Help me buy a new printer
January 4, 2015 11:45 AM Subscribe
My fiancee and I are trying to keep wedding costs down and are entertaining the idea of printing some of the paper items necessary ourselves (rehearsal dinner invite, wedding invitation insert, ceremony program, etc.). Is there a consumer printer that costs under $150 that could do a pretty good job with these things? Looking at Amazon is kind of overwhelming with the various makes and models, and since I haven't bought a printer in many years I'm not sure what to trust.
We don't currently have a printer or scanner in our house, either, so this would be something we'd use for other purposes, as well. I know most printers nowadays come with scanning features so it would be a bonus if the recommended printer came with this functionality.
TL;DR: What's the best under-$150 printer available right now?
We don't currently have a printer or scanner in our house, either, so this would be something we'd use for other purposes, as well. I know most printers nowadays come with scanning features so it would be a bonus if the recommended printer came with this functionality.
TL;DR: What's the best under-$150 printer available right now?
I have bought a couple of printers in the last few months. First, I got the HP OfficeJet 6600. I would have gotten it again, but it was out of stock, so I got the Epson WF-3640, which is nice because it prints and scans on both sides.
These are both all-in-ones, which may be more than you are looking for, but I have been very happy with both.
posted by 4ster at 12:05 PM on January 4, 2015
These are both all-in-ones, which may be more than you are looking for, but I have been very happy with both.
posted by 4ster at 12:05 PM on January 4, 2015
I know most printers nowadays come with scanning features
I don't know that most in your price range do. I notice there is such a recommendation on that Wirecutter page, though I can't speak to it.
I was going to say that the Brother HL series is pretty great and also cheap. I have had an HL-1440 for going on a decade now and it's been a beast, getting me through all of law school and several other years of life. It is mostly-retired now, and I primarily use an HL-2270DW at my office, which is only a couple years old but is going strong. I am reassured by seeing a later model in that series on Wirecutter as a recommended "cheap printer" - both of mine were under a hundred bucks new. If you elect to spend a bit extra and get an included scanner, fair enough, but you can be confident that a recent Brother HL will be a solid, long-lasting B&W laser printer.
Oh, and we did use ours to print wedding invitations; it worked great after we got the manual feed set up properly. A little slow, but solid results.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 12:17 PM on January 4, 2015
I don't know that most in your price range do. I notice there is such a recommendation on that Wirecutter page, though I can't speak to it.
I was going to say that the Brother HL series is pretty great and also cheap. I have had an HL-1440 for going on a decade now and it's been a beast, getting me through all of law school and several other years of life. It is mostly-retired now, and I primarily use an HL-2270DW at my office, which is only a couple years old but is going strong. I am reassured by seeing a later model in that series on Wirecutter as a recommended "cheap printer" - both of mine were under a hundred bucks new. If you elect to spend a bit extra and get an included scanner, fair enough, but you can be confident that a recent Brother HL will be a solid, long-lasting B&W laser printer.
Oh, and we did use ours to print wedding invitations; it worked great after we got the manual feed set up properly. A little slow, but solid results.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 12:17 PM on January 4, 2015
Depending on the numbers you are printing (100 copies or 500, 3 documents or 12), you may also have the option of a cheap printing service (or print your own at Kinkos/Staples). I have found colour copying for something like $0.20 per page, which is less than toner is for my family's colour printer.
But I do highly recommend designing your own papery things, which is where you save a great deal of money.
As for programs and invites: we printed all of our own with the standard cheap printer we owned at the time (on a grad student budget). Nice paper makes the difference.
posted by jb at 12:44 PM on January 4, 2015
But I do highly recommend designing your own papery things, which is where you save a great deal of money.
As for programs and invites: we printed all of our own with the standard cheap printer we owned at the time (on a grad student budget). Nice paper makes the difference.
posted by jb at 12:44 PM on January 4, 2015
We printed ours at Staples and it worked out really well and cheaply.
EDIT: But to answer your actual question, we have an Epson Workforce that scans and prints and we're very happy with it EXCEPT we have never gotten the wireless to work. Apparently there are secret passwords that no other device requires.
posted by small_ruminant at 1:29 PM on January 4, 2015
EDIT: But to answer your actual question, we have an Epson Workforce that scans and prints and we're very happy with it EXCEPT we have never gotten the wireless to work. Apparently there are secret passwords that no other device requires.
posted by small_ruminant at 1:29 PM on January 4, 2015
the Brother HL series is pretty great and also cheap.
This is my answer to every "What is a good cheap printer?" question. Mine (HL-2170W) is five years old and just chugs along and it's fast for non-custom paper. I would just get a scanner separately, they're cheap, unless you really need the "make me a photocopy" feature of the combo things.
posted by jessamyn at 1:50 PM on January 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
This is my answer to every "What is a good cheap printer?" question. Mine (HL-2170W) is five years old and just chugs along and it's fast for non-custom paper. I would just get a scanner separately, they're cheap, unless you really need the "make me a photocopy" feature of the combo things.
posted by jessamyn at 1:50 PM on January 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
Thirding an HL, it's small, energy star rated, and handles medium bond paper well.
posted by nickggully at 1:54 PM on January 4, 2015
posted by nickggully at 1:54 PM on January 4, 2015
I have a Fuji-Xerox Docuprint CP250W that I bought specifically for printing off the exact same paper goods for our wedding. We used a paper with a sheen on it and everything turned out gorgeous. Good luck, and if you need to cut paper to size, DO NOT skimp on the guillotine/cutter - that will make the difference between torture and somewhat painful but doable.
posted by shazzam! at 1:04 AM on January 5, 2015
posted by shazzam! at 1:04 AM on January 5, 2015
Before you buy a printer, have a think about what you're going to print on, what you're planning to do with it, and how you want it to look.
