Suggestions for Printer/Copier/Scanner for RV

[curt12914]

I apologize if this has been discussed before, but I am looking for suggestions for a printer/copier/scanner for our fifth wheel.

We are not anywhere near full timers, but we are planning to snowbird in Florida for about a month (mid February-March). We have reservations in two different parks for a couple weeks each, so we will be using their Wi-Fi along with using our phones as hotspots. I am not sure if we will use the printer/scanner as wireless or if we will use a cable connection.

My Canon Pixma printer at home uses three color and two black ink cartridges. I like that idea rather than throwing a multi color cartridge out when one color has run out.

Size is a consideration, but not a major one. We do have places we can put a mid-sized unit

What are you using and why do you recommend it?

[curt12914]

After reading the suggestions, and using laser printers at work, I have pretty much settled on a laser printer.

I was in Walmart tonight and I saw an HP MFP M28w. I was impressed with the size and price ($139). We use HP printers at work and they seem (to me) to work as well as anything we used in the past.

Does anyone have any experience with this model?

[folivier]

We use an HP M14 laser, it's small and with the HP app on our phones it's very easy to take a picture of a document and then print it. That takes care of copying and scanning in one small footprint.

[Gdetrailer]

CA Traveler wrote:

TurnThePage wrote:
I'm also a laser devotee. Never ever have to worry about ink drying up or spilling. You can go years between print jobs without a worry. I've had the same small Dell branded print/scan/copy/fax device for well over 10 years. Toner cartridges are cheap and last a loooong time.

X2 However, I wanted a small printer for the MH and none of the laser printers were small at that time. Maybe today?

I have a laser printer at home which is far superior to the MH inkjet for warm up, speed and quality.

For low printing volume or long periods of storage, hands down for a laser printer, toners do not dry up, freeze, clog, go bad.

If you are needing high res, high quality picture printing, inkjets tend to perform a bit better.

Color lasers do print pictures pretty well but doesn't fully emulate depth that you get from ink or other printing methods.

As far as small footprint laser, HP Laserjet Pro M15W is a very small footprint color laser jet.

OP was asking about a combo "all in one" with scanner, HP did have a "all in one" print/scanner clone of the M15W which included a scanner, but I am not able to find the actual model anymore..

[Gdetrailer]

CA Traveler wrote:

rockylarson wrote:
So far I have received two emails from HP wanting to know where my printer is and when will it be back on line. BTW, if you are a heavy user they gave me 4 months and 700 pages free just to get to know me.

Wow, I wasn't aware these ink programs tracked your location and usage.

So you are OK with HP tracking the printer and usage which implies tracking you as well? I would not allow that. I have no problem with carrying spare ink.

I've often said that the money is in the ink and not the printer.

Yes, HP didn't come up with that program for your health and welfare and you still pay for the ink (it isn't cheaper, just more convenient)..

As said by Ralphy in the movie A Christmas Story "A Crummy Commercial".

[Matt_Colie]

Curt,

In very simple terms, you have to think about your resources and your requirements.

I my home office (at my right elbow as I type) I have an HP scanner and an Oki color laser printer. Both have their places on my network and are very convenient. Both also require more power than I often have had available in the coach. Needles to say, both are large and the printer is heavy, but it does a great job and is fast. Neither was anything like inexpensive.

So, If you always have shore power and lots of room, buy what ever you want. Lasers are real nice.

If you might need it when you are drycamping, look at the inkjet/ scanners that have the print head in the cartridge. These are the lightest and lowest power consumers. You want it this way because a print head will **** out on you at some point. If it is not in the cartridge, then a major clean operation is required. (Do I have to add BTDT??) The one for the coach (that was my office for several years) is also here with me because it comes in for the winter just on GP. When I have needed to run it without shore power, I run it on a tiny 100watt inverter. It is as good as the laser for photo printing.

Matt

[CA_Traveler]

TurnThePage wrote:
I'm also a laser devotee. Never ever have to worry about ink drying up or spilling. You can go years between print jobs without a worry. I've had the same small Dell branded print/scan/copy/fax device for well over 10 years. Toner cartridges are cheap and last a loooong time.

X2 However, I wanted a small printer for the MH and none of the laser printers were small at that time. Maybe today?

I have a laser printer at home which is far superior to the MH inkjet for warm up, speed and quality.

[CA_Traveler]

rockylarson wrote:
So far I have received two emails from HP wanting to know where my printer is and when will it be back on line. BTW, if you are a heavy user they gave me 4 months and 700 pages free just to get to know me.

Wow, I wasn't aware these ink programs tracked your location and usage.

So you are OK with HP tracking the printer and usage which implies tracking you as well? I would not allow that. I have no problem with carrying spare ink.

I've often said that the money is in the ink and not the printer.

[TurnThePage]

I'm also a laser devotee. Never ever have to worry about ink drying up or spilling. You can go years between print jobs without a worry. I've had the same small Dell branded print/scan/copy/fax device for well over 10 years. Toner cartridges are cheap and last a loooong time.

On a side note, there are great apps for your smart phone that can do the scanning if you don't need photo quality. A small plexiglass sheet to lay over the subject matter makes it look nearly professional.

[rockylarson]

Not new to HP printers in a motorhome. Newest one two months ago introduced me to their new"INSTANT INK PROGRAM" I signed up for the 99cent per month level and got the two full size inks within a week. Only use about 8 pages on the starter set. We are light users and the printer will be in storage for awhile so when we do start to use it there should be plenty of carryover pages.
So far I have received two emails from HP wanting to know where my printer is and when will it be back on line. BTW, if you are a heavy user they gave me 4 months and 700 pages free just to get to know me.

[Scottiemom]

I have a Macbook Pro and none of my printers would connect to it. So I bought a new printer for home which works great, but I didn't have anything for in the motorhome. I researched what printers would work and I found the HP TangoX.Bought one and it works great.I don't know if it works with other OS's, but it is small and copies, scans and prints.

Dale

[valhalla360]

How often do you print and for what purposes?

We gave up on dragging a printer around and just put it on a thumb drive and take it to officemax or other print place for the rare occasions we need a paper copy of something.

[NamMedevac_70]

I have always had good experience with HP printers but I don't care for their PCs or laptops and instead use Lenovo and Dell, Acer.

[time2roll]

I have a Dell color laser 1355cn been working great for must be 15 years with no issues. Not made anymore but I would repurchase something similar today. No way would I go back to liquid ink.

[RLS7201]

We use an Epson ET2650 EcoTank all in one printer in our MH. No more ink cartridges to break the bank. It was allowed to sit, with out use, for over 6 months. Run it through a couple of head cleanings and it was like new again. Will work WiFi direct to computer or through a router. Nice software package.

Richard