Printer Recommendations

[S-n-L]

Hello Everyone,

My husband and I are about to start our full-time journey and we are wondering what to do about a printer for our motor home. We want a really small printer that works well. We saw one in Best Buy, it was an HP Officejet Mobile Printer,model OJ100.

Does anyone use this? If yes, what is your opinion.

Can anyone recommend something else?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Leslie

[bcsdguy]

Redsky wrote:

I tried 3 different all in one machines before settling on the Canon. It works very well and it starts up fast and shuts down equally fast when it is done. Has an automatic feeder for scanning multiple pages and we use this feature to turn a paper manual into a single PDF file so we can leave the paper manuals at home.

So, are you using a Canon 4500 laserjet now?

[Redsky]

I switched long ago to laserjet printers for everything. That includes a 20 year old HP 4si that is still going strong, a HP color laserjet Pro 200, and a Canon 4500 all in one that scans, copies, and prints.

With inkjets the head clog without frequent use of the printer and the ink is very expensive. With a laserjet it can sit for months with no problems.

The only place where an inket is of any value is with a color photograph and for that I upload to Costco someplace where we are headed and in 30 minutes it will be available to pick up. Costco is much cheaper than printing with an inkjet printer and you get a much more durable print with the equipment they use.

I tried 3 different all in one machines before settling on the Canon. It works very well and it starts up fast and shuts down equally fast when it is done. Has an automatic feeder for scanning multiple pages and we use this feature to turn a paper manual into a single PDF file so we can leave the paper manuals at home.

[Horizon170]

We stopped carrying a printer due to the fact that we seldom us it, however if we need something printed I just put it on a stick drive and have the CG print it for me. They seldom charge much. That way I can take an extra box of cookies with me. LOL

[Bumpyroad]

phays wrote:

The big disadvantage is the cost of the printer. It is not nearly as cheap at some of the 3-in-1's you can get at Walmart but it has a much smaller foot print and is easy to store.

yep, the canon 3 in ones that I buy for $39 come with cartridges that amount to half of that cost. I was suckered in by the Kodak ads for their cheap cartridges, which I guess they are, but the original cost difference amounts to a bunch of cartridges.
bumpy

[phays]

Based on the many replies, many are guessing as to how you are going to use the printer. Are you going to print photo's? How much printing are you really going to do?

I use an HP100, similar to the small Canon mentioned by others. It is a portable printer with a small footprint. I don't do much color printing so it meets my needs It is a bluetooth printer so I can place it in a convenient location and not have to worry about a cable connection.

I use Android app CamScanner to "scan" documents into my computer with my phone. It does a good job for what I need; copying receipts, insurance forms, tax documents, etc as pdf files that I store on my computer.

I haven't had a problem with the print cartridges not working after extended non-printing periods.

The big disadvantage is the cost of the printer. It is not nearly as cheap at some of the 3-in-1's you can get at Walmart but it has a much smaller foot print and is easy to store.

[1775]

We also use the Canon Ip100. We looked at all the small printers and this was the smallest. It does a nice job at printing on full letter size paper, is easy to carry, and the ink is easy to find. It does fairly good photo prints also.

[S-n-L]

Thank you all for your great ideas and suggestions. Still not sure which we'll go with but will do some shopping and figure it out.

Thanks again,
Leslie

[bcsdguy]

You know, I would suggest buying a laserjet printer such as the Brother series. For what you pay for ink you could buy toner carts that last much longer than the ink. Even if you buy refilled ones, they last much longer than ink. The new color laserjets are very competitive with inkjets over the long haul. I gave up on the inkjets after my last one broke down. Just a suggestion.

[hitchup]

For DH's work, we needed a Printer and Scanner.

The HP Photosmart 6520, which is wireless has been the best one for over 2 years now. We had an HP 5510, the Wifi kept going out and finally after 366 days, it quit altogether.

[mlts22]

Before buying a printer, check Amazon and see if there are refilled ink cartridges available, and look for the printer that has the cheapest refills and does what you want. For example, 56 cartridges are easy to find refills for. However, there are newer ones from HP which refilling may be impossible.

If one has the space, laser printers are a better if one prints out often, because a $70 toner cartridge can do ~2000 pages, compared to 30-100 from a $20-30 inkjet cartridge.

[FlatBroke]

I bought a Canon 3200 pixma air all in one, no fax, for 50 bucks. Smallest, lightest, best I have owned. Seldom need color so I really don't care about printing pics so I can't say much about that. It's Stingy with the black ink. Not about to pay $250 for a fancy printer that probably won't last any longer.

[Thunder_Mountai]

Unless you use your printer frequently, stay away from inkjet type printers. We don't print very often and had two ink type printers dry up and clog the ink nozzles. No choice but to trash them. We bought a cheap Cannon compact toner based printer a couple of years ago. No problems. Didn't need color. So, it works for us.

[Bumpyroad]

all of the printers I have bought lately have been canons for about $29-39. the ink that comes with them are worth half that. they have performed flawlessly over the years. I do have a tiny HP 130 that only prints 4x6 paper.
bumpy

[accsys]

We have been using the Epson Stylus NX625 for three years and love it. It's a printer/scanner/copier and wireless so we keep it on a window ledge in the BR and print from anywhere we have the laptop, even outside. Best of all you can usually get it for just a little over $100 and it uses a separate color cartridge for each color.