Are you using extra-smooth heavyweight paper? Sometimes the toner might not bind fully, leaving you with smudgy print.
Is it a very textured looking paper, maybe with visible fibers in it? That might show through inkjet printing.
Are you printing on thick paper or cardstock? Check if the printer can handle the thickness of material. And if it's a compact printer, how much will it bend the paper as it's fed through? Curling and heating a thick piece of paper (like a laser print might do) can actually warp it enough to be visible.
Also, how much is your time worth? How many pages per minute is the machine going to produce, and how much effort do you need to put into finishing it? (That is, do you need to fold them? Glue anything in? Hand color anything?)
I tried to do something similar, and by the time we'd worked out combinations paper, ink/toner, and print, and then went through the process of printing, gluing and folding, it took a little over 8 solid evenings (maybe 40 hours or so). Was it worth a week's wages to do that? If you're not as bothered about the personal-handcraft touch, and you have the chops to layout the design yourself, which I guess you might if you're looking to do your own printing, you might want to consider an internet printing company.
Just for an example, this is one that delivers to the UK that will do you 200 copies of a full-color A5 card on heavyweight paperstock (they call it a "single-fold brochure) for £90 (about US$140 or €115), with 3-day delivery included.
Just a thought, though.
posted by Tara-dactyl at 2:56 AM on January 5, 2015
Are you using extra-smooth heavyweight paper? Sometimes the toner might not bind fully, leaving you with smudgy print.
Is it a very textured looking paper, maybe with visible fibers in it? That might show through inkjet printing.
Are you printing on thick paper or cardstock? Check if the printer can handle the thickness of material. And if it's a compact printer, how much will it bend the paper as it's fed through? Curling and heating a thick piece of paper (like a laser print might do) can actually warp it enough to be visible.
Also, how much is your time worth? How many pages per minute is the machine going to produce, and how much effort do you need to put into finishing it? (That is, do you need to fold them? Glue anything in? Hand color anything?)
I tried to do something similar, and by the time we'd worked out combinations paper, ink/toner, and print, and then went through the process of printing, gluing and folding, it took a little over 8 solid evenings (maybe 40 hours or so). Was it worth a week's wages to do that? If you're not as bothered about the personal-handcraft touch, and you have the chops to layout the design yourself, which I guess you might if you're looking to do your own printing, you might want to consider an internet printing company.
Just for an example, this is one that delivers to the UK that will do you 200 copies of a full-color A5 card on heavyweight paperstock (they call it a "single-fold brochure) for £90 (about US$140 or €115), with 3-day delivery included.
Just a thought, though.
posted by Tara-dactyl at 2:56 AM on January 5, 2015
One of the most important things is a manual feed if you are planning on printing envelopes or thicker papers (which you probably will be).
I had a small wedding invitation design business for 3 years, and found that printing anything more than 30 invitations at home was more expensive than sending it out to be professionally printed when I took into account my time and the cost of ink and paper.
I would suggest pricing out professional printing before buying a printer. You should include the price of supplies (paper, envelopes, toner, paper trimmer, glue, etc), and an estimate of how much time you will spend.
You can find some extremely affordable print shops that produce great results. I worked with Catprint, and never had any issues with timing or quality.
posted by elvissa at 8:50 AM on January 5, 2015
I had a small wedding invitation design business for 3 years, and found that printing anything more than 30 invitations at home was more expensive than sending it out to be professionally printed when I took into account my time and the cost of ink and paper.
I would suggest pricing out professional printing before buying a printer. You should include the price of supplies (paper, envelopes, toner, paper trimmer, glue, etc), and an estimate of how much time you will spend.
You can find some extremely affordable print shops that produce great results. I worked with Catprint, and never had any issues with timing or quality.
posted by elvissa at 8:50 AM on January 5, 2015
It doesn't make sense to cost your own time. Think about the time and whether it's worth it to you, but for many people worried about wedding costs (or any costs), we can more easily find more time (by skipping other activities or sleep) than more money. Money is a lot less elastic than time.
Or maybe I'm just poor: my time isn't worth as much as what little money I have.
posted by jb at 3:32 PM on January 5, 2015
Or maybe I'm just poor: my time isn't worth as much as what little money I have.
posted by jb at 3:32 PM on January 5, 2015
Oh, and if you're handy, consider a printer that works with an aftermarket CISS so that your ink is 1/10th of the cost.
But agreeing that this will take a lot of time - consider that you'll be spending a lot of time watching it go, babysitting the printer for any jams. Printing at home may not save you that much money.
posted by suedehead at 6:48 PM on January 8, 2015
But agreeing that this will take a lot of time - consider that you'll be spending a lot of time watching it go, babysitting the printer for any jams. Printing at home may not save you that much money.
posted by suedehead at 6:48 PM on January 8, 2015
I got married this summer. We wanted to keep costs down so we designed our own invitations and had them printed. We used Zazzle and (somewhat ironically) Paperless Post. We got good results at a fraction of the cost of some of the vendor quotes.
If I may give you some unsolicited advice that I was given, but didn't pay enough attention to: do not give yourself too many projects. The effort will hasten decision fatigue and augment stress levels.
posted by KevCed at 12:36 PM on January 10, 2015
If I may give you some unsolicited advice that I was given, but didn't pay enough attention to: do not give yourself too many projects. The effort will hasten decision fatigue and augment stress levels.
posted by KevCed at 12:36 PM on January 10, 2015
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