Unfortunately my tried and once trusted Canon MX925 printer/scanner is getting more and more unreliable. It shows the ‘well-known’ and hard to fix B2000 error. So I’m in the market for a new printer/scanner. It seems that nowadays printers are getting more and more an exotic thing. And although I rarely need to print something, I certainly can’t be without one yet.
I think I want to go for a laser printer this time. From what I understood they’re more reliable with low volume printing. A scanner with ADF is a must have for me. A small footprint is another requirement. Something like 45x45 cm (18 x 18 inch) maximum. It needs to fit on my desk.
My shortlist so far consists of the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4302xxx (fdn/fdw/whatever).
Does anyone here have exprience with this printer on macOS Sequoia? How is Mac support from HP in general? I hate to buy an expensive device for just a year or two.
I don’t have HP stuff anymore. Soured on them decades ago for reasons I can’t remember.
When we purchased a new laser printer (40-year old one finally died), I chose not to get a multi function one. I have a small Brother ADS-1700W scanner and a Brother HL-L2350W laser. Very happy with both. I’ve never had reason to use Brother support services. That says something about their products, I think.
+1 on the Brother Lasers, I had one at work for years and never had a problem.
I’d also recommend separate devices for printing and scanning (I appreciate you’re looking for small footprint here) MFD drivers are regularly a Pain in the Ass.
Just noting that when you’re shopping for a printer, if you do a bunch of printing the cost of the printer is relatively trivial. The cost of the consumables is where they really get you.
Laser cartridges can vary widely in cost per page. Some printers offer XL cartridges with 2-3x the printing volume for not that much more in price. Some printers that look similar have cartridges with significantly different yields. Do the research, as sometimes the answer to “why is this printer that looks almost exactly the same $150 more?” is that the cartridges will last twice as long.
And remember that a lot of printers don’t ship with full cartridges anymore. They ship with a starter cartridge that has a tiny capacity, so you’ll be buying replacements sooner rather than later.
Also, when we’re talking about lasers, there are drum units and transfer belts to consider.
Most HP cartridges have built-in drum units. The Brother lasers I’m familiar with frequently have separate drum units, and can need to be replaced as early as 10,000 pages. Color lasers will have transfer belts/transfer rollers that periodically need to be replaced, although if your printing volume is small you might never hit that limit. Usually it’s 50,000 pages or more.
When you add all of it up, sometimes an extra $100-$200 at the outset can save you some good money down the road.
I’m another person who won’t buy HP anymore. We’ve got two Brother monochrome laser AIOs that have always worked great. Wouldn’t consider anything else. Also recommend Monochrome over Color for any brand if you don’t really need color – much simpler, and color laser isn’t really that good anyway (forget printing photos!).
+1 for dumping HP and switching to entry level Brother BW laser.
I stil have an older Samsung color laser that works fine, but replacing all the color cartridges, even with 3rd party, is expensive.
Next time it runs out, I’ll probably just stop using it.
If I really need color photo printing (primarily for my photography hobby), I’d probably get a Canon photo-quality inkjet, but for now, sending the few large prints I want out to a quality lab is easier/cheaper.
I am firmly in the Brother BW laser printer camp for basic printing needs. Should one have true needs for color printing, feel free to upgrade to a Color Laser model. Purchasing high quality prints is quick and easy nowadays.
I have a Samsung branded BW laser printer on my desk for the last 13 years. Only replaced the toner cartridge once so far. This model is identical to the Brother model and shipped with a Brother toner cartridge installed.
Inkjet printers are too much hassle and expense for Home or Home Office use. Let’s not get into the cost of ink or “genuine” cartridges. Life is too short to be frustrated over that.
I recently had to replace a Brother inkjet printer because the printhead had become cracked and could not be fixed (or so I was told). I ended up buying another Brother inkjet printer (perhaps I should have got a laser printer instead), and what I discovered only after setting it up was that it defaults to duplex printing and there seems to be no way to change this default setting, which I find astonishing (although I would be happy to be proved wrong on this point).
This means that whenever I want to print on only one side, I have to untick the duplex printing option in the application I’m using at the time (provided that it has such an option). I have never encountered such behaviour before, and I’m not sure whether I would buy a Brother printer again.
A while ago now, I had a black and white laser jet. I got some colour letterheads printed out at a local printer and used those when I needed to print colour stationery. If I recall correctly colour laser jets were still new and very expensive.
I think I had to download the driver from the Brother website. I have now changed the defaults as per the above instructions (but have yet to test them).
I’m very glad that I bought a xerox colour laser. I only did so because I went to an (online) specialist printer-only dealer aimed at business. I ended up paying a very little more than I had planned (£50 or so) but was convinced by the retailer that it was a “proper” business printer that would last. After 8 years it’s still going strong, toner and other consumables are easily available (and generic as well as xerox) it understands proper postscript, so works beautifully with the mac and all software and it just works. I don’t print more than a couple of times a month, but once or twice a year I will have to do a print run (e.g. printing memorial cards for a family funeral) and it’s never even given me a paper jam, even on card stock.
Consumer printers are a racket and especially general purpose inkjets. Printers sold to business tend to be much better for little extra cost and are almost all lasers. Printers sold to printing businesses are the best, by far, and it’s useful to see the dominant brands there: xerox, fuji, canon. HP used to be a business brand but gave that up except for their graphics printers and saw consumer printers and office printers as the same thing.
Ive got two. I had initial troubles with their app that is required for set up. I do not know if they updated it recently - and my macbook at the time was an absolute ham - but after that initial bout of frustration they have been running well and smoothly.
It would be lovely if you were able to provide the specifics for the model you purchased. It might be eight years gone, but the chance to look at the current comparable model would be nice.
FWIW, I have an HP Laserjet 4050 that I bought from a dot.bomb startup in their close-out auction. In 2001. I’ve only ever bought one additional toner cartridge for it, and when it’s empty, I doubt I’ll be able to find a refill. I’ll be in the market for a new printer then, and will probably go with The Verge’s hilarious recommendation, which echos multiple replies here:
