers you will replace, for example, 6x TN-B023 toner and one DR-B023 photosensitive drum. The drum wears out and this is usually seen by the fact that horizontal stripes appear on the printouts and it is only the roller itself with a green or blue film in some kind of housing.

In the case of HP Neverstop it is similar, only that the photosensitive drum (W1104A) is attached to the chamber where the powder is located, which we replenish with “syringes”. As you can count, its operating cost at first glance is almost identical to that of Brother. (about 1.6 gr. on each side) However, when buying a photosensitive drum for Neverstop inside, we already have a powder for 5000 pages, as if we bought a 2-pack syringe with toner worth PLN 120. So we do not pay for the photosensitive roller itself, but for the whole set, which allows you to print 5000 pages at once and will withstand another 20,000 prints.

Cheaper Brother DCP-1622WE TonerBenefit for toner TN-1090 for PLN 99 per 1500 pages, which is cheaper, but the quality of its work and volume of work leaves much to be desired. The manufacturer has saved here even on the socket for the power cable and it can not even be unfastened and replaced. Brother here on a very average printer will earn a lot to sell cheap toners. My task is better to add to Brother models such as DCP-B7520DW (those that have the shape of a trapezoid and a lockable feeder), or buy HP Neverstop or LaserJet Tank, which are well made and even cheaper to operate. The more that HP have over 3x larger starter toner, so the difference in the purchase price is eliminated.

Otherwise, it’s better to hunt for a good used laser printer and buy replacements, but their prices can be close to new devices in the store, so you really have to hunt.

Below is a list of laser printers and their multifunction equivalents.

HP LaserJet Tank 2604DW

HP LaserJet Tank 2604DW - Urbanflavour.pl
HP LaserJet Tank 2604DW

A novelty from HP, which is the next series of Neverstop, which could be supplemented with syringes. In LaserJet Tank we have bags that resemble Mus Kubuś and contain only powder, so we do not have to replace the entire cassette or drum cassette as is the case in cheap models.

Each such printer already has toner for 5000 pages inside, and each subsequent supplement costs about PLN 120, so almost as cheap as on fakes in ordinary lasers. A new photosensitive drum was also used, which is enough for up to 50,000 pages, but I do not know its cost yet because it is firmly built into the printer and the replacement requires wrapping several samples.

As there is a laser, it heats up in less than 8 seconds, prints up to 23 pages / min. and in duplex as much as 15 images / minute, which is a very good result if we care about speed, because inkjets print at such a speed at most one-sided. In a printer or device we have a lockable feeder for 250 sheets, and the whole device does not take up much space for equipment of this class.

The DW versions that he proposes are not only duplex, but as befits HP Wi-Fi 2.4/5 GHz + BT LE and Ethernet. So you can print from everything in your home that has Wi-Fi – phones, tablets, PCs and laptops.

Parameters:

  • Printing Technology: Inkjet, Thermal
  • Maximum photo print resolution: 600×600
  • Print speed: up to 23 pages Min. (ISO)
  • Scanner resolution: 600 dpi
  • Duplex printing: Yes
  • Connectivity: USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 2.4/5GHz, BLE, Wi-Fi Direct, AirPrint, Mopria, Ethernet
  • Warranty: 36 months after registration

Advantages:

  • Large starter lecture
  • Very cheap printing on original toner cartridges
  • Large paper tray
  • Business-class network and hardware security

Disadvantages:

  • Difficult drum replacement

Operating costs:

ColourDesignationEfficiencyAverage priceCost per pageCeneoAmazon
Black153A2500 pages60 PLN2.4 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
Carny XL153X5000 pages120 PLN2.4 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
DrumBd50000 pagesBdBd

Starter toner for 5000 pages.

HP LaserJet Tank 2504DW

HP LaserJet Tank 2504DW
HP LaserJet Tank 2504DW

HP LaserJet Tank 2504DW is a 2604DW without scanners, i.e. the printer itself. It has the same low cost of printing, but it does not scan and copy. If you do not need a scanner, or you just need a smartphone to scan documents, then this is the best equipment for cheap printing, which does not take up much space and is equipped with the best network solutions.

ColourDesignationEfficiencyAverage priceCost per pageCeneoAmazon
Black153A2500 pages60 PLN2.4 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
Carny XL153X5000 pages120 PLN2.4 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
DrumBd50000 pagesBdBd

Starter toner for 5000 pages.

HP Neverstop 1200W

HP Neverstop 1200W Low-Cost Laser Printer
HP Neverstop 1200W

Neverstop were the first monochrome laser printers and MFPs to offer very cheap printing on original consumables. Already at the very beginning they have a large starter kit for 5000 pages. We will complete the next 5000 pages for about PLN 120, so in the price of the fake we have the original contribution. If someone would not be enough, there are even cheaper substitutes, but for what?

The printer warms up in about 8 seconds and prints at a speed of 20 pages / minute, so probably no one at home or small office will complain about the speed.

