Printer Dilemma and Advice?

[SynicalFox]

So currently I have the following:

HP P1005 Monochrome laser jet
HP Desktjet 3835 Inkjet Colour

Ink costs:
Toner for HP P1005 : R300 - R350
Cartridges: B/W : R200
Colour : R250

Now we don't replace the cartridges in the ink jet as they are too expensive for a mere 200 prints on average. So I organized the Laser jet and have been through just over 500 sheets so far no issues on the generic.
The only issue I am having is the fact that having 2 printers on the desk takes up soo much space. It is annoying and well also, making copies of stuff involves scanning to my desktop, then printing to the laser jet which sometimes ends up in prints that are lighter than the original making for a headache for such a simple task. Not to mention that printing is only done from my PC at the moment which sucks.

So I want to be able to minimise the printers to 1 single printer if possible and maybe get network printing.
I have a microserver which I intended to setup a printer on and share the printer over the network with to turn the printer into a network printer. problem is with the difficulty of scanning and printing being 2 different printer's, it is a pain in the ass now.

So the choices are:
Purchase a second hand Samsung CLX-3175 Colour Laser Printer (Around R1000) - specs
Or
I purchase a new Canon G2411 Ink Tank System for R2600 (I'll claim back R600 from Canon as a promotional cash back offer) : Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store
Or
This Epson Ink Tank System Printer R2000 : Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

Feature comparison:
So the Colour Laser Printer has ethernet and network printing built in and would be an all in one printer solution. It also seems very compact and very good quality.
Only issue is the fact that toner generics are R450 each.
Total Cost to setup: R1800 (will yield 1000+ prints)

Ink Tank System printers mentioned will be high initial cost but ink bottles are R200 a bottle for Canon and R150 for Epson. They claim around 1000 prints or more and replacing ink is cheap enough.
This does seem like the ideal solution but not sure on whether I can actually network these and wanting to avoid having the printer only really usable on one PC.

See for copies, at least if the copies can be done where you press black and white button and it scans and copies, that would work fine. Otherwise sometimes scanning will have to be done but then it is difficult to scan when not at the PC which the printer in near, since you change the pages all the time. Unless you scan using ADF.

So this is a tough situation and I'm leaning towards the Ink Tank System. Either way I have to probably spend money out of my pocket just to get rid of the 2 printers for a single one.

 

[bloedmonster]

I have one of the Epson ink tank systems which was actually handed down to me as my in law was so impressed he went and bought the one with WiFi and gave me the other one.
The ink costs on these printers are just incomparable with redundant cartridge based and, I think, very competitive towards toner based alternatives.

 

[SILTECH786]

"I purchase a new Canon G2411 Ink Tank System for R2600 (I'll claim back R600 from Canon as a promotional cash back offer) : Takealot.com: Online'

I am keen on this model aswell only drawback no wifi ,the G3411 does have it at an extra R400 which seems the better buy long term as I scan docs now and then also copy function usefull instead of me going to postnet

Plus they offering 800 back so makes perfect sense

 

[Apache]

Hi there,
Both these machines are very entry level.
I would recommend the Epson over the Canon unit as the print head lasts longer and they practically pioneered the whole ink tank system initially cos they were loosing out to the lasers.
I would recommend the L3050 though as its got WiFi and it's much faster than the previous 2 you mentioned.
Furthermore, check out the link below

https://www.epson.co.za/promotions/extended-warranty

Good luck

Sent from my Mi A2 using Tapatalk

 

[PHalanKS]

My wife bought the Epson L6170, not cheap at around 6k but so far it's on track to completing 5000-6000 pages on one bottle of ink. She did some calcs and worked out the cost was around 6c per page. She's also bought a few of the cheaper models (L4xxx) for work.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

[SynicalFox]

To raise a point of thought:
The HP Deskjet 3835 we have is a WiFi printer and well, the WiFi printing on it SUCKS!!!
You will try scan something, it will scan maybe one page then go offline and you have to switch it on/off to get it to work. Works for a few pages then disconnects.
Whenever coming to print, it would always fail, then you turn it on/off and it will work for a while before needing a restart to work over WiFi. Really frustrating and would rather avoid these issues, hence not going for the WiFi options. I'd rather setup network printing software side and have it computer controlled where it will be better spooled and managed until it hits the printer via a USB cable or Network cable.
Not sure if WiFi on Canon and Epsons are handled differently but HP wifi is garbage on this particular model.

