Which small printer?

[Ignis Fatuus]

Looking for a printer: typical usage 1 or 2 pages B&W per day, plus another 10 or so per month. Very occasional colour, may go for a couple of months without printing a colour page.

Want wireless networking.
Want it very compact (therefore OK with inkjet rather than laser).

Don't want colour heads to gum up from lack of use (maybe want a printer where heads are part of cartridges?)
Don't want B&W printing to use up colour ink.
Don't want it to refuse to print B&W if colour reservoir is empty.
Don't want it to shut down after a factory-set number of pages.
Don't want it to refuse generic catrtridges.

Any recommendations?

[Uncle Albert]

Colour laser?

They don't gum up so far as I'm aware.

Toner costs are horrendous though.

Tell me about it. Plan B does a bit of A3 colour printing. It's about £1000 for a full set of toner for the OKI printer we bought and another £500 ish for the image drums.

[Ignis Fatuus]

I currently have a samsung ML2251N (mono laser, ethernet but no wireless) that just keeps working, and uses a £60 toner cartridge every couple of years or so.

However we are moving to a new house and it has been suggested to me that it is an excessively bulky object to have sitting around the house. On reflection I realise that this is so, of course. So I am looking for something that is as small as practicable, and that can sit disceetly anywhere, especially in the cupboard under the stairs.

Maybe just go for a very cheap job and toss it when the heads get blocked.

[v8gaz]

Colour laser?

They don't gum up so far as I'm aware.

Toner costs are horrendous though.

Colour Laser. Toner costs are high, but as you probably only need to change the toner every few years, its often cheaper to get the latest greatest printer for 200 quid. Thats what 'ive been doing.

[stek]

Which small printer?

I got a massive HP Colour Laserjet 4700 network duplex printer from EBay for £200 last April in fact. Second hand but refurbed.

The colour toners are still well over half full, black is low about 15% left. When it's empty I'll maybe just buy another printer from same place.

Powers down to almost off too.

[BolshieBastard]

Looking for a printer: typical usage 1 or 2 pages B&W per day, plus another 10 or so per month. Very occasional colour, may go for a couple of months without printing a colour page.

Want wireless networking.
Want it very compact (therefore OK with inkjet rather than laser).

Don't want colour heads to gum up from lack of use (maybe want a printer where heads are part of cartridges?)
Don't want B&W printing to use up colour ink.
Don't want it to refuse to print B&W if colour reservoir is empty.
Don't want it to shut down after a factory-set number of pages.
Don't want it to refuse generic catrtridges.

Any recommendations?

That's a hell of a requirements wish list for a small infrequent use printer

Looks like lots of folk have missed you said no laser. Any inkjet printer used infrequently will be liable for the print heads to clog but as you will be printing daily, this shouldnt really happen. Problems tend to occur if you only print once or twice a month and dont follow the printer's cleaning regime.

You could take a look at the Canon Pixma mini260 or HP Officejet 100 Mobile Printer. The perverse thing with mini printers is they tend to be far more expensive to buy than their larger counterparts.

[Lumiere]

I need one of those too (with a scanner though) !

Currently using an old Epson all-in-one inkjet, which is OK and cartridges only cost a fiver per year max, but it has all those annoying features that you have listed - needs colour to print black, heads need cleaning when not in use for some period, no wi fi etc.

[Ignis Fatuus]

That's a hell of a requirements wish list for a small infrequent use printer

Looks like lots of folk have missed you said no laser. Any inkjet printer used infrequently will be liable for the print heads to clog but as you will be printing daily, this shouldnt really happen. Problems tend to occur if you only print once or twice a month and dont follow the printer's cleaning regime.

You could take a look at the Canon Pixma mini260 or HP Officejet 100 Mobile Printer. The perverse thing with mini printers is they tend to be far more expensive to buy than their larger counterparts.

Thanks for reading the question! However I will be printing 1 page B&W per day, but not colour. So the colour jets are liable to clog. (Also I do want wireless, which the portable printers tend not to have).

As for the colour jets, there are a number of possibilities and I should probably just pick one and live with it:
A: overriding decision: do I ever want to print colour, or not? No "occasionally", but either Yes or No.

