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Hey lemmy. I've been paying out of pocket to get stickers printed from online printing companies. But its getting expensive and I think I'd like to get a printer to do the job.

HOWEVER, I've been avoided getting a printer, because, well, the whole thing is just a shit show. Our household went through like a printer a year for almost four years. Between ink prices, and the printers just failing, we threw our hands up and said fuck it. Not playing this game, so we shifted to printing services or the local library.

So I'm looking for a very basic (I think?) printer. Honestly, a black only printer might even be fine. I've heard I think that maybe Canons or Brothers are the ones you want and HP's are to be avoided. The purpose of the printer will be to print stickers on sticker paper. What printer should I buy?

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[-] AA5B@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Make sure you know the price of sticker paper and whether you’re really saving any money.

I think canons been enshittified, but mines been solid for over a decade. I buy cheap third party ink, and the difference is big enough to save money even if it’s another cartridge per session. Realistically I haven’t printed anything in like two years

[-] ApollosArrow@lemmy.world 6 points 4 hours ago

My wife has a brother black/white laser printer. I got it about 5yrs ago and still going with no issues. She does sell things and makes labels and also uses a small thermal printer that pumps out label packages. Not sure if that can double for stickers for you, but could be an option.

[-] sturmblast@lemmy.world 8 points 7 hours ago

Brother laser printers are my current go to

[-] Alberat@lemmy.world 3 points 7 hours ago

I had a brother printer (mfc) that i bought and gave to my friend after a couple years. bought another and the colors are off but it works. the ink dries out tho so i was thinking my next printer might use toner/lasers. i just buy ink cartriges, i don't refill.

[-] imetators@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 7 hours ago

If you are fine with ink printers, get inktank which you can refill yourself with pretty much any ink you can find. Never buy ink cartridge one like ever. Also, I would opt out of ink printers if you are not using them so often and if speed is preferable. They are slow as fuck and in my experience, a seldom used printer would at some point clog and it is pretty much impossible to clean this shit out.

As for laser ones, get preferably Brother. I have Lexmark and their toners can be refilled at home which is nice but I believe Brother toners if not easily refillable at home, can be refiled at print shops for cheap. Also, look for part availability so that in case of some part become broken, you can easily get a replacement off the web. Then you're set!

[-] Mylemmypt@lemmy.world 2 points 9 hours ago

I have bought a brother laser printer 8 years ago. It just stop working, because of a know problem of not turning on. There's a workaround that a used, and lately let it always on, but it finally stopped working, even with the workaround. Although it was a good printer because I would have spend many times its value if I had used the cheap ones. I also have a xerox and canon laser printer and so far so good.

[-] Bwaz@lemmy.world 12 points 17 hours ago

Brother laser printer. Mine's going on 9 years now, a cartridge lasts so long I have to look up how to change it when it finally needs it.

[-] Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca 50 points 22 hours ago

Brother is the only real choice. Their MFC are very versatile and handy and quite reasonable.

[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 2 points 11 hours ago

After a long time with HP printers, i switched to Epson Ecotank series. Way better with regards to ink usage and prices.

Key features for me: all-in-one device that also scans and copies, feeder for the scanner, double-sided printing, color.

[-] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 4 points 14 hours ago

The Brothers are really good, but the Ricohs closely behind and a little cheaper. Both with relatively few bullshit going on.

[-] Sequentialsilence@lemmy.world 25 points 22 hours ago

You are correct that Canon and Brother tend to be the best straight forward printers. Brother is better for laser printing and Canon is better for ink jet printing. If you go ink jet go with individual cartridges instead of the combined cartridges it’s way less fuss.

If you can do laser the basic Brothers just work. We had one in our woodshop for almost a decade. Sawdust spray paint etc. and it just did not care. It didn’t end up dying even, we just swapped it for a color version, and we’re on year 4 with that one.

[-] jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

I've got a small Canon MFC laser printer/copier. No complaints at all. It only prints black and white but I tend to scan more than print so that was a big focus for me when I bought it.

[-] regedit@lemmy.zip 2 points 7 hours ago

Now THIS is a recommendation! My next printer (fuck HP) will be a Brother laser printer!

[-] coalie@piefed.zip 4 points 21 hours ago

I have been thinking about replacing my brother laser with a color laser. Not sure how much I would use it outside of printing commie things for Pathfinder games though.

[-] Maestro@fedia.io 5 points 20 hours ago

Maybe just go with a B&W printer and go to the local copy shop or library for the occasional color print? That's what I do.

