Approaching this from a different angle: if your mother still thinks the printer they have was a good purchase, will they appreciate you giving them a different one and insisting it's better? Sure, an HP printer is a big waste, but an even bigger waste is giving them a better printer only for them to continue using the HP. IMO you should make sure they are on board before getting them another one, even if their current one is a cancer on society.
this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2024
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Brother laser is indeed the way to go for black and white printing. Else have a look at Epson.
p.s. HP = evil avoid HP if you can.
This is the way. My Brother laserjet is 15 years old and still kicking!
The one time a year you need to print photos, go to a FedEx Office or CVS.
HP = Has Problems
😂
I'll cast a vote for checking the local Facebook marketplace or craigslist for a deal on a good laser printer.
Had to get a new one recently too. I've had good experiences w/ Brother in the past too, but couldn't find one that quite fit the bill. Needed color and for it to be able to handle cardstock.
Ended up getting an Epson, one that's in the eco tank line. Has been great so far. Works just fine out of the box on Linux (LTS Ubuntu, anyway)
And I meant to say, most helpful resource for me was the website rtings. Most review and best of lists I can find by searching are so spammy, it's hard to get any signal. But at least that one let's me filter a table of printers by features. I just don't know how many they're missing.
I luckily remembered this link from a resource i stumbled across. There is a website called
It has several periferals and devices supported by linux that they sell.
The Brother laser meme is real. They also make color ones, I have one myself.
i cant take the name seriously lol. i always imagine some warhammer 40k shit with like "Brother get the laser. No, not the printer, the weapon, brother"
Everyone here is suggesting laser and it's great for sure, but personally I'm still using inkjet (Brother MFC-J491DW), and it works fine for my needs. The main reason being it's a cheap way to get color, plus it doesn't occupy much space, in spite of offering scanning as well as an ADF. If you want to get an equivalent laser printer, you're looking at expensive and bulky options. I haven't so far come across any reasonably priced, compact AIO laser color MFPs (if there is one - let me know!).
I've been using this inkjet for ~4 years and never had any issues. The ink has never once dried out, in spite of printing only like 2-3 times an year. So I'm happy to recommed that, or maybe a newer model in that series.
Ink is also supposedly more environmentally friendly than toner.
is it? i thought toner would be better since it holds a hella lot more ink. i might just be biased since the only toner cartridge ive seen in my life is just massive while the only ink cartridges ive seen are from HP... yeah i might be biased.
Toner is tiny plastic particles, but ink can be made of various biodegradable dies and ink cartridges can be more easily refilled. Toner tends to be more economical than ink, but for the same reason that it is less environmentally friendly: Plastic particles don't dry up or biodegrade. Additionally, toner cartridges print more pages before needing to be replaced.
I don't know what they sell these days but I've had a couple of Samsung mono lasers that were cheap ($150ish) and lasted decades of infrequent use.
samsung sold their printer business to hp in 2017.
Well that kills that idea then.
Another vote being cast here for a both Brother and laser. The nice thing about laser is that you can go without printing for weeks, or even, months, and just pick up right where you left off. My old ink jets, if you left them that long, would have completely dried out and need to be replaced.
man the new inkjets must really suck ass then. But im not really surprised since HP normalised paying 10 bucks for 10 ml of ink, bastards. can laser printers also do color? if they can id get one in a heartbeat.
laser printers can print color but it’s a bit expensive up front.