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Printer recommendations (home colour laser). (self.buildapc)

submitted 1 year ago by cynar to c/buildapc

18 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Might not be the best place to ask, but nowhere else reliant seemed alive.

My old laser printer has given up the ghost. What are people's recommendations on a replacement. As far as I'm aware, Brother are about the only company both making reasonably priced printers and not playing stupid games. Beyond that though, I'm not up to date on what's good and what's not.

Requirements.

Colour laser.
WiFi
Works with both windows and Linux
No need for scanner etc.
CD/ID card printing nice, but not required.
Photo quality nice, but not required (we have an ink sublimation printer for photos).

I'm UK based, which can mess with availability.

Thanks in advance.

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[–] Redredme 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Brother. Period. The most expensive model you can afford which fits your list.

Why? The more expensive models have bigger toners, which for home use sometimes mean "never have replaced the toner in 10 years" and better internal mechanics which means the thing will never break down and you only replace it because the outer plastic has become yellow and you want something different to look at after 20 years. Or so it went with my previous brother laser) the freaking thing had an usb1 and paralel port and it just wouldn't give up.

Why I don't have a product number? Because mine does have a scanner integrated. I've the DCP-L8410CDW which I can wholeheartedly recommend. But you don't need the scanner.

Printers? Always buy a brother, always the most expensive you can afford. You'll thank me in 10 years.

[–] themeatbridge 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

FWIW Brother will still disable your printer if it uses 3rd party toner. I don't have a better recommendation, though. Be prepared to either shell out for the official stuff, or learn to do batter with firmware updates and toner cartridge chips.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've been using cheap third-party toner in my Brother printer for over a decade.

[–] themeatbridge 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They started including ink DRM in 2019 I think? Newer models with new firmware may vary, but I know the old Brother printers are excellent.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

That's horrible news. Thankfully my HL-2270DW from early 2013 is still chugging along without any issues. I'm on my 5th toner cartridge.

[–] cynar 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Now it's a dilemma between the HL-L3210CDW (same as the 3230 without wired ethernet) and the HL-L8260CDW.

It's £158.53 for the L3210, but £261.56 for the L8260

How much difference does LED make Vs laser?

[–] Redredme 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Led is cheaper, laser is older tech, most of the times laser is better but these days you really can't tell the difference for normal use.

Since my brothers always worked for a loooooooong time I would go for the wired one. Why? WiFi security tends to change every few years (wep, wpa, wpa2psk, wpa3) and if your device can't communicate with your new access point.... Well, that sucks ass. With the wired one you have that backup plan.

Edit: and to reinforce my own advice : which one is the most expensive? Buy that one.