What kind of printer should a college student get?

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I live in a dorm now and I need a printer...

but I don't know which kind is more money efficient.

I believe I only need black and white...

cheap inkjet printer??

or laser printer??

I'm not exactly sure which beats what... I do believe that laser printers are more expensive, but I was told it lasts longer between each laser toner change?

any deals welcome too.
 
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I have an old (late 80's I think) laser printer that works pretty well. This one does like 10,000 pages before I need to change toner, and cartridges are like $100.
 
It depends on how much printing you plan on doing. The inkjet printers are cheap but they run out of ink pretty fast and each ink cartridge can run you a pretty penny. A laser printer while its more expensive, the laser toner will last much longer. I've had mines for over a year and haven't had to change it yet.

Best Buy has this Brother HL-2040 Black & White Laser Printer for $124.99 which isn't too bad.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...t&productCategoryId=cat01016&id=1099395715414
 
I dunno, I have a cheap inkjet printer right now, but there are so many times I need to scan or copy something. You might find the need for a multi-function, unless you don't mind going over the the university's copy service everytime.
 
[quote name='Dranakin']I dunno, I have a cheap inkjet printer right now, but there are so many times I need to scan or copy something. You might find the need for a multi-function, unless you don't mind going over the the university's copy service everytime.[/quote]

You can pick up a multifunction printer/scanner/copier for a hundred bucks now a days. So it might be best to look into those
 
Try to find several friend to split the cost of a printer if you want to save cost. If you dont print that much try to see the rate at the computer lab at your university.
 
I just use the univeristy lab printers, only 3 cents per page at my college. You should check if they give you free printing, I get 300 free pages per semester if I use the engineering library. I personally prefer to use the lab computers because my douchbag of a roomate used up all my ink last time I brought a printer so I ended up shoveling out 140 bucks buying cartridges.
 
[quote name='HumanSnatcher']You can pick up a multifunction printer/scanner/copier for a hundred bucks now a days. So it might be best to look into those[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I got a Lexmark at target last year for 50 bones, and has a pretty decent scanner/copier. As for printing? I wouldn't bother printing photos with it, but I've printed up plenty of papers with the thing.

You can get other Lexmark printers (without the scanning/copying) for $18, if you keep your eye out for them, which means they can be cheaper than the ink cartridges that come included!
 
I would like to suggest a really good one cuz mine sucks and I never use it any more because the papers come out weird.. lol Like sideways.. I mean get a really really good one or just use the school's printers.
 
Get a laser jet They cost about $150 now and you won't have to buy toner until your 2nd year. They last forever. Trust me on this buy a Laserjet. Look at it like this would you drive a semi-turck as your everyday car (inkjet) they take lots of ink, the ink is expensive and if they break you should just buy a new one. Or a nice hybird eletric (laserjet) that will last well out of college, and only needs gas every 8-12 months
 
Well since you only need Black and White I suggest screwing with the Proffessors and using one of those printers with paper edges.

Then again you need something more like a color printer that can do basic work. I have one that could be turned into a scanner also.
 
Don't you have computer labs where you can print stuff? We have one almost everywhere on campus and we get a $20 of free printing (at $.04 a page).

I do have a printer though, a multifunction one. I use it for color documents/pictures and scanning. A multifunction printer can be really useful.

Also, if you can, try to find one that use individual color cartridges rather than a 3-in-1 color cartridge... it sucks having to get a new cartridge just because you're out of one color but have plenty of the other two remaining.
 
I'd say don't bother with a printer at all. In dorms, most schools have networked printers for residents to use. If not, there's always computer labs which, generally speaking, allow you to print everything you want.
 
I would look into a Samsung laser printer. I have a SCX-4100 which was 90 AR and also scans and copies. The ML 2010 can be fairly cheap if there is a deal on it, but it does not include scanning and copy capability (they both use the same cartridge). I have seen it as cheap as 30 AR.

At MSRP of 79.99 the carts print out 3000 pages and cost around 2.7 cents a page. Carts can be found for around 70 though if you look. The starter cart prints out about 1000.


I have to print out about 100 pages a week for school and the samsung was a great investment.
 
Take whatever you can get for free. Stores are always giving away free inkjet printers (after mail-in rebate). I'm sure there will be quite a few free printers on black Friday, but it seems like on of the office supply chains (Staples, Office Depot, Office Max, etc.) has one in their Sunday flyer almost on a weekly basis.

And by your ink refills cheap off Ebay, not from a store. Whatever type of printer you get, research the ink costs first. That's where you'll spend the most money.
 
Does your school lab limit you as to how much you can print? My b/f's college's computer lab's did that, but since he was an engineering major, he got unlimited prints on the engineering computers. Do you know anyone that has those privledges at your school?
 
if you can find an older canon ink jet printer it only costs about 10 bucks for the ink cartridges... even cheaper if you "refill" instead of buy new. I use a cartridge every 6 months or so.
 
If you look for deals you can get a laser printer for not much $. I got my Samsung ML-2010(i think) for free after rebate. So look around for deals.
 
Get a cheap laser. DO NOT ever turn in a paper printed on a inkjet as the the ink smears when a highlighter is used on it (not a good thing). I just bought a Samsung ML-2510 for $70 after rebate at Fry's and it is a great little printer. It uses the same toner as the ML-2010 and generic toner carts can be had on ebay for around $40 (2000-3000 pages) and can be easily refilled.
 
I picked up HP's Printer/Scanner/Copier machine when I was a freshman at Wal-Mart for about $60 (it was an older model). It worked just fine for everything I needed it to do. I only had to replace the ink twice as well.
 
[quote name='buurrnn']Arent most laser printers pretty big. since you are in the dorms the space might be an issue.[/QUOTE]That's what I thought. I know a lot people are recommending them, but I would not get a laser printer for a dorm, unless they're a lot smaller now. I had a laser printer for college, and while the print quality was better and faster, it was totally not worth the hassle of moving it around. Packing it up for the summer, moving it around to storage, trying to find space in limited storage... those were my headaches. Plus our school had printing facilities that were free (as long as you're not print books and books of stuff). If those things aren't issues, then I would recommend a laser printer. Otherwise, I think a small inkjet is fine for personal printing.
 
Try getting a printer at the fleamarket. I found a old HP Deskjet Professional series 855. I find the ink carts for 2-3 bucks at the fleamarket. It's kept me in good shape for over two years. Hell I even dropped it at around six feet and it has no damage. The thing IS huge though. Not to mention heavy. It's like a step below laser jet level.
 
Get one with the cheapest cartridges... Don't buy a Lexmark, their cartridges are rediculously expensive.

The older Canon printers can use generic cartridges that cost around 99 cents each. Thats what I've been doing.
 
The printer I use is the HP 3930. I would recomend getting the 3940 though, because it comes with the color as well as the black ink.

I think it costs around $40, and it's pretty small.

According to this page, it should be able to do around 200 black and white pages.
http://h10060.www1.hp.com/pageyield/us/en/DJ3930-3940/summary.html

The black ink cartridge costs $15 plus tax. So I don't know, maybe one of those $130 laser printers that yeild 3000 pages might be better, cause to do the same with this inkjet it would take 15 cartridges, which comes to $225 before tax.
 
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