Let's talk, most cost effective printer?

Soldato
Joined
17 Dec 2004
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8,696
I've bought a £150-200 printer and the inks last about a year of light use, with compatible set of inks costing about £25-30,, Plus the printer automatically checks the nozzles every so often, so it never gets blocked up.
 
Soldato
Joined
6 Oct 2009
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London
Unfortunately leaving an inkjet unused for a few months will render the cleaning proccess useless as I found to my horror and now left with a £200 Canon shaped breezeblock

That happened to me far too often, until I decided to just buy a laser one. Best decision I ever made.
 
Man of Honour
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29 Mar 2003
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Stoke on Trent
About 4 years ago my youngest bought the wrong printer, not her fault because Argos had replaced it with another.
Six months later she needed new cartridges and there were no compatibles so bought her a new one and put that up the attic.
Two weeks ago there was now compatibles and I'm using it. I've got an alarm that tells me to print one colour picture a week.
 
Soldato
Joined
1 Nov 2005
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5,709
I have an Brother CISS specific printer. I have printed so many pages and it’s never run out from the bottles of ink it came with. The quality isn’t ‘amazing’ but it’s consistent and mega cheap.

Because it’s CISS specific it cleans itself and prevents clogs, zero manual maintenance is needed.
 
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Man of Honour
Joined
29 Mar 2003
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Location
Stoke on Trent
I have an Epson CISS specific printer

I've had refillable cartridges for years and heard about these CISS systems a long time ago but now might be the time to invest especially since I've now inherited the Epson WF-2860DWF that was up the attic. Funnily enough the compatibles are still dearer than other compatibles.
What would you recommend I get from this page - https://www.cityinkexpress.co.uk/ciss/epson/wf-2860dwf/wf-series
Or perhaps you have a better place to buy from.
 
Associate
Joined
19 Jul 2011
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2,343
Another vote here for a cheap Samsung laser rather than the collection of inkjets I've sent to landfill over the years for the OPs requirements of a document once or twice a month. It just... Works
 
Soldato
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25 Feb 2003
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Deep dark hole
Bought a Canon inkjet MG6250 in 2013, put it in the attic for 5 years whilst using a HP Officejet which went kaput - needed a printer quick so dug the Canon out, slapped some compatible ink in there with a deep clean cycle, and am still using it today - Mrs prints every few days, and inks are dirt cheap

Moral of the story, not all inkjets are bad
 
Soldato
Joined
1 Nov 2005
Posts
5,709
I've had refillable cartridges for years and heard about these CISS systems a long time ago but now might be the time to invest especially since I've now inherited the Epson WF-2860DWF that was up the attic. Funnily enough the compatibles are still dearer than other compatibles.
What would you recommend I get from this page - https://www.cityinkexpress.co.uk/ciss/epson/wf-2860dwf/wf-series
Or perhaps you have a better place to buy from.
My bad it is actually a Brother not an Epson. I think I bought it from the site you linked but they don’t seem to sell them on there anymore.

I would recommend getting a printer designed to be a CISS printer - when you convert them they tend to block up and give you all sorts of issues unless you print regularly (at least weekly) with a dedicated printer you can just ignore it and it will periodically clean itself and always be ready to print.

This looks like the newer version of what I have (mine is the 700): https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brother-DCP-T710W-Color-InkTank-System-Refill-Multifunction-Printer-with-Wi-Fi-/224108020950

If the 710 is anything like my 700 you’ll get years of use for the cost of the printer without having to replace all the time. I have a laser printer as well and although it’s a bit faster and the quality is a bit better, I’ve spent more than the price of the Brother in toner. You won’t get amazing photo prints from the CISS but you can print shed loads of colour pages for next to nothing.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
29 Mar 2003
Posts
56,791
Location
Stoke on Trent
My bad it is actually a Brother not an Epson. I think I bought it from the site you linked but they don’t seem to sell them on there anymore.

I would recommend getting a printer designed to be a CISS printer - when you convert them they tend to block up and give you all sorts of issues unless you print regularly (at least weekly) with a dedicated printer you can just ignore it and it will periodically clean itself and always be ready to print.

This looks like the newer version of what I have (mine is the 700): https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brother-DCP-T710W-Color-InkTank-System-Refill-Multifunction-Printer-with-Wi-Fi-/224108020950

If the 710 is anything like my 700 you’ll get years of use for the cost of the printer without having to replace all the time. I have a laser printer as well and although it’s a bit faster and the quality is a bit better, I’ve spent more than the price of the Brother in toner. You won’t get amazing photo prints from the CISS but you can print shed loads of colour pages for next to nothing.

Thanks for the reply.
It looks like Epson have stolen the idea and called it Ecotank.
 
Associate
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22 Jun 2018
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Doon the watah ... Scotland
I'm in the cheap laser side here. I have an old HP P2015 laser. Its has lasted years and years. I recently dug it back out after it sitting unused for the best part of 18 months ... ran first time with a perfect print. New cartridge wasn't that much and lasts for 1000's of pages.

I had various colour printers through the years, inkjet and laser and my wee P2015 has outlasted them all. Happily buy one again.
 
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