Help me pick a good printer please!?

Question

I currently have a Brother All-in-One printer (w/fax). I am so sick of it 'eating' the color inks. About 99% of the time I print in black only, but due to the printer having 'cleaning' cycles and such it constantly uses up my color ink cartridges. And the printer WILL NOT let you print AT ALL unless you refill all empty cartridges. You can not even print in grayscale to bypass the empty color inks. It is soooo frustrating!!

So I decided to bite the bullet and by a brand new printer. I am looking for a printer that
#1 (and the most important) - can still print in black if the color cartridges are empty.
#2 - is an all-in-one WITH fax
#3 - is reasonably priced... definitely under $300.
#4 (if possible) - can be set up to wirelessly print from my laptop.

Thanks in advance to everyone! :)

For HP users - Can you print in black if the color inks are empty?

Wow what a great idea to keep the old Brother for color jobs. Never thought of that! (Duh me!)

Answer 1

Keep the printer you have for colour jobs.

Get a laser printer for the B&W.

Lasers are a lot cheaper to run (about 5 cents per page as opposed to 30+ cents per page)
The ink does not run if the paper gets wet.
You get a much better print quality on cheap paper.

If you want wireless, there are some wireless printers out there. I like my Canon ip5200R (Inkjet, 3 colour 2 black cartridges) Or you can get a regular printer and spend an extra $50 to $80 on a wireless print server. Or a wired print server if the printer can go next to your router. My second printer is a Samsung ML-2510 laser on a D-link wired print server. (Office Max had it on sale.)

Answer 2

ALL IN ONE PRINTERS ARE NOT AS GOOD AS STAND ALONE. Jack of all trades/master of none. Wireless is not a problem, many printers can add a wireless print server. MANY printers wont let you print with empty color carts. If you need B&W 99% of the time, choose a samsung brother or hp LASER and have a buddy print off your color work. Lasers are ALOT cheaper per page an they dont dry out, and you dont have to print test pages once a week to keep your inkheads from drying up. I HAVE seen HP and Brother color lasers for about 300.

Answer 3

I recommend NOT getting an all in one. They tend to be poor performers at every function they have.

For printing, get a color laser printer. The toner never dries up, and they generally have a lower TCO than an inkjet does. There are some decent ones out for a couple hundred bucks. Before you balk at the price, think about how many pages you get out of your color inks before they dry up, and at 30+ per cartrige, that adds up quick.

Then, get a black and white fax machine.

Answer 4

I don't know much about printers but I do know that I ahve the same problems iwth mine chewing ink as yours does. The printer I have is an Epson stylus....I would highly recommend NOT buying epson.....try HP maybe?

Answer 5

HP Officejet 5610v All-in-One.

Not sure about the wireless aspect, but it's inexpensive, versatile and reliable. Honestly the best printer I've had in my 19 or so years of printing.

Good luck!

Answer 6

the most significant thing you should consider is your use, how you will use the printer or other built in devices, because, using a device is almost the same as not to use it, they probably go away after a time. but i suggest you, stand alones are better than multi function devices, they are really cheaper but once a component breaks the whole system is down. good luck!!!

Answer 7

HP or Lexmark printers both have fax are great to use..
just go to

www.lexmark.com
or
http://www.shopping.hp.com/can/printers/all_in_ones/1/storefronts;HHOJSID=2k5LGT7ZVGZbjsS4kSRLN94KvGp3xPvqhF5yQ81B7345YWSLQbms!-2041350610

I have the HP..

Good Luck..

Answer 8

I love my epson printer-- i dont know about fax, but my cx3810 prints, scans and copies.... their website is also very helpful