[-] mech@feddit.org 19 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

Color Ink: Epson Ecotank (no cartridge bullshit)
B/W: Brother HL-L Series Laser (bulletproof, long-lasting, cheap)

[-] anon6789@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago

I found my Brother HL out on the curb on a lightly rainy day. I had passed by it on my walk thinking it was an Epson inkjet, but on my way back I saw it was one of those Brother BW lasers the Internet nerds always go on about so I brought it inside and dried it off.

Fired right up and has been handling my once a month or so printing duties ever since, still on the same toner that I found it with. Best non-commercial printer I've ever used.

[-] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 5 points 22 hours ago

Would there be any advantage to going just black and white?

[-] mech@feddit.org 19 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

The advantage is that you can get a cheap laser printer.
They'll happily print every day for years and cost next to nothing to run.
They'll also happily print after you didn't use them for a long time.
Ink printers are generally less durable, cost much more to run and their heads dry out if you don't use them regularly.
Color laser printers are expensive, big, and the color isn't good enough for photos, only colored documents.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 7 points 22 hours ago

Color laser printers are expensive, big, and the color isn’t good enough for photos, only colored documents.

I own two (identical) color laser printers, can confirm two out of three. They're gigantic and the color isn't very vibrant.

However, they weren't all that expensive because I got them used. Still not quite dirt-cheap like a black & white laser is, but affordable.

[-] yaroto98@lemmy.world 6 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

My brother color laser is decent, but the toner is expensive. So expensive that i buy knockoff toner. Which 95% of the time is solid. Until every once in a while a kid needs something printed that's a photo. Not sure why, but it is absolute garbage at photos. Like not even close. Streaks and bands of color everywhere. I'm not even trying fancy photo paper, just trying to get details. A caffeinated adhd toddler with fistful of crayons could do better.

But if you want to print a worksheet in color? Does fantastic.

Advantage being you only have to buy one toner cartridge and drum.

[-] GreyEyedGhost@piefed.ca 2 points 17 hours ago
[-] CMLVI@lemmy.world 4 points 22 hours ago

Depending on the age, you may need a new drum unit, but I think that may also just be a deficit of laser.

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[-] Zer0_F0x@lemmy.world 4 points 22 hours ago

Toner is cheaper if you have a laser black only, lots of pages per refill.

At work I've installed 10 color inkjet epson L6460 printers 2-3 years ago and most of them I still haven't refilled.

They come with 2 bottles of black ink and one of everything else, last forever, will print after 4 months unused if you do a print head cleaning (a few times in a row) and the Epson brand bottles are 8 - 12 bucks each.

For home use a cheaper Ecotank would probably serve you just as well.

[-] Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca 3 points 22 hours ago

Cost is like 100 times less per page.

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[-] maxxadrenaline@lemmy.world 3 points 21 hours ago

Eco tank uses ink that fades and is sub par. Laser toner printers are crisper and last longer.

[-] elucubra@sopuli.xyz 1 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

They are not sub par, they are dye based, which fade when continuously exposed to UV. Pigment inks are used in photo oriented printers, like prosumer and pro photo printers. Dye tends to clog less, pigment need more constant use.

Laser color printers are better in every respect except for photos. Laser color printers usually have a 300-600 DPI native resolution, while 1440 is common in inkjet printers. Also, inkjet puts liquid on the page, which means that a good driver can actually blend inks to achieve a much greater color gamut, while lasers can only put one of the 4 basic CMYK colors in a point.

Different use cases.

[-] PetteriPano@lemmy.world 3 points 21 hours ago

We recently retired our color laser printer of ten years for an epson ecotank. I'm happy with it two months in, and only the black has depleted some 10% with the Mrs doing a couple of color copies daily.

[-] Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it 3 points 21 hours ago

EcoTanks are so cool, you can buy their colors for cheap, you can get all colors refills for 15-20€ but they will last forever, bought last year, used them a lot for documents a few photos and a DnD sheet (with image included) and the tank is still full

[-] RustyShackleford@piefed.social 13 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

What’s your budget, here’s 2 options and they should work with the sheets.

Brother HL2405 $139: https://a.co/d/0bHDQ885

Brother HL2460DW $179: https://a.co/d/0ccXVUgP

[-] Furbag@lemmy.world 11 points 20 hours ago

Only advice I can give is if you are just printing on paper, pay the extra $ and get a laser printer. Avoid inkjets - they are a complete scam and a waste of money. The toner will last 10x longer, never goes bad or clogs up the print heads, and the quality is better.

