Printer for College

Hey, I need some of your opinions on getting a printer for college.

I need an all in one with, duplexing, wifi and relatively fast black page speeds. Can't be too big and must be within $100. Decent photo and graphics quality as well.

My suggestions so far are the HP Officejet Pro 8100, Epson Workforce Pro 4020. Both are fairly big but have good speeds and quality. Do you think these would fit in a dorm?

Do you guys have any other suggested models?

Do you absolutely need all those features, such as color printing? That really limits your options and you are going to be paying a lot for ink (not to mention that printers that cheap tend to be absolute garbage anyway). A much cheaper option would be to pick up a quality laser printer and pay to have color prints done. I'd suggest a Brother brand laser printer, which they do make AIO versions with wireless.

I know that doesn't exactly fit what you want, but I was given a AIO Epson inkjet printer when I went to college (which was a fairly nice unit), but since I didn't print often, it used a lot of ink cleaning the heads when I did. Ink was expensive and I didn't have a lot of money, so I purchased a Brother laser printer for $50 instead and I'm still running on the stock toner cartridge. Granted, I don't print that often, but it doesn't waste a ton of money because I don't print something every day. I hope that personal insight helps your decision. Let me know if you have any questions.

I want a printer that is the jack of all trades. Laser is too expensive to get all the things I want.

For ink I am going to buy 3rd party ink. Now I know most will say it is bad and will break the printer, but I have been using very cheap 3rd party ink for my family's printer and it has been great so ink costs are not an issue for me.

This is a printer I also would like to use for the family when I'm home and years after I graduate.

I actually have made a different suggestion. Those printers actually didn't have scanning so I won't be getting those. Currently I am about to pull the trigger on this unit Epson WorkForce WF-3520. Ink costs about $25 on ebay for around 1500 pages for all colors and 2500 pages for black. Got great reviews so unless if anyone has another suggestion I will get this unit.

3rd party ink. Sure. When the printer no workie. Years after you graduate. Ain't gonna happen printers are throw away devices these days.

My printer has cost me me 3x the cost due to ink and even if I used the cheap ink I'd be at 1.5+ the printer cost. My printer does duplex, bluetooth, fax etx over tha last 2 years. Ink is the killer.

Give the printer 2 years and add costs. Save 10$ a month for the next printer.

You said:

"Ink costs about $25 on ebay for around 1500 pages for all colors and 2500 pages for black."

Your marketing usage comments are prolly from someone who writes gibberish to make a boat payment. Only trust the GOOD reviews and buy the best you can.

It's just a printer. They are cheap.

Don't most coleges have printing services where you can use thier network and send it to a printer for low costs?

Still, nice to have a cheap printer in the dorm room.

Cjheck out CNET, pick one.

Well, my family printer is a crappy HP compared to today's models and it still works as good as new. I know ink is the killer and that is why I by the cheap 3rd party ink. It works great and is cheap. I think anyone who doesn't buy 3rd party ink is crazy.

At my college printing costs 10 cents PER page. And I would have to travel to some building to use it. Not convenient and pricey.

I ended up getting the Canon Pixma MX892 for $120. I definitely hope it will last many years to come.

Why such a grey outlook? Be happy

Parents had a canon pixma, not that exact model but were very happy with it. Sadly printers are disposable devices at this point. Be careful with 3rd party ink, I've seen cartridges fail far to often...if it does generally you can clean it but it will take some time.

For ink and other supplies if you have a staples nearby with a little effort you can get name brand ink pretty cheap...