YESTERDAY’S PRINTER BLEG FROM READER CINDY FRANCIES PRODUCED A LOT OF EMAIL FROM READERS. Quite a few recommended my Wireless Brother though it looks kinda pricey now, at about double what I paid for it when I bought it a couple of years back. What’s up with that? Several folks also wrote that they’re still using HP Laserjet 4L printers from 20 years ago. Yeah, those are tanks — I’ve got one that still works, too, though its lack of modern cabling makes it less useful. I should probably get a parallel to USB adapter or something. . . .
On to the more responsive responses. Reader John Milton likes the $79.99 Samsung ML2525W and comments: “CNet editors rated it excellent. Contrary to the user reviews, I found the wireless setup to easy. I was especially interested because I had read that 1200×1200 dpi was the threshhold for typeset quality. Unfortunately, my eyesight is 300×300 dpi.” Lots of others liked the Samsung wireless printers in general.
Lots of people liked the Epson Workforce machines, too. Typical was reader James Burns, who writes: “I have an Epson Workforce 520 ($69.99 through Amazon) and an Epson Workforce 635 ($129.99 through Amazon). I would recommend either one. The Epson is very easy to set up, the wireless works well, and the scanning software is excellent — my wife works from home and dozens of documents every week. The only down side is that they do not have a manual paper feeder. I previously had a Lexmark. The ink was more expensive than the Epson and the scanning software was horrible — it would turn a 5 page text document into a 10 meg pdf. I would recommend not getting a Lexmark.”
Several readers liked the Canon Pixma MG8120 wireless inkjet, though it’s a bit pricier than the above.
Reader Patrick Lasswell writes: “HP LaserJet 1102w. Reason: HP basic feature laserjets are rock solid. I got a 1020 for Michael Totten when we were working on Iraq gigs and his multifunction whizzy toy broke on him when he had a deadline. Four years later his printer has never had a moment of downtime, and neither has mine that I got so our documents were interchangeable. The more features, the more downtime. The 1102w has a 5,000 page a month duty cycle, more than enough for a college student’s whole dorm floor.”
The counterargument is this: At most colleges students can print B&W documents via the network (there’s often a per-page charge past a certain level, but it’s usually pretty cheap). But color printing is usually a bit harder. So a color multifunction in the dorm room is a good backup/supplement.
Below $100 or so, you can get a pretty good inkjet or laser. Generally the inkjets are much more per-page. So do your b&w printing on the college machines, and the color printing in your dorm room — and if you absolutely must print out a long paper in your room, say because you’ve finished it just before class (next time, don’t procrastinate!) you can.