B: if Yes:
I believe that e.g. HP printers have the head unit with the cartridge, so every time you buy a new cartridge you get a new jet.
Or I could schedule a regular cleaning cycle even if I happen not to print anything in colour that month/week/whatever.
Or I could just replace the printer if it gets clogged up
Or maybe I could force B&W printing to use colour inks??

if No:
Just let the colour jets clog if they like, and never attempt to do a good colour print. I currently have a mono laser so that's actually No Change.



Actually it shouldn't be a daunting requirements list. All I want is a small wireless prrinter for B&W, that won't eff me about (by refusing to: print black if yellow has run out; or use a Tesco cartridge; or keep going after a predetermined "obsolescence" page count). I really don't like being taken for a mug.

[BolshieBastard]

Thanks for reading the question! However I will be printing 1 page B&W per day, but not colour. So the colour jets are liable to clog. (Also I do want wireless, which the portable printers tend not to have).

Years ago, canon used to produce small black ink only printers. Im not sure if anyone makes a portable black ink only printer nowadays. If that is the case and only black and colour are available, you'd be recommended to do a colour test print at least once a month to make sure the colour printheads dont clog.

You can buy cleaning cartridges although different people report different success with these.

As for the colour jets, there are a number of possibilities and I should probably just pick one and live with it:
A: overriding decision: do I ever want to print colour, or not? No "occasionally", but either Yes or No.

B: if Yes:
I believe that e.g. HP printers have the head unit with the cartridge, so every time you buy a new cartridge you get a new jet.

Generally, HP have the printhead on the cartridge. Others such as epsom and brother, use ink tanks with fixed printheads in the printer. Either system is just as reliable and the dots per inch determines the print quality not the cartridge system.

Or I could schedule a regular cleaning cycle even if I happen not to print anything in colour that month/week/whatever.

TBH, if using a printer infrequently, Id recommend a cleaning cycle once a month (more if one prints a lot of colour pictures). You shouldnt have any probs with the black (text?) printing. As you say you'd use the colour infrequently, I'd recommend a colour print clean at least once a month though.

If you use HP colour cartridges, you can gently clean the printhead using the steam from a kettle and piece of clean paper kitchen towel. Hold the cartridge printhead in the steam for a few seconds then gently swipe the cartridge down the paper towel in the direction of the printheads so you can see 3 lines of colour. Repeat with steam and swipe if one or more of the colours isnt strong on the towel.

Or I could just replace the printer if it gets clogged up
Or maybe I could force B&W printing to use colour inks??

Portable printers tend to be more expensive so the model of chuck the printer away once the ink runs out isnt a good one! Even when printing in colour, the black ink is used so all cartridges are used. There's no black & white ink btw

if No:
Just let the colour jets clog if they like, and never attempt to do a good colour print. I currently have a mono laser so that's actually No Change.

It is always best not to let printheads clog and quite easy to avoid but yes, that's a possibility.

Actually it shouldn't be a daunting requirements list. All I want is a small wireless prrinter for B&W, that won't eff me about (by refusing to: print black if yellow has run out; or use a Tesco cartridge; or keep going after a predetermined "obsolescence" page count). I really don't like being taken for a mug.

LOL! If I could make and market one of those printers, I might stand a chance of a plan B. Manufacturers spend lots of money to stop re manufacturered or non OEM cartridges being used in their printers despite them all claiming to be 'green' and into re cycling!

[Sysman]

Actually it shouldn't be a daunting requirements list. All I want is a small wireless prrinter for B&W, that won't eff me about (by refusing to: print black if yellow has run out; or use a Tesco cartridge; or keep going after a predetermined "obsolescence" page count). I really don't like being taken for a mug.

5/6 years ago I got a Brother mono laser and an extra cartridge. I am still on the second cartridge.

It was worth it for the lack of hassle.

1. no more having to fit new cartridges / rush out and buy one so that I could get an invoice in the evening post
2. no more endless whirring and farting noises from the head cleaning cycle every time I wanted to print a page or two
3. instant printing - no more delays doing that head cleaning

Point 3 used to drive me nuts.

For the small amount of colour printing I do nowadays, I slip stuff onto a USB stick and take it to a print shop 2 minutes walk away. I probably spend less time in a year going there and getting served than the time I used to spend waiting for the head cleaning cycle and changing cartridges.