I don't know how laser printers handle sticker sheets, but for all practical printing purposes I wholeheartedly recommend a laser printer.

Brother is also a solid brand. I have had mine for almost 10 years now and it's still running like the day I got it.

[-] bluGill@fedia.io 2 points 20 hours ago

For sticker sheets you want a straight through paper path - this often means feed sheets one at a time, and catch them out the back instead of letting them to to the paper tray.

Stickers meant for printing in printers generally will work with a normal feed though, so if you don't mind opening your printer you can take a chance and normally be okay.

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[-] empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 20 hours ago

Brother laser or bust. I use mine once a month Max and it's been years since I even serviced it, they simply last forever with no maintenance. Color laser is significantly more expensive for the initial buy than inkjet but supplies are infinitely cheaper per-page. Problem being I don't know how laser behaves with most sticker package paper, so you'll need to research your preferred stickers to make sure they are compatible.

[-] CMLVI@lemmy.world 11 points 22 hours ago

Echoing others, Brother laser printers. Cheap, reliable, and toner lasts forever. Initial one with purchase is like...40% of standard, and will still get you a few hundred pages. The regular ones are like 1200+, and the large ones are I think pushing 2k for like $70.

You can do stickers on sticker paper with lasers, but idk the quality. Is it like...address labels? If so, lasers are perfect tly fine for that. Fine details? Idk.

[-] MuttMutt@lemmy.world 3 points 16 hours ago

I can't say much about brands, I bought a Samsung color laser years ago and still use it.

What I will say is being able to network print is amazing and well worth having. I can print from my tablet, phone, or desktop.

[-] hexagonwin@lemmy.today 1 points 8 hours ago

i think samsung doesn't manufacturer printers anymore since a very long time ago. iirc it's a rebranded hp printer (at least in samsung's homeland korea) and quite notorious for breaking often

[-] MuttMutt@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

No they don't, Samsung sold their business to HP a few years ago. Mine was one of the last models that was actually Samsung made iirc.

I have been lucky enough that I can refill the toner cartridges and just replace the chips. Only major issue I have had is pulling through cardstock on a long run but that is something I rarely do and have learned to deal with.

[-] Tess@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 12 hours ago

My samsung printer had terribly unreliable network access. I could never figure out what its problem was.
In the end I connected a raspberry pi zero with a cups server to the usb port and let that one handle all the printer requests. It works so much better now.

[-] MuttMutt@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

The only issue I've had was when I switched to Linux. I set a static IP address in the printer when I first got it and always connect it via Ethernet. I've had it for a while but since Samsung sold off their printer brand a couple years later to HP I'm obviously not recommending them.

[-] solrize@lemmy.ml 7 points 22 hours ago

Old Brother laser printers are great. They're easy to find used, but it's unclear if they're still being made. For stickers there are thermal printers for just that purpose if you want to go that route.

[-] Melobol@lemmy.ml 3 points 21 hours ago

I have a brother laser printer. It is very basic, but it can print stickers with the right paper.
And the finished product won't run, because it is laser vs ink.
I just put the third toner in, and works fine.
The only thing if you get a basic one, make sure it can use the right wifi network in your home.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 3 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

Don't even think about getting an inkjet printer unless you really, really need color, and need it often. Even if you aren't dealing with DRM and price-gouging BS, the ink dries and gums up the print heads unless you're using them regularly.


For me, color is a want, not a need (meaning I'm not relying on the quality of the output or making money from it), and only an occasional one. But I did want it, along with other bells and whistles like automatic duplex printing, for my "buy it for life" printer. So I decided to go with a Brother color laser.

I ended up buying two used ones from some office getting rid of them on Craigslist for maybe $50? each. The one I actually print with -- the other is basically for spare parts -- has almost 60K pages on it and is complaining that it's due for some expensive "fuser" and "PF Kit" replacements, but it keeps working, so I haven't actually bothered yet.


If your use case is very much about stickers on sticker paper, and you're doing it regularly and often (not necessarily tons of pages at a time, but not going weeks at a time without printing anything), you may actually want an inkjet rather than a laser. Aside from the images not being as pretty as with an inkjet, the other disadvantage of a laser for you is that because it heats the paper, you might have to worry about paper compatibility to avoid gumming up the machine with melted adhesive.

[-] Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 1 points 17 hours ago
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