alt.hn

6/23/2026 at 9:45:18 PM

Ask HN: What home printer do you use/recommend?

by niyazpk

6/24/2026 at 4:35:06 PM

Brother MFC-L3750CDW

No issues. I'm not sure the brand/model is super important - what's important is that you cough up for a laser printer and get the hell away from inkjet.

by kevinherron

6/24/2026 at 3:19:46 PM

I have a Canon laser printer. The shop wanted to sell me another brand as was cheaper to run, but I explained I wanted that one as it had a fast 'time to first print'. As like you I only print occasionally so want to turn on the printer and get it out asap.

A lot of printing in the e-commerce days are postage labels. So if you print a lot of them, also get a cheap label printer.

by khurs

6/24/2026 at 2:37:41 PM

I have exclusively printed from Ubuntu, I currently use a Dell C1765 color laser.

I also use a Brother HL-2170W, but I was unable to enable network printing on this device without first attaching it to a windows machine via USB and running the brother utility.

I print infrequently enough that inkjets would essentially be one-time-use, as the nozzles would completely dry up before I could use it again. So Laser is the best option.

by elevation

6/23/2026 at 10:09:19 PM

Can't say I've had an issue with my Brother. Works great with Linux and ink is available at the office supply store.

by helterskelter

6/23/2026 at 10:14:53 PM

I used to have one Brother mode, sold it for $50 after long battle with ink drains. It will sneakily drain the ink cleaning the print head at midnight. I had to keep it off. Then they have chips inside the cartridge to prove authenticity of cartridge!! When the printer itself is cheaper than the cartridge, its almost always is a scam in my personal experience.

Get an EPSON tank printer, or a laser..

by vpfaiz

6/24/2026 at 1:13:50 AM

Yeah I've got a Brother laser printer, never had an issue. Maybe it's just the inkjets?

by helterskelter

6/23/2026 at 10:08:24 PM

Color laser printer. I've had a Canon image class model since the pandemic, and its worked great every time I've had to use it (about 10 pages per year). The ink can't dry out because it's already dried out: it's supposed to be dry.

Most people are in for a bad time with inkjet printers. Can't say I've ever had a positive experience with one long term.

Now that my day job is e-waste recycling, I sometimes list color laser printers on Facebook Marketplace. Maybe check there. Decent ones with a few hundred estimated pages worth of toner left should go for about $100, maybe more with a scanner.

by theandrewbailey

6/24/2026 at 1:23:23 PM

The cheap indestructible monochrome Brother laser printer. I only print a few pages per month these days

by fdgwhite

6/23/2026 at 10:06:54 PM

Brother black and white laser printer

brother-usa.com/products/hll2460dw

I have one personally and installed it in many a home and business

by dhruvkar

6/24/2026 at 12:53:21 AM

I have a small HP laser printer (the M15w).

I don’t do much printing, so I wanted a laser to avoid the issues I’d have from infrequent inkjet use.

I mainly chose it for the small size, I don’t think I’d actually recommend it. The setup process was not good. I tried to set it up using my computer and after several hours I didn’t get anywhere. I was about to return it, but as a last ditch effort I installed HP’s app on my phone, and was setup in 5 minutes. Needing a phone to setup a printer, because their desktop methods didn’t work, was very frustrating. I get that a lot of things are “mobile first” now, but for a printer that feels extremely wrong.

For occasional scanning, I just use my phone these days.

by al_borland

6/24/2026 at 1:00:01 PM

I have an HP LaserJet 6P that I purchased new in 1996 and it has a page count of 53740. For color, I have FedX Kinkos and Staples nearby.

by memcg

6/23/2026 at 11:05:15 PM

Staples. I have a broken Canon now and before had a broken HP. Both were dirty cheap. I imagine how much the environment suffers from broken printers alone.

I am not buying a new one. Only going to stores to print.

by aprdm

6/24/2026 at 8:46:33 AM

An old HP P2055dn with Chinese toner

by farseer

6/23/2026 at 9:53:14 PM

Not exactly sure of brand/model but can't go wrong with any decent Ink Tank Printer.

by karakoram

6/24/2026 at 4:22:01 PM

They dry up in unrepairable ways if you don't use them often enough.

by leros

6/24/2026 at 4:22:06 AM

EPSON L3211 Multifunction Ink Tank, works well in Linux

by qsera

6/24/2026 at 1:01:27 AM

Brother.

by atmanactive

6/23/2026 at 11:01:37 PM

brother laser printer. never "dries" and prints many many pages. last time we bought a refill was about 2 years ago with 3 school age kids.

by sergiotapia