What printer/scanner you recommend?

[Danone]

I'll be doing lots of reports and papers plus printing out lecture notes. What are some good cost effective options that I can do from home? 

[kyjin]

Invest in a black and white laser printer. I borrowed an inkjet from a friend when I first started my PhD, but I went through cartridges through quickly. Invested in a very nice Brother laser printer, and it's been great. (Plus it does two-sided printing, so I feel less bad about murdering trees.)

[microarray]

Invest in a black and white laser printer. I borrowed an inkjet from a friend when I first started my PhD, but I went through cartridges through quickly. Invested in a very nice Brother laser printer, and it's been great. (Plus it does two-sided printing, so I feel less bad about murdering trees.)

 

+1, I love my Brother printer laser printer. I have only replaced the toner twice in the 5 years that i've had it, and it's still going strong! So much cheaper than an inkjet.

[rising_star]

Definitely get a laser printer, preferably one that has an automatic duplexer (as in, prints on both sides without you having to flip the pages over). I have a Brother that also has a scanner/copier on it, though I rarely use those functions.

[TakeruK]

I agree with everyone else who said laser. When I bought my inkjet printer, I was deterred by the high price tag of laser but inkjet runs out so fast and it is probably costing me more in the long run.

 

I do use my scanner a lot though--much more than the print function even. I rarely use the copy function because I will just scan things and keep them on my hard drive until a physical copy is actually needed. But I scan pretty much everything important I send away so that I have my own copy just in case!

[themmases]

I also have a Brother laser printer that I love. I think the "starter cartridge" it came with was good for 750 sheets, and definitely lasted me over a year.

[Monochrome Spring]

You can get a basic Brother laser printer on Amazon for $100 or a fancier Brother laser printer with copy and fax capabilities for $120.

 

I am buying the Canon laser printer with copy capability for $65, but that's just preference.

 

A laser printer is a great investment and I second that inkjet runs out too quickly when you're printing out articles and assignments on a regular basis. 

[rising_star]

Basic Brother printers, like the one Monochrome Spring linked to, go on sale ALL THE TIME. Like every other week. The basic model that duplexes automatically is often on sale for $69 from any number of office stores, Newegg, or other online retailers. I wouldn't pay more than $79 for it because I see it for that price on a regular basis.

[Monochrome Spring]

Definitely wait for those back to school sales too, if you can't find them on sale before then.

[juilletmercredi]

Damn, I was going to recommend my inkjet printer (an Epson WorkForce 2540) but never mind, lol.

 

I do like it because it supports AirPrint and Google Cloud Print, plus it's wireless so me and my husband are both connected.  I am selective about what I print so I haven't had to worry about ink cartridges too much - we bought it a year and a half ago and I think I've replaced the black twice and the magenta ink once, and the yellow is low.  However, I don't print any articles (I read them all online or on my iPad), and I bought it after I finished coursework so there was no need to print papers to turn in.  I mostly use it to print, scan, and copy forms I need to turn in for various things.

[danieleWrites]

I've got a Kodak inkjet all-in-one that I've had for years. Didn't get a laser printer because of the price tag for an all-in-one and the replacement cartridges. Regretting it now! Kodak inkjets apparently hemorrhage ink when they aren't used daily or so. And they totally can't print black and white without the color cartridge being full, too. Why do I have black ink if it has to use color to print the black ink? Waste!

Of course, now I don't have a landline, so I can't fax with the machine anyway. I've been using an app on my android phone to fax when necessary.

My university's main library (and maybe the others, I dunno, haven't been) has this very cool scanner machine that is made to scan books, even the super-large variety, straight to .pdf, which can be then stuck on a flashdrive or emailed to oneself. I haven't used my home scanner since. Of course, I like to lurk in the library late at night, after most of the undergrads have taken off.

[C&C]

Unlike the other posters here, I have NEVER had good luck with personal printers! Why me?! Why me?!

 

As a result, I've become very accustomed to using my print allowances at university. It's nice because if something goes wrong you have people there to help you! I highly recommend making friends with ITS or people in your department office as that's a nice way to get some free printing...or even mooching off of friends who don't need their printing allowance. (It's honestly how I get by.)