Printer for a student

[crazycat]

I know there are lots of posts about this so please forgive me.

I need a nice little printer for the new ibook i got i am a student and need to print lots of stuff for college, i also print lots of projects myself so that i need to it to be a workhorse. I have a a place beside my desk to put the printer so all i need is a recommendation.

This is my first time posting on MR

Thanks.

 

[Maxiseller]

Hello, and welcome to Macrumors!! hehe.

I wa sin the same situation a few weeks ago before starting University and looked at photo printers, laser printers...everything!!

What I went with was the HP Business Inkjet 1000 - which offers MASSIVE ink cartridges that are available on eBay for £10 a pop (bearing mind they are 69ml for a black!!) offers great text quality and things like small images etc. The only thing it doesn't power through are photos - for that you need a photo printer although it does provide "acceptable" output in this area.

I am a music student and print a LOT of music scores and essays etc - ive been there 10 weeks and i'm not down to 80% yet!! Amazing value for money. The printer is around £100 but the initial outlay is more than worth it.

 

[DJ1UK]

Try a canon i320 or similar. Usually around £50 to buy, good for normal printing and photos. Ink is usually around £2-£3 - bargain!

DJ

 

[dmw007]

I have an HP Deskjet 5150 and it works nicely.

 

[JessFactor]

There's really only one way to go if you're a student. Get an HP LaserJet 1012. They are about 130 bucks and the tonor cartridges last a few thousand pages, as opposed to a few hundred w/inkjets. I'm in my 2nd year of college and I have yet to need a color printer. Also, I don't have to freak out if I have to print out 100 or so pages at once. You'll be happy when you see everyone around you replacing their black cartridges every month.

 

[madtodaimax]

credit to the fatwallet community for this one.
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/mes...eadid=544019&highlight_key=y&keyword1=clp-510

 

[Eidorian]

Yeah, unless you're doing color spreads and pictures go with a laser printer. I'm considering getting one. The toner lasts so many pages. Plus you get crisp text and great black and white.

 

[edge540]

I have a Deskjet 5650 and i have been in college for a year and a half now and have not even changed the cartridge once. It prints really nice and is pretty fast once you tweat the setting. Even the draft setting is very good quality. I would recomend this one.

 

[jeremy.king]

Brother HL-2040 - $90 after rebate. I like the Brother lasers.

http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/s...01&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&productId=125010

 

[20rogersc]

How about an HP PSC, I have one and love it.
Good printers but also useful when scanning/copying notes.

::20ROGERSC::

 

[tristan]

I like my Canon i550 all right, but I have to say that Inkjets are kind of unreliable. It's always either out of ink or jammed or something. Lasers are generally rock solid, I miss my old Apple Laserwriter, I never should have given it away.

BTW when I was in school, I could plug in my laptop just about anywhere and print for free on the school's printers. Maybe they don't do that where you are.

 

[crazydreaming]

HP PSC printers/scanners are very popular at my college. I have one and love it. Never had any problems. Have it hooked up to my airport express and I can print from anywhere without having to hook up to the printer without problems.

 

[adk]

lasers are so cheap now you might as well go with one. As far as color goes, I've printed exactly three pages of color this year, none which I actually needed to print (I'm also in college). I have a canon inkjet I bought a few months ago and it bleeds like crazy.

 

[macEfan]

There's really only one way to go if you're a student. Get an HP LaserJet 1012. They are about 130 bucks and the tonor cartridges last a few thousand pages, as opposed to a few hundred w/inkjets. I'm in my 2nd year of college and I have yet to need a color printer. Also, I don't have to freak out if I have to print out 100 or so pages at once. You'll be happy when you see everyone around you replacing their black cartridges every month.

Yes, I love that printer.. Fast, small, and cool!

 

[iBS23]

Yep, Laser is the way to go. For the few trhings you'll actully need printed in color you can use your roommates/neighbors/Kinkos/School lab. With a laser you'll never have to worry about that expensive ink -- a good laser will give you a few thousand pages.

As for which ones, I've always liked and used HP. My dad picked up a Brother HL-2070N about 9 months ago and he likes it a lot. Despite my love for HP, I "needed" (actually "wanted" as it was still working great) to replace my 8 year old HP and I just picked up a Samsung ML-2010 at a great price. About a month into usage, I've been quite happy with it -- and you cannot beat the price! However, if money wasn't a concern, I probably would have gone with the HP Laserjet 1022 or even the entry level HP color laser.

 

[bodeh6]

I have a Brother HL-5140 and love it. It was pricier then what you are looking for ~$180, but have had an excellent track record with Brother. Had a HL-630 back in 1995 for 4 years.