Xennial here, get a Brother laser printer if you can. The "starter toner" lasted me for like 4 years so far and is only now getting low. I can't imagine going back to an inkjet that would always dry up since I used infrequently, but I still needed it.
The entire printer industry is being funded by our grandparents, I am not fucking joking. My grandpa has bought MULTIPLE printers last year alone, please some one send help.
I think, for me, owning a printer is like owning a van. You're the only person your friends know who has one, so every time someone needs it you're the one they ask.
I have a printer, and know where the power cord is! I even have it paired to my wifi and use it to scan stuff. Don't ask me to print anything, I can't afford the ink.
I bought a Brother printer and an extra large toner cartridge a dozen years ago and it just sits there and prints things without any problems from any device on my WiFi.
So invent a time machine and get a Brother from ten years ago is my advice.
The best investment of my life was buying an Epson LQ500 back in... I don't know... '95 perhaps? All this years, and even after months or even years without use it will happily awake from its slumber to once again scream and punch dots on to its never ending but ancient supply of fanfold paper
I just write the document by hand the one time a year I need a printer. Doesn't work for everything but is good enough for lots of the stuff that still requires your signature in ink
Just get a Brother laser printer. It uses a normal power chord same exact as any desktop PC, and uses toner, same exact as any real printer that's not a money farming piece of shit ink jet.
DISCLAIMER: I have not investigated Brother or other brands for enshittification in recent years, so YMMV.
My Brother lazer color printer has just been sitting here, pooping out pages and pages of what ever I want, sometimes sitting there off for months, year after year. Still haven't changed the toner.
This is me.
Now that I work from home, if I need to print something (maybe 3 times per year), I use a mailing service that will print a pdf and send it to my place. It cost 2€ per document, takes 2-3 days to arrive, but it is still cheaper and less painful than buying a printer.
I have had a series of perpetually 10+ year old printers that have been handed down to me by Boomers. I print something maybe once a year, so I usually have to go through a half hour of printer cleaning to get the dried out ink to flow again. I really should just get rid of it and go to a photocopy place the next time I need a physical copy of something.
Edit: I just realized it would literally be easier and faster to burn something onto paper with my laser engraver. I think I just talked myself into quitting printers.
Brother laser gang here -- highly recommend. I print a handful of things every year and it hasn't let me down. Still rocking the original toner and I bought it in 2021.
Xennial here. I bought a nice lightly used office printer/copier for cheap off ebay a few years back for my daughter’s Girl Scout troop. It saw a lot of use while I was an assistant leader, but nowadays I only use it to print Pathfinder character sheets and maps. I definitely don’t use it enough to justify it, but as long as I have it I may as well keep it.
I've had an operational printer in the household since around the year 2000, and I cannot fathom not having access to one. I would be a virtual headless chicken running around wailing about gutenburg or something.
Switching from Ink to Laser printers was a game changer as far as maintenance and costs (you can pick up a reconditioned laser printer from the early 2000's from a company that specializes in refurbing them and rock it for decades).
i had to print 2 whole pages a few years ago, and gone to a office supply store. told them i would like to pay for it by card...cashier told me if i use the card, the banking transaction cost more than printing two a4 papers, so long story short it was free.
these stores usually have a printer so expensive i wouldnt be able to pay for it with all my organs, but its cheaper to print there then having a printer at home.
as for work, i dont like the looks people give me when i print there. i like to keep my private life out of the office, i recommend the same. if you want to print out a long ass book however, and nobody cares at work, go ahead.
HP doesn't even sell the ink for my (relatively new) printer where I live.
Its on their U.S site, but I can't order from that since it asks for a ZIP code.
I don't understand why laser printers aren't more affordable. way back in 2010 I bought a full colour Samsung laser printer for $200. Nowadays you can't find a full color printer for under $500.00
I bought a Brother about a year ago. I hadn't owned a printer in about 12-15 years. In Japan, one can generally just print things at the convenience store (after uploading (app, browser, etc.) or via USB stick), but I moved to the middle of nowhere and got tired of going back and forth. I also needed to print things like business cards which the cobini printers won't do.
The IT folk have printers. I spent several hundred on an office-tier printer years ago and have never done maintenance or even replaced the toner. It just works and will continue to work for years.
We bought a laser printer during the pandemic to keep the kids occupied with educational tasks and general craft type models.
It has been fucking awesome this past few years. It has supported the weight of many a schoolbag, been a home for car keys, kept a judo gi flat for a few days, and has even proven to be a worthy store of the multitude of swimming goggles we seem to accumulate.
Oh, it's printed a couple of documents too. I can't remember the last time I refilled the paper tray.
If this is me in several years, I think my version will be “my precious pre-enshittification brother laser is so old they stopped making third party toner carts for it” or probably more likely something like “how do we have a working plugged-in printer on wifi that we can’t find? Did we build a wall in front of it? How long was it sitting in the corner of that spare room?”
Just playing, I have a Brother color laser printer. Had it for about 7 years, replaced the toner only once, prints fantastically. I mostly use it as a scanner and printing coloring pages for the kid.
Personally, I like not needing to dedicate the space to a printer. The rare times I need to print something, I'll just go to a store with a print shop like staples. Over the last 8 years, I've spent less than $10 on all of my printing needs, which is still way cheaper than even the most cost-effective, least-HP printer out there.
I have an awesome Brother laser printer that I have had for years. I have replaced the toner once even with regular use. Sad to have to give it up when I move to Europe.
Bought a Canon laser printer a decade ago. Only needed a new set of toner and a bunch of paper obviously. Standard power cord, standard USB 1.x cable. Still works in Windows 11. I think I got it working in Linux at some point, but I don't know if it does nowadays, because I probably don't have the mental fortitude to touch CUPS again in this lifetime. (People keep saying audio is a nightmare to set up in Linux. Ohh you clearly haven't tried to set up a printer or you would not be complaining)
I refuse to own a printer. On the odd occasion I need to print something and I'm not at work, the local copy place can do it for fuck all and I don't need to worry about ink subscriptions or the print queue not working that day.
I have to use a printer for my work-from-home job. If you just buy a Brother laserjet printer and avoid other brands and inkjets, it's way more affordable. It costs more up front, but they're reliable and don't need to be replaced every year. My printer cost $250 and I've had it for at least five years at this point.
I have a cheapass printer that is probably listening to me. It has little ink (i barely used it and the black ink is at 50%) i use the scanner feature more often.
I had to get one during covid lockdown since I wasn't going to the office and staples messed up my jobs most of the time (and it wasn't cheap). I got a laser all-in-one and got knock off toner from Amazon and it works great and I got it for less than $90
I recently bought a nice Epson tank printer and I love it. The ink is lasting so long too I print a ton and am not even halfway through the ink it came with. Nice prints too. Photos
My label maker sees FAR more use. I do have to bring a printed form to the post office to confirm my purchase of my new P.O. Box though. Oh, also to get my replacement passport. Other than that, I can’t remember the last time I used it for printing.
Given the extortionate cost of printer ink, owning a printer is a mug’s game. Much like owning a car if you live in a walkable urban environment but might need to drive somewhere once every year or two.
Idk man. I’ve had the same printer for years and I don’t think I’ve ever replaced the ink. Very rarely have to print, but it’s sure useful when I need to. I use the scanner more than anything