Best Printer for a Dorm?

applenutapplenut
Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Any suggestions. Right now I'm looking at the Canon i70. But its a bit pricey for a printer. $249



its small and portable and apparently decent quality and relatively fast. the infrared isnt supported on the mac. is there a bluetooth adapter available for printers? it would really be nice not to have to connect the USB cable all the time since im lazy.





or do you think going with a plain old and cheap desktop inkjet would be better. Epson has a scanner/copier/printer for like 69 bucks. But im afraid it'll be impractical in a dorm room.
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 33
    ryukyuryukyu Posts: 450member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by applenut

    Any suggestions.



    I bought my son an HP 1210 printer/scanner/copier. It's the smallest of the "all-in-ones", and it does a nice job. Scans are not as good as from a dedicated scanner. Copies are cheaper at the school library, but it's nice to have the option in a pinch, and it does make nice prints.
  • Reply 2 of 33
    homhom Posts: 1,098member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by applenut

    Any suggestions. Right now I'm looking at the Canon i70. But its a bit pricey for a printer. $249



    its small and portable and apparently decent quality and relatively fast. the infrared isnt supported on the mac. is there a bluetooth adapter available for printers? it would really be nice not to have to connect the USB cable all the time since im lazy.





    or do you think going with a plain old and cheap desktop inkjet would be better. Epson has a scanner/copier/printer for like 69 bucks. But im afraid it'll be impractical in a dorm room.



    Dude, don't get the Canon. It is a fine printer, but the ink is very expensive. I don't know how small your dormroom is going to be (mine was tiny) but you might want to invest in a small laser printer from Brother or Lexmark. It will cost a little more up front, and be a bit bigger, but it will last all four years and be much cheeper in the long run.

    I went to school with a portable HP. I thought it would be great, but it became so expensive to buy ink that I gave up ans started taking things to the library to print.



    But as always, YMMV
  • Reply 3 of 33
    cold turkeycold turkey Posts: 52member
    applenut: I didn't buy a printer until second semester Senior year, and then only a refurbished Apple StyleWriter, which didn't work well. It was a pain to run to the computer center to print papers before the deadline. But the printers they had there (including some early phasers, color lasers and whatnot) were infinitely better than what I could have afforded.



    If I had to do it over again, I would buy an inexpensive laser printer, or an HP 1000-series laser if you want better PostScript driver support and have a bit more money. Nothing beats a laser printer for the usual college paper fare. For large B/W print jobs and color stuff, I'm sure your computer lab will have much better options. This is especially true for large-format plotters you might need for architectural drawings and renderings. No point in getting anything too sophisticated for your dorm room.



    Cold Turkey
  • Reply 4 of 33
    jonathanjonathan Posts: 312member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Cold Turkey

    applenut: I didn't buy a printer until second semester Senior year, and then only a refurbished Apple StyleWriter, which didn't work well. It was a pain to run to the computer center to print papers before the deadline. But the printers they had there (including some early phasers, color lasers and whatnot) were infinitely better than what I could have afforded.



    If I had to do it over again, I would buy an inexpensive laser printer, or an HP 1000-series laser if you want better PostScript driver support and have a bit more money. Nothing beats a laser printer for the usual college paper fare. For large B/W print jobs and color stuff, I'm sure your computer lab will have much better options. This is especially true for large-format plotters you might need for architectural drawings and renderings. No point in getting anything too sophisticated for your dorm room.



    Cold Turkey



    First, what's so Cold Turkey about quitting if you still post, Roland?









    Secondly: I bought an HP Photosmart 1000 - photo printer/card reader/ink-jet It's been overkill. I've printed one photo- used the card reader twice.



    My roommate last year bought a cheap ($250?) laser printer. It was horrible- manual feed, didn't feed straight, went through toner like Darryl Strawberry goes through coke--- in short... i'd say go cheap inkjet. Remember that friends/neighbors will be asking to use your printer, a lot. Keeping cost per loaned-page printed down is probably a good thing.
  • Reply 5 of 33
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    alright we have 2 vs 2 for the inkjet/laser debate.





    who wants to be the tiebreaker
  • Reply 6 of 33
    stupider...likeafoxstupider...likeafox Posts: 1,618member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Jonathan

    cheap ($250?) laser printer...horrible...went through toner like Darryl Strawberry goes through coke



    Some lasers come with a 'starter' toner catridge the same way inkjets often come with starter ink cartridges that have only a fraction of the capacity of a refill.



    I'd lean towards laser without a good reason to go the other way.
  • Reply 7 of 33
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    Definitely laser. It's the best way to print out papers for class.
  • Reply 8 of 33
    va1entinova1entino Posts: 46member
    Just go for a $100 inkjet printer. You can't go wrong there...
  • Reply 9 of 33
    ryukyuryukyu Posts: 450member
    If you want color, lasers are really expensive.

    If you don't need color, then I've seen some good deals on a Samsung ML-1710 laser printer on dealmac.

    I don't know a lot about it, but the reviews I have read seem to be positive, and it's got a relatively small footprint for a laser printer, which could be a plus for a dorm room.
  • Reply 10 of 33
    agent302agent302 Posts: 974member
    Applenut, where in berkeley are you going to be living? The size of the dorm room could make a difference here. I personally had an Epson 740 my freshman year at UCSB, and I have a Canon i850. I think printer size isn't that big of deal (especially since my roommate had a 19" CRT that took up massive space, yet we still seemed to have room to move around).
  • Reply 11 of 33
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by agent302

    Applenut, where in berkeley are you going to be living? The size of the dorm room could make a difference here. I personally had an Epson 740 my freshman year at UCSB, and I have a Canon i850. I think printer size isn't that big of deal (especially since my roommate had a 19" CRT that took up massive space, yet we still seemed to have room to move around).





