Combi Scanner/Printer suggestions?

[Horsa]

My scanner is on its last legs (well fair enough - I did buy it in 2001 ;D) and a few months ago my printer died, so I figured it was time to try one of those combined scanner/printer things that seem to be ubiquitous these days.

Any suggestions, folks? Printer-wise, I've had satisfactory performance from Epson over the years, but I'm not wedded to any particular brand. I'd like to avoid anything wireless if at all possible - I believe in cables!

If it's of any relevance, you can see what Mac and OS I'm running in the side panel info.

Thanks in advance,
Ken

 

[pigoo3]

I own an older version of this Brother printer (printer, copier, scanner)...it's always worked great...and we do print from it quite a bit.

Works great...and at $99 inexpensive for all it has & does:

Access Denied

- Nick

p.s. The link works...ignore the "access denied". Lol

 

[pigoo3]

Here's another version of this Brother printer with a slightly different model #:

Brother HL-L2395DW | Monochrome Laser Printer with Duplex

- Nick

p.s. To save on paper...we use the duplex printing feature (print both sides) quite a bit as well.

 

[Horsa]

Thanks, pigoo3. Took a look - then realised that I should have specified a colour/inkjet printer - my bad! :Blushing:

OTOH, how much full-colour printing do I actually do these days? Answer: hardly any. Hmmm...

 

[pigoo3]

Thanks, pigoo3. Took a look - then realised that I should have specified a colour/inkjet printer - my bad! :Blushing:

OTOH, how much full-colour printing do I actually do these days? Answer: hardly any. Hmmm...

Yes...needing/wanting a color printer is a important difference. Like you said...we have a color laser printer as well...and we almost never print from it. This black & white Brother laser printer...we print from it probably 99% of the time.

- Nick

 

[MBAmtloin]

The canon MG2520 scanned 30 16x10 penciled images without a hiccup yesterday.
what i loved about the scanner is the cover and paper tray easily pops off and back without breaking the plastic inserts.
The scanner has many functions and settings for color and custom imaging and enough dpi and cost $29.00 back in 2015
this all in one works with Mountain Lion-Mojave and probably Catalina.
i think the printer produced good photo prints on special paper, I have not printed anything since 2017.

 

[NSMacGuru]

OTOH, how much full-colour printing do I actually do these days? Answer: hardly any. Hmmm...

That's exactly why I bought a Canon B&W Laser MF244dw (multifunction with scanner, duplex printing, top-feeder if you need to copy lots of stuff) last year. Tired of the price of inkjet cartridges, which always gum up and need to waste ink in "cleaning" if you don't use it constantly. And then there was the HP injet I had which wouldn't let you print if one of the cartridges was empty... just a pain in the *****. It's been over a year since I got this on sale ($99) and I haven't even used up the toner that came with it. Any colour printing that I might need to do I can send to a local printshop and pick up when its convenient. I might consider a colour laser printer if the price were sufficiently low next time around.... since they can sit for years and print cleanly.

My *only* gripe with this printer (which is wireless, but of course you can use it wired) is my own fault: I like to scan old photographs at a very high resolution, and this thing tops out at 600dpi. That's more than fine for most people, though...

 

[chscag]

I've had very good luck with refillable color cartridges. You will sometimes receive a dud or a cartridge that your printer will complain about, but overall our Epson NX 420 does well with refillable cartridges. We do not print as often in color as we do B&W but I definitely could not do without a color printer. Our HP LaserJet get the bulk of printing that we do.

However, both of my printers are fairly ancient but as long as they continue to work (running Catalina) we will keep on trucking.

 

[MBAmtloin]

DYK: some ink cartridges have a reset button atop the chip for more ink.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

...I should have specified a colour/inkjet printer..

Until recently when it was discontinued, the most popular choice among Mac users was the Canon MX922. It was awesome, and could often be found at a huge discount.

The good news is that Canon has a logical replacement. Actually two:

Canon PIXMA TR8520
$100
Robot Check

While the TR8520 is biased towards photo printing (as the MX922 was), the following printer with very similar specs is biased towards office use, being faster, holding more paper, and being more economical per print (but still decent for printing photos):

Canon MAXIFY MB2720
$100
Robot Check

One of the great things about Canon inkjet printers is that you can find very high quality third party ink cartridges for them at excellent prices.

