Color printer that is not a HP or any "thing" like that, I need a printer that still works even when not used for months !

[thepdru]

hello, do you know any computer printer (color) that can still be used months after the last time we used it ?

I cannot stand anymore the $hite HP inkjet printers that always have a problem when not regularly used.

Any idea ?

 Thank you.

[onebir]

https://www.thedailytell.com/best-printers-for-infrequent-use

[Meat Pie 47]

I've got a canon Pixma  230 had it for about 6 years hardly use it + the cartridges pretty cheap.

[adammike]

Don't get an Epson,same problem.

[Robin]

I got so fed up with ink-jet printers only printing for >3 months unless used regularly, I gave up all thought of colour printing and bough a laser printer B/W only but with a built -in scanner as bonus.  After a year of being kept in non-aircon room, it till prints when I need a hard copy and scans as well.  I find that I do not need colour printing, so this is fine for me.  if I want colour prints I go to local photo printing shop. Much less stressful that trying to get ink-jet to work and cheaper that buying new ink every time I wanted to print.  

If you can manage without colour printing, then I suggest you get a laser.  I have HP but only because that was the cheapest inn the shop at the time.

It is not the make of printer that is the problem, it is any ink-jet.  Either print a page every day or get a b/w laser.  Unless you can afford  a coour laser.

Ink-jet printers are sold so cheap because the manufacturer makes money from ink not the hardware of the printer.

I have tried every trick I could think of with ink-jets... taking out the cartridges and keeping them in sealed plastic bags, ( thy leak in the bag,)

or covering the ink-jets when not in use.

Nothing worked until I bought a b/w laser.  

[ukrules]

7 minutes ago, Robin said:

If you can manage without colour printing, then I suggest you get a laser.

Just get a colour laser printer, something like the Canon ImageClass MF645CX

 

Crossy recommended an earlier Canon model a long time ago somewhere on this forum, that model is no longer in production and was replaced by the above one.

 

They're not exactly cheap but they never dry out and if you only use it occasionally then the toner that comes with it will last you for years.

 

It's a colour copier, scanner, printer all in one.

 

Link https://asia.canon/en/consumer/imageclass-mf645cx/product

 

[paulbj2]

10 minutes ago, Robin said:

I got so fed up with ink-jet printers only printing for >3 months unless used regularly, I gave up all thought of colour printing and bough a laser printer B/W only but with a built -in scanner as bonus.  After a year of being kept in non-aircon room, it till prints when I need a hard copy and scans as well.  I find that I do not need colour printing, so this is fine for me.  if I want colour prints I go to local photo printing shop. Much less stressful that trying to get ink-jet to work and cheaper that buying new ink every time I wanted to print.  

If you can manage without colour printing, then I suggest you get a laser.  I have HP but only because that was the cheapest inn the shop at the time.

It is not the make of printer that is the problem, it is any ink-jet.  Either print a page every day or get a b/w laser.  Unless you can afford  a coour laser.

Ink-jet printers are sold so cheap because the manufacturer makes money from ink not the hardware of the printer.

I have tried every trick I could think of with ink-jets... taking out the cartridges and keeping them in sealed plastic bags, ( thy leak in the bag,)

or covering the ink-jets when not in use.

Nothing worked until I bought a b/w laser.  

Same as that! I bought a colour laser printer which always prints impeccably no matter how long it has been left between prints. They are a bit more expensive but - you gets what you pays for! Laser printed documents also have the additional advantage of not smearing if they get slightly wet!

[Crossy]

As noted above, lasers print first time, every time.

 

The cost of colour lasers for low usage has reduced significantly and although the cost of consumables is higher than an inkjet an infrequent user isn't really going to notice.

 

Otherwise do you have a local photo or print shop that can do your occasional colour print?

[HashBrownHarry]

4 hours ago, Crossy said:

As noted above, lasers print first time, every time.

 

The cost of colour lasers for low usage has reduced significantly and although the cost of consumables is higher than an inkjet an infrequent user isn't really going to notice.

 

Otherwise do you have a local photo or print shop that can do your occasional colour print?

For all the times i need to print documents that's what i do, go to the nearest print shop, there's normally heaps of them near schools or amphurs.

[WorriedNoodle]

9 hours ago, thepdru said:

Any idea ?

I had HP before and thought they were a rip off. Replaced with a Canon Pixma 2010 with built in ink tanks. After 2 years tanks still 60% full. Sometimes after several months of non use the tubes from tanks loose the ink, so the built in app to recharge the device has it reworking in no time. The cost of printer and ink was same as than replacement cartridges of my old HP.

[tomazbodner]

9 hours ago, thepdru said:

hello, do you know any computer printer (color) that can still be used months after the last time we used it ?

I cannot stand anymore the $hite HP inkjet printers that always have a problem when not regularly used.

Any idea ?

 Thank you.

Get a color laser.

