D2 would like a printer that can print, scan, copy. Print and scan probably most important (?) She will (hopefully!) be a grad student next year and hasn’t needed on for undergrad but feels like this would be an added convenience for the future.
I have seen “mini” printers when I’ve been out and about but don’t know the brands, etc. I just think something pretty compact would be nice. Also don’t want to spend a lot so economical price is a priorty.
Any recommendations? I’ll keep a list and be checking prices will the holiday sales coming up.
I was in a similar situation as your daughter several years ago when I started veterinary school and wanted a printer. It has been very convenient to print at home and not have to go to campus. With printers the cheaper ones tend to have more expensive ink. So if she plans are printing in any volume, make sure you consider that cost too. Also, keep in mind any special features, I specially wanted a printer that would automatically duplex so I would save paper.
I ended up getting a HP laser printer. It does not scan but I can do that at school when the need arrises and my print costs per page are quite cheap which was important to me.
Printers that won’t be used a lot are hard. Ink jets really need regular use; otherwise the cartridges dry out / nozzles clog. Laser printers are much better for infrequent / sporadic use, but have a higher up front cost.
Alternatively, try and snag some Black Friday deals. A ~$25 printer you can treat as disposable may make sense.
Yep. Find a cheap one for under a $100. My grad child has one that she uses occasionally - if she has lots to print, she sends it to a campus printer for free, but nice to have options since she likes to edit on hard copy. And every niw and then a professor wants a printed copy of paper. She also uses it when she draws cards for people and wants to print in color. She has a Canon multifunction which if you search you can find for around $35. Hasn’t had clogging problems and has had same one since undergrad.
We also have a laser at home that just does B&W that is faster and cheaper to use, but it’s larger and she doesn’t print that much - just really needs a backup and a way to scan if needed. But looks like you can also find those under $100. Black Friday would be a good plan.
I tend to buy whatever’s cheapest at Costco and a multifunction. Often they can be purchased for under $100. Sadly, the ink can be expensive but if she wants to save, she can have the ink refilled at Costco or somewhere and save. Generally, as long as you print at least a page every week or two, the ink stays working OK. If you let it go too long, it dries out and is no good.
I’ve mostly had HPs and been happy with them. It’s pretty easy to find replacement ink. I have bought a very inexpensive Brother scanner, fax machine, printer from HomeDepot. I believe it was about $25 or so. I have only used it as a fax machine though, so no idea about how well the other functions work. That is fairly compact. Never bought any replacement supplies for it (like ink), since never use those portions of the machine.
Look at what Amazon offers. Read any Q&A and reviews to get an idea what’s reliable or issues.
Frankly, we got D1 a printer her freshman year, $30 HP from WalMart. She grad’d 5 years ago and now I’m using it. Workhorse. Small. But no scan or copying.
We bought our S a printer at Frye’s electronics when he started at the U. He gave it to D and she had it for years as well. It worked for them and was fairly sturdy and inexpensive. Don’t remember details but it was handy for them to have it where they lived at times.
The printers above don’t have a scanner, but Adobe has a free scanner app which works well. The app lets you crop, rotate, reorder pages, etc. and save the scans as PDF files https://acrobat.adobe.com/us/en/mobile/scanner-app.html
I would second the Epson ET-2750. The Ecotank really does last a long time. I’m almost at the end of 2 years on mine, with no replacing. With HP and Canon inkjets, I would have to change cartridges seemingly after every 100-200 pages. No one likes to replace cartridges so often, and even if you’re the type that likes to go to Costco or wherever to refill the cartridges, college kids don’t like to waste their time doing this.
