what's a durable yet inexpensive printer these days?

you guys are great! i've sent all these recommends along to my sister.

thanks to all

A Brother MFC-J4500 has worked for us. Less than $50 from Amazon a few years ago.

It is multi-function so the few times a year we need a copy of something or need to scan a document, it is there to use. It will use generic or refilled cartridges without any problem and only gives a single warning about re-filled or non-Brother ink. It also will give only one low ink alert and then keeps on printing until you run the cartridge dry. And if you do use Brother cartridges they are substantially cheaper than HP or Epson.

I do so little printing that ink cartridges would dry up or clog after printing only a few pages. I don't even want to think about what I spent per page. I bought a monochrome laser printer to replace my inkjet printer. One downside of a laser is that it uses a lot of power when printing. My 300 watt inverter will not power it. I have to crank up the generator when I want to print.

I'm happy with my Epson XP410.
It's wifi and has four seperate color cartriges so you only replace what is empty.

Epson

About 4 years ago, I switched away from ink-jet printers to a laser printer and have never regretted it. I don't miss the ability to print in color (although you can get color lasers) and certainly don't miss those expensive ink cartridges.

It's true that a toner cartridge costs more to buy then an ink cartridge, but they last far longer. An ink jet cannot match the low cost per printed page of a laser.

I've had good luck with Brother.

Jim

by inexpensive, like $100 or so?

or do any of you know of a fix for the HP flaw that when the black cartridge is replaced, the printer no longer prints right ?

to clarify the OP, my wife's canon pixma is great, but my sister needs a recommendation for the defective HP Envy.