[DaLa]

I had the same problem when I was returning to the UK for 3 months. On my return my printer was fit for the bin. I have replaced them with Dell Laser printers, not particularly expensive and I have no problems after a few months of no use.

 

The cartridges I  get from cartridgessave.co.uk at half the price of Dell manufactured.  I have seen printer shops here re-fill certain cartridges.

 

I once took a memory stick with some documents I wanted printing to a print shop.  All fine and cheap (ish), however the stick was returned to me with a virus on it.  I print all my visa requirement documents myself so they are easy for IO to read. I believe they appreciate this as I can understand trying to read a foreign language in some peoples hand written scribble would be a test for me.  

[pgrahmm]

Wasted a lot of time & money trying to nurse an HP ink jet.....

We went to an Epson with the 4 refillable tanks & it's been problem free....It can scan + make b/w or color copies + wifi.....

It does sit for months, but then be used heavily - then sit again.....

Occasionally, I have to run through the head cleaning cycle when going to start using; and it always does well...

We've had it about 4 years trouble free....

[MJCM]

I have a Brother DCP-T500W which is a Color ink jet, this is my 2nd one because the head on the first one died from clogged up ink because I didn't use it that much. So I bought another one and by accident (or RTFM) I found out that if you leave the printer on (all the time in standby) it at regular intervals does the cleaning / maintenance automatically.

 

It's now over 2 years old and prints/scans/copies as good as when I got it.

[Kiujunn]

26 minutes ago, MJCM said:

I have a Brother DCP-T500W which is a Color ink jet, this is my 2nd one because the head on the first one died from clogged up ink because I didn't use it that much. So I bought another one and by accident (or RTFM) I found out that if you leave the printer on (all the time in standby) it at regular intervals does the cleaning / maintenance automatically.

 

It's now over 2 years old and prints/scans/copies as good as when I got it.

Why didn't you tell me 4 years ago when I bought my second Brother? 

I got rid of it after 2 years because clogging had made it unusable. 

And yes, it did this cleaning,  but I never realized there was a reason for this,  and you didn't tell me ????

So had it switched off for months at a time...

[seajae]

hp are total <deleted>, bought a new model hp with ink tanks and never opened the box(sealed) till I built my new computer 12 months later, filled the tanks hooked it all up and did a test print, wouldnt print black, only colour. Tried contacting hp Thailand but they would not answer any emails so finally contacted head office in the US. Their technicians told me what to do but still never worked so kept giving me more things to try, eventually they told me it was caused by windows/windows office so I got in touch with MS, they got me to let them link to my pc and ran heaps of tests, eventually they told me it was definitely the printer. Got back to hp informing them and they told me my warranty had expired so they would do nothing, several thousand baht down the drain, will stick with canon

[connda]

You need a laser printer.

[thcosh]

I do not believe anyone saying that an inkjet printer is no problem ! I tested all and you clearly do not know what you are talking about if you think that any inkjet is okay.

 

 

[muratremix]

Get a brother with ink tank. Keep it connected to power. While in standby mode, it cleans head so even if you don't print anything for months, it keeps working!

[thcosh]

On 12/1/2020 at 7:33 PM, muratremix said:

Get a brother with ink tank. Keep it connected to power. While in standby mode, it cleans head so even if you don't print anything for months, it keeps working!

 

I would not recommend the krap ink tanks.

 

laser is the only way to go.

 

 

[robblok]

Laser printers rule, got a scanner fax copier from HP black only but it works good. I almost never need color. But if I did id go for a color laser printer. Inkjet is nice but the problems people talk about happen a lot.

[muratremix]

inkjets per print cost is a lot lower than Laser, even if you use non-original replacement toners.

I had a color laser from xerox once, it was awful. So many issues.

[VocalNeal]

Just frequently print a new mouse pad or "Things to do today" list 

 

Life is not that difficult. 

[BigStar]

3 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

Just frequently print a new mouse pad or "Things to do today" list 

 

Life is not that difficult. 

No, I'm not gonna remember every few days to take off the printer cover, drop and adjust the paper feed, open the paper tray, put in paper and align, turn on the printer, wait for warmup, find the new mousepad or to-do list, load it into Word, hit the print button, wait for the print, take out the paper, throw it away, then reverse the other steps.

 

Some of us are not here for months on end, either for work or vacation. How about you coming over and doing that in our absence? Whoops--life's difficult.

 

I'll just go thru that w/ my laser only when I need to print something every few months. ???? Sorted.

[VocalNeal]

1 hour ago, BigStar said:

Some of us are not here for months on end,

 

Sorry that bit is not my problem.

 

Just sayin. I had a Canon inkjet for about ten years. Sure it needed a clean every now and again but I simply left it switched on and used it every few days. Just had a printer test page loaded somewhere as a photo.

[Daffy D]

Some printer test pages:-

 

Printer testseite!.pdf