At this point I am leaning towards the Ink Tank System as it will be a brand new printer and once of cost for cheap printing solution and Ink provides vibrant colours compared to Toner. It just won't be as crisp for documents as toner is but that is a fine trade-off if I can have an effort free single printer solution. 2 printers is space consuming.

My budget I pegged at R2000 purely because I could only realistically afford to spend R1000 (would be my own spending as the 2 printers is a me problem). I know with both these Printer's resale I would maybe only get R800 - R1000.

Epson L382 seems to have the extended 3 year warranty from Epson and is Currently R2000

Epson L3060 with Wifi is R2500 from Takealot

Epson L3050 is R2800 from Takealot

Epson L3110 is R2500 from Takealot

Canon Pixma G2411 for R1950 (after R650 Cashback)

Canon Pixma G3411 for R2100 (After R800 Cashback)

Brother DCP-T510W for R2300 (Never really heard of them in the printing game - not sure on quality)

I think my issue is finding enough cash to purchase the Canon Pixma G3411 as you have to buy it for R2985 and then claim the cash back. But obviously this reduces the price of the printer quite a bit.
I am leaning for the Canon printer's due to longer warranty and apparently better since they pioneered the ink tank system. Plus cheaper bottles @ R140 vs Canon @ R200.

Seems the best bet for me here is the Epson L382 or L3050.

Just a concern, it seems HP has great support on Linux compared to other brands for CUPS. Not sure if I would get it right network sharing via Samba with the Canon or Epson printers listed.

 

[SCHUMI4EVER]

So basically you're still having problems going with any of the inkjets.
That means you should actually be going Laserjet. It's the only one that seems to actually end all your grief.

 

[Soul Assassin]

Just on your point above, I've had my Samsung printer with Wi-Fi for a couple of years now and in all that time I had to reenter my password one time, that's the only issue I've ever had with it.

 

[SynicalFox]

So basically you're still having problems going with any of the inkjets.
That means you should actually be going Laserjet. It's the only one that seems to actually end all your grief.

No, the Inkjet we have now is not and Ink Tank System. It uses cartridges which are expensive for a small number of prints. The WIFI on this model is utter crap. It doesn't work when trying to send prints to the printer or trying to scan from it.
Mind you, I haven't tried it since using the Mikrotik router, but it has no cartridges to try printing now 🤦‍♂️ .

Anyways, the Ink Tank system printers mentioned above won't be an issue at all from what I can tell. Just the initial outlay.

Just on your point above, I've had my Samsung printer with Wi-Fi for a couple of years now and in all that time I had to reenter my password one time, that's the only issue I've ever had with it.

The Samsung I mentioned above laser jet sounds awesome and has ethernet for network printing. Issue there is the cost of the printer will be R1000 + R1800 for all the generic toners. This should yield 1200+ prints though.
However comparing this to the Ink Tank Systems which I plan to spend R2000 - R2500 on, once I have to replace the ink anytime in the future, the bottles cost R140 each vs R450 per toner. So essentially it is the most cost effective.

I just can't decide on a brand to go with???

Or I go Mono Laser Jet with a scanner and we forget about colour printing?

An Alternative is I could always try buying generic cartridges for the HP Inkjet 3835 and then buy HP Ink Bottles and refill the cartridge when it runs out 🤷‍♂️ .

 

[SILTECH786]

I am going with the canon G3411 either now or when I return in the middle of june forward me your contact details at @SynicalFox I have an idea on my mind

 

[SCHUMI4EVER]

So you keep mentioning the Samsung's toner is pricier, but that's not like for like is it? 200 pages VS 550 or so?

 

[SynicalFox]

Update:

I ended up with the Epson L382, this was because I ended up getting an open/damaged packaging model (printer was brand new) through a friend for R1300 (incl. shipping). So at this fantastic price it was a no brainer.

So far this printer is brilliant and printing costs definitely will be quite cheap. Printing speed is also not that bad, definitely slower than laser jet but still not extremely slow.

Also, Epson has Linux drivers for this printer on their support websites, so that will also make it easier to have a print server.

Really awesome printer and very happy with it!

 

[JollyJamma]

Printers are most tech supports enemy. I refused to fix them after a while.

Shit goes wrong and then it either requires an expensive part or a service and it never really works well after that.

Always lease a printer as a business and upgrade when the current one starts to give problems.