I suggest Wi-Fi versions, but you can also find versions for a USB cable. Unfortunately, they do not come in a version with an Ethernet cable. In this case, it is better to think about the new LaserJet Tank series or Brother TonerBenefit.

Parameters:

  • Printing Technology: Laser
  • Maximum photo print resolution: 600×600 x2 dpi
  • Print speed: up to 20 pages /Min. (ISO)
  • Scanner resolution: 600 dpi
  • Duplex printing: No
  • Connectivity: USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 2.4G, Wi-Fi Direct, AirPrint, Mopria
  • Warranty: 36 months after registration

Advantages:

  • The cheapest print in this price category
  • Large 5000-page starter toner
  • Powerful photosensitive drum with toner included
  • Closed paper tray
  • Low energy consumption for a laser
  • Fast heating in about 8 seconds

Disadvantages:

  • One 150-sheet paper tray
  • No version with Ethernet connectivity
  • No duplex

Operating costs:

ColourDesignationEfficiencyAverage priceCost per pageCeneoAmazon
Black103A2,500 pages60 PLN2.4 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
Carny XL103AD5,000 pages120 PLN2.4 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
DrumW1104A20,000 pages330 PLN1.6 gr. /Str.*CeneoAmazon
*buying a photosensitive drum at its price we have toner for 5000 pages, so if I count it correctly, the cost of the page will drop to 1 gr. /Str.

HP Neverstop 1000W

HP Neverstop 1000W cheap toner printer
HP Neverstop 1000W

The HP Neverstop 1000W is 1200W without scanner and copier function. In terms of operation and printing parameters, it is the same, only it has a smaller memory because only 32MB, instead of 64MB, which can make differences with more documents or the size of files played to the printer. However, it is a little easier to fill 1000W with a new cartridge because we do not have to lift the scanner flap for this purpose.

Operating costs:

ColourDesignationEfficiencyAverage priceCost per pageCeneoAmazon
Black103A2,500 pages60 PLN2.4 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
Carny XL103AD5,000 pages120 PLN2.4 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
DrumW1104A20,000 pages330 PLN1.6 gr. /Str.*CeneoAmazon
*buying a photosensitive drum at its price we have toner for 5000 pages, so if I count it correctly, the cost of the page will drop to 1 gr. /Str.

Brother TonerBenefit DCP-B7520DW

Brother DCP-B7520DW TonerBenefit
DCP-B7520DW

As I mentioned earlier about cheap Brothers, here everything is in place. Robust construction and parameters. The device is intended rather for the office, but at home it will also work, because we will print many months on one toner. In the set with the printer we get a full toner for 2000 pages, and each subsequent one is an expense of about PLN 100.

Parameters:

  • Printing Technology: Laser
  • Maximum photo print resolution: 600 x 600 dpi, HQ1200 (2400 x 600 dpi)
  • Print speed of text: up to 34 ipm (ISO)
  • Scanner resolution: 1200 dpi
  • Duplex printing: Yes
  • Connectivity: USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 2.4G, Wi-Fi Direct, AirPrint, Mopria, Ethernet
  • Warranty: 36 months after registration on the manufacturer’s website

Advantages:

  • Fast and quiet print below 50 dB
  • Large paper tray – 250 sheets
  • 128 MB of memory and fast processor
  • Manual paper feeder

Disadvantages:

  • Size
  • High power consumption

Operating costs:

ColourDesignationEfficiencyAverage priceCost per pageCeneoAmazon
BlackTN-B0232000 pages100 PLN5 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
DrumDR-B02312,000 pagesPLN 2001.7 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon

Starter toner for 2000 pages.

Brother TonerBenefit MFC-B7715DW

Brother TonerBenefit MFC-B7715DW

The MFC-B7715DW is a DCP-B7520DW with an additional 50-sheet ADF paper tray. By the way, it has a scanning function, but for most people the most important is the ADF itself, which almost always appears at the fax. So this model will be useful for people who not only print a lot, but also have to scan a large number of documents at one time, e.g. multi-page contracts.

Operating costs:

ColourDesignationEfficiencyAverage priceCost per pageCeneoAmazon
BlackTN-B0232,000 pages100 PLN5 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
DrumDR-B02312,000 pagesPLN 2001.7 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon

Starter toner for 2000 pages.

Brother TonerBenefit HL-B2080DW

Brother TonerBenefit HL B2080DW - Urbanflavour.pl
HL-B2080DW

The HL-B2080 is the printer itself, which is the brother of the multifunction MFC-B7715DW and DCP-B7520DW, except that it has only 64MB of memory instead of 128MB relative to devices with a scanner. It is possible that it is min. on the function of the copier.

Operating costs:

ColourDesignationEfficiencyAverage priceCost per pageCeneoAmazon
BlackTN-B0232,000 pages100 PLN5 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon
DrumDR-B02312,000 pagesPLN 2001.7 gr. /Str.CeneoAmazon

Starter toner for 2000 pages.



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