The Canon PIXMA TR8520 takes the CLI-281 ink cartridges. They come in three different capacities. Genuine Canon cartridges, of course, will be ridiculously expensive. DO NOT get just any compatible cartridges, they are likely to be garbage. But these are both excellent and reasonably priced:

Full set of *extra-extra* high capacity cartridges for $50:
Compatible Canon PGI-280XXL & CLI-281XXL Super High-Yield Ink Cartridge 5-Piece Combo Pack

The Canon MAXIFY MB2720 takes the PGI-1200 cartridges. You can get a full high capacity set for $25 from:
Canon PGI-1200XL High-Yield Compatible 4-Pack Combo | Carrot Ink

 

[Horsa]

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and experiences. Still got some chin-stroking to do on this decision, but you've given me plenty of food for thought.

Cheers!
Ken

 

[badshoehabit]

I wouldn't buy Canon again after my temperamental diva. MG6600

 

[Horsa]

Duly noted. What have you got now, Sue - and are you any more satisfied with it?

 

[badshoehabit]

Still fighting with it. It randomly refuses to recognise a 'compatible' colour cartridge (currently Cyan), says there's no paper when there is - minor things but very annoying as it's upstairs!

Past Epsons never let me down. The one HP I had ages ago was rubbish.

 

[Horsa]

Yes, I'm studiously avoiding HP as their awfulness is legendary!

My last printer - an Epson R200 - was fabulous when it wanted to be, and abso-***kin-lutely unbearable the rest of the time.

 

[krs]

I end up buying Epson every time since there doesn't seem to be an alternative for my needs.

I need a scanner that can handle A3 or 13" x 19" paper and a printer that can handle the same size.
Last printer I got was an Epson WF-7720 with two feed paper trains and a sible slot feed at the back - also a 30 page feeder for the scanner.

I have seen an HP AIO that handles that size paper, but for a Mac, HP was not recommended.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Still fighting with it. It randomly refuses to recognise a 'compatible' colour cartridge (currently Cyan), says there's no paper when there is - minor things but very annoying as it's upstairs!

Who did you purchase the compatible cartridge from? (It's good to know which vendors to avoid. They all don't offer the same quality cartridges.)

And why do you blame your Canon printer for a third-party ink cartridge that won't work with it? It isn't Canon's responsibility to make sure that third party consumables work perfectly, it's the third party's.

 

[krs]

It isn't Canon's responsibility to make sure that third party consumables work perfectly, it's the third party's.

I don't know about Canon, but Epson tries very hard to have third part ink cartridges not work with their printers to the point where their own cartridges sometimes have problems and one has to re-seat them to work.
I have seen a basic Canon printer advertised for $29.- Canadian - I'm pretty sure Canon made no money on that. Inkjet printer manufacturers depend on the profit margin of the cartridges they sell to make money with their printer/cartridge business.

 

[chscag]

I don't know about Canon, but Epson tries very hard to have third part ink cartridges not work with their printers to the point where their own cartridges sometimes have problems and one has to re-seat them to work.

I've run into that problem with my Epson NX 420 (older printer) but can usually get the refillable cartridges to work after resetting the printer several times. It doesn't happen with every refillable only some. A pain but I live with it since genuine Epson cartridges are triple the price of the refillable ones.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I don't know about Canon, but Epson tries very hard to have third part ink cartridges not work with their printers ...

I should point out that I wholeheartedly recommend Canon's inkjet printers for multiple reasons.

The biggest reason is that Canon's very rarely clog. This is the biggest problem with inkjet printers, and Canon inkjets are the most resistant to it. (Though, of course, they haven't eliminated the problem entirely.) Epson's are the worst in this regard.

Canon's inkjets use a different, more advanced, technology than other inkjet printers. They use a "bubblejet" technology which, instead of being based on a piezo electric crystal, it uses heat to create microscopic bubbles that propel drops of ink.
Bubble jet technology - Canon Professional Network

Many Canon inkjet printers have printheads that aren't part of the ink cartridge, and they are easily removable from the printer, so if there is a clog you can just remove the printhead, soak it overnight and clean it.
For example, Canon's instructions for removing the MX922's printhead:
Canon Knowledge Base - Reseat or Replace the Print Head on a PIXMA MX722, MX922

Some Canon inkjet printers, such as the Canon PIXMA TR8520, offer BOTH a dye-based black ink (for use when printing photos) AND a pigment-based black ink (for printing crisp text that resists smearing) and it switches between them as necessary. Some other brands of inkjet printers don't offer a true black at all, they mix several colors to get an approximation of black.

Canon's tech support and support for Mac users have been excellent over the years. They quickly update their Mac drivers when necessary, and they understand Macs when you call support and don't talk down to you because you are a Mac user. (HP has been known for just the opposite. I strongly recommend against getting HP products for this reason.)

And, finally, I've found some really reliable sources for very inexpensive third party ink cartridges that work indistinguishably from OEM Canon cartridges. The best of these tends to be CarrotInk, and they often have sales on top of their already really low prices!