    I'm gonna be living in Bowles Hall. (I know, i know, that's the all-male dorm, sigh).



    I have one of the double rooms unfortunately so I'm not sure how much space I'll have.



    Here's a movie of the double dorm room:

    http://www.housing.berkeley.edu/livi.../bowles002.mov



    i've never had a laser before. aren't the toner cartridges a lot?
  • Reply 12 of 33
    cold turkeycold turkey Posts: 52member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by applenut

    i've never had a laser before. aren't the toner cartridges a lot?



    Toner cartridges for laser printers are indeed (relatively) expensive. But they usually last for several thousand printouts (or even ten thousands). A laser toner cartridge will go much further than the average ink cartridge of an inkjet printer. So if you're a normal individual user who doesn't print a bazillion copies a week, your toner will last a very long time.



    Case in point: I bought a cheapo Epson laser in early 1999 (an EPL-5700i, don't ever buy this model, it has terrible driver support). I'm still running on the first toner cartridge, even though it is starting to get low.



    I spent a summer at Berkeley and remember that computer labs were spread all over campus. If there's a lab within close walking distance, possibly even inside your dorm, you might just want to print to the lab via the network. At least initially, that wouldn't be a bad way to go.



    Cold Turkey
  • Reply 13 of 33
    skyboltskybolt Posts: 111member
    I find that if you need color, the Canon is the cheapest per page and the best quality. I have an S520 and I love it! Prints great text, wonderful pics and the ink tanks last a really long time. Has individual tanks, too, so if one color gets used up, you only have to replace that tank, not the whole set. I buy cartridges at Sam's and get two black and one each of the color for about $40. They generally run $10-$12 individually. I have had mine 1 1/2 years and only just replaced the yellow cartridge only (and I print a lot of pictures), and have only replaced one black cartridge. Cost of the printer was $150, but they have other good ones for less/more. Good luck!
  • Reply 14 of 33
    agent302agent302 Posts: 974member
    Well, I don't know anything specific about Bowles, but I've had friends (and parents) who've lived in both Foothill and the Units, which are both comparatively large as dorm rooms go (at least compared to the dorms I lived in Santa Barbara). The main advantage of the i70 is that you can easily carry it around and go places. But, in reality, you'll likely set your printer up once, and leave it in the same place for the entire year. So I'd either spend the same amount of money on a more full featured printer, or less money on a printer with the same specs but in a fullsize form. Inkjets aren't that big in the first place. And lasers are probably cheaper long term, but I like the ability to use color (plus my i950 seems to use like no ink at all).
  • Reply 15 of 33
    thuh freakthuh freak Posts: 2,664member
    i had a hp deskjet 935c, and i strongly recommend against it. we had bought one for the home like a year before college, and all was well ... or so we thought. i get to school, and my new one (since the family still needed the other one) gives me nothing but trouble. every so often it decides i've printed too much, and goes goobly. it will give me errors, so i turn it off then on, and it'll give worse errors. meanwhile, back at home, that one goes bad too. very similar problems.



    but i still like hp's printers in general. i've since bought a scanner/printer/fax/copier from them for about a buck thirty (~$130 US). its really great, except its not supported on macs, so the scanner doesn't work; and i had to use gimp for printing. i love how it copies and faxes though. i think people have gotten its scanner to work in linux, so i'll look into that, but i'm content with it as a printer/fax/copier.
  • Reply 16 of 33
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by agent302

    Well, I don't know anything specific about Bowles, but I've had friends (and parents) who've lived in both Foothill and the Units, which are both comparatively large as dorm rooms go (at least compared to the dorms I lived in Santa Barbara). The main advantage of the i70 is that you can easily carry it around and go places. But, in reality, you'll likely set your printer up once, and leave it in the same place for the entire year. So I'd either spend the same amount of money on a more full featured printer, or less money on a printer with the same specs but in a fullsize form. Inkjets aren't that big in the first place. And lasers are probably cheaper long term, but I like the ability to use color (plus my i950 seems to use like no ink at all).



    yea, that's what I'm trying to balance. I'm also thinking of bringing everything back home after school lets out and everything. So, the i70 has its appeal and its small enough that I could actually just throw it in a draw or something when I'm not using it. If it had bluetooth for that price I'd probably be all over it. But for the much its just the printer (doesnt even come with the battery). And 249 for that would be hard for me to spend when for the same price I could get a relatively high quality epson photo printer or something.



    I'm gonna check out a few lasers online i think though just to see whats out there. Maybe I'll wait till I'm at Cal to decide and see if I have space for a full size one.
  • Reply 17 of 33
    agent302agent302 Posts: 974member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by applenut

    Maybe I'll wait till I'm at Cal to decide and see if I have space for a full size one.



    If you don't need the printer right now, that's probably the best option. The Cal bookstore I recall has a nice selection of stuff (as do most university bookstores).



    Oh, and I do remember that I had one friend in Bowles, but he quickly got moved into Foothill
  • Reply 18 of 33
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by agent302



    Oh, and I do remember that I had one friend in Bowles, but he quickly got moved into Foothill



    maybe I'll be that lucky



    I know i know, go in with an open mind.
  • Reply 19 of 33
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,425member
    Well I'm starting classes Sept 29 and I've pretty much decided on the Brother HL-5070n. http://www.macworld.com/2003/06/revi...theinprinters/



    It's not the smallest but it



    1. Support Rendezvous

    2. Toner last 6000 pages

    3. Available through Costco.com for $399

    4. Has built in 10/100 Ethernet

    5. Has been getting good reviews.
  • Reply 20 of 33
    agent302agent302 Posts: 974member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by applenut

    maybe I'll be that lucky



    I know i know, go in with an open mind.



    Well, I think he asked.
Sign In or Register to comment.