AirPrint Printer Suggestion. Advice needed

[Clay]

I need help on selecting a new printer for the house. It would be used occasionally so I’m not printing 100 pages at a time.
Something simple to print from my iPad or Macbook.

Any suggestions or anything you are happy with?

Thanks!
Clay

[JohnAtl]

We have a Brother MFC-J480DW that works well for us. We use Ikong ink, so our per-page cost is low. Per-page cost is a good way to compare your cost to use the printer. Some of the color lasers are ridiculous.
Anyway, it hasn’t given us any trouble, supports AirPrint, has a built in duplexer for double-sided prints.

[Clay]

Thanks!! I will check it out.

[bowline]

I’ve also had good experiences with Brother printers. We discussed this a few months ago here:

Basic AirPrint Printer recommendations please

I am in need of a basic document printer for home printing. No photo printing, no scanning or other multi-function capabilities needed. Just light, daily, document printing for family needs (kids homework, travel documents, etc). The only required feature is AirPrint functionality for an all Apple Household (Macs, iPads, iPhones). My needs are basic but I am willing to pay for quality so I am not particularly price sensitive. Any recommendations would be appreciated ! Thanks in advance!

[MacExpert]

Any Brother color laser printer will do. Just received yet an other email form a client thanking me for recommending a Brother printer

[Clay]

Thanks @MacExpert and @MacExpert

[andrewmeyers]

We have this Brother HL-L2350DW, and it’s excellent. B/W only, but it prints fast, and AirPrint works great.

[acavender]

I’ve been pretty happy with the HP 3755, for which I did not pay the $90 Amazon’s currently asking (keep an eye out for sales).

Bear in mind that it’s not at all a high-quality printer. But I do very little printing, so it gets the job done.

The upsides? It’s a small footprint, and fits easily on my small bookshelf. Also, it’s eligible for HP Instant Ink — and I do so little printing that the free tier of that subscription works just fine for my use case. Not paying for my ink is kind of nice.

[MacExpert]

Be aware that this is an inkjet printer. Refills are horribly expensive. Plus there is always a pain factor with clogged nozzles when not frequently used.

3rd party toner refills for the Brother are relatively cheap and last a longggg time.

[acavender]

Very true.

It works for me because I print infrequently and can thus get away with the free tier of HP Instant Ink. (Thus far I haven’t had the clogged nozzle problem. When one of my cartridges mysteriously stopped printing, HP replaced it at no cost. The replacement cartridge is working fine.)

That’s a great price on the Brother…

[jaskfla]

Another happy Brother user here, though HP shouldn’t be bad either. I got a great deal on a Brother HL-3150CDN colour laser printer four-ish years ago, and for the upfront cost and toner cartridge cost, it’s been great. (Haven’t had to replace the drum yet—I don’t print that much.)

(All printers are awful in some way, but as long as you aren’t very particular about detailed print specifications, AirPrint does a pretty good job at hiding the nitty-gritty.)

Consider consulting the Wirecutter’s guide on laser printers.

Avoid inkjet unless you absolutely want to print photos yourself at home. For text-based documents, laser is the way to go.