Best printer 2024, best printer for home use, office use, printing labels, printer for school, homework printer you are a printer we are all printers
www.theverge.com
external-link
After a full year of not thinking about printers, the best printer is still whatever random Brother laser printer that’s on sale.
BombOmOm
link
fedilink
English
45
edit-2
6M

Hey, I own that printer! It’s a good printer.

Remember kids, always buy laser, never inkjet.

We have three of them at my office. I am certain we exceed the duty cycle they were designed for by several times. The one at the front desk has been bitching about needing an imaging drum replacement for I think three years at this point, and it still prints just fine. I’ll put a new drum in it when the existing one stops working.

@Zak@lemmy.world
link
fedilink
English
-56M

I don’t own a printer because it’s 2024 and the only good reason to own a printer is photo/art prints at a scale where outsourcing it isn’t economical.

I’m aware other reasons exist, but they’re bad reasons that mostly boil down to someone being bad at computers.

Dojan
link
fedilink
English
76M

Nah, there are definitely cases where you need to print stuff on paper, and need said paper fast enough to warrant a printer. If I use my company credit card for expenses I need to account for that, and for legal reasons I need to send that to our accountant in printed form. I can’t legally mail it to him.

Now I could obviously take 30 minutes and print it at the library, but those 30 minutes would add up fairly fast, making a printer the more accessible and economical option.

@T156@lemmy.world
link
fedilink
English
46M

Now I could obviously take 30 minutes and print it at the library, but those 30 minutes would add up fairly fast, making a printer the more accessible and economical option.

Privacy is also an issue. There might be reasons why you don’t want to have something printed out at the library/local print shop, like if it’s tax documents, and someone hitting “repeat job” could just have it spit out personal info.

Dojan
link
fedilink
English
36M

Oh yeah that’s a fantastic point I’d failed to even consider. I don’t really care if my credit card bills end up cached somewhere at the library, like, what are they going to do with it? Pay it?

If I on the other hand dealt with personal identifiable data, that could be hugely problematic. I can see the need for e.g. a lawyer having to print case files and assemble documents physically. In such a scenario, printing it at a library, or at a third party company might not be a great idea.

If you for some reaosn also want your nudes (or I suppose, erotic artwork) in print, I can see how you might not want to have that done by a company. I don’t think I’d personally care, but maybe the person dealing with it at the company shouldn’t have to see that sort of thing.

@Zak@lemmy.world
link
fedilink
English
06M

I need to send that to our accountant in printed form. I can’t legally mail it to him.

This is exactly the sort of thing I meant by “someone being bad at computers”. That someone might be a government regulator in this case.

Dojan
link
fedilink
English
16M

Ah, I see. It sounded more like “someone doesn’t know how to just mail something.”

Ghostalmedia
link
fedilink
English
46M

I use it a lot for construction. Printed job specs are much easier / faster to deal with than a computer on a job site. You can staple them to a wall, quickly draw on them, use them when your hands are filthy, have multiple large copies floating around, etc. Paper is usually just a better solution for that environment.

@Zak@lemmy.world
link
fedilink
English
16M

That’s an environment I hadn’t really thought about. I concede the point.

@Ginger666@lemmy.world
link
fedilink
English
16M

Take a look at a Canon PIXMA TR150.

There are plenty of other brands that make this same style, this was just the first I found.

Now if only they had a small portable printer like that that did 11x17

Reading blueprints off 8x11 is damn near impossible unless you blow them up

Ghostalmedia
link
fedilink
English
16M

That’s kind of cool. Unfortunately, it’s still ink jet tanks. I’d like a laser.

Ghostalmedia
link
fedilink
English
2
edit-2
6M

Anyone have a recommendation for a small color laser printer? Like shoebox size.

My place is pretty small, and I don’t have much desk or shelf space. It doesn’t make sense for me to waste desk space on something that I use 1-3 times a year.

I’ve been using one of these tiny HPs. The ink is a fucking racket, and I’d love a laser alternative. This size is great. I can fold the trays and throw it in a drawer. It’s only 16 x 5.5 x 7in.

Edit: Found one. It the HP LaserJet Pro M15w

stankmut
link
fedilink
English
4
edit-2
6M

I don’t think you’ll find a color laser printer that size. They use pretty large drums to hold the toner. It’d be hard to even find a mono laser printer in that size.

They use comparatively tiny drums these days, but they inherently need four of them all in a row, one each for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. That usually makes even the smaller ones quite deep, front to back, in my experience.

Ghostalmedia
link
fedilink
English
16M

Bummer. I really want to ditch this ink jet because of ink costs. I

I’d agree with the exception of artists who sell their printed work (ex: photographers, graphic designers). They’re not only making money from their prints but also printing in color frequently enough that the cartridge doesn’t dry out.

Create a post

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


  • 1 user online
  • 182 users / day
  • 580 users / week
  • 1.37K users / month
  • 4.49K users / 6 months
  • 1 subscriber
  • 7.41K Posts
  • 84.7K Comments
  • Modlog