Best inkjet all-in-one for parents (ages 87 and 80?)

[Ken Sp.]

HP has a new ink subscription program starting at $2.99 a month.
http://www8.hp.com/us/en/m/ads/instant-i...rview.html

I am loving my old Brother 835DWs including the one still in a box.

FYI,when HP states the new inkjets compare in price with laser printers, they compare them to the more expensive Color Laser consumables.

[Robert M]

Ken,

Even then, some HP inks are still less expensive than some B&W laser printers. It's very much dependent on the make and model of the printers.But, more importantly, if someone is only going to print a handful of docs each month or even under 100 pages per month, the cost of ink shouldn't really come into play. Longevity is more important and this is where I recommend a laser printer over an inkjet. A laser printer can sit for months and print perfectly. That isn't necessarily true of inkjet printers.

Robert

[Ken Sp.]

Robert M I agree, lasers are best in most cases, I was just pointing out how HP does the comparison.

[tenders]

You'd be hard-pressed to beat the Brother MFC series of multifunction laser printers. I've had three of them over what must be ten years and they're all still running strong and cheap. My mother and mother-in-law both have them too.

The latest is the MFC-7860DW, D for duplex and W for wireless networking. I'll never buy another printer that doesn't have both these capabilities. It's currently at $202 at Amazon but they regularly go on sale at Staples.com. I think I paid $150 or less for mine, with a rebate.

http://www.amazon.com/Brother-Printer-MF..._4?ie=UTF8&qid=1398041506&sr=8-4&keywords=brother+laser+printer

Generic cartridges for these are so cheap that it isn't worth attempting to refill them.

Brother makes multifunction printers that don't have fax capabilities - you'll want to make sure the one you pick has that feature if it's important. The 7860 definitely has fax.

[Black]

I looooove my Canon MX 860. I use cheap aftermarket inks, no problems, 4-5 years now? Changing the ink is easy and actually fun (I Love the way it tells me which cart needs changing by flashing its LED-- very R2D2-ish.)
Current equivalent.... not sure...space-time?

[mrlynn]

Do they want color? If not, get a b&w laser.

I've been thinking of replacing my junky Brother MFC-440CN with a color laser AIO. Looking at the HP LaserJet Pro 200 color MFP Printer (M276nw), now down to $285 at Amazon (was c. $330 a month ago),

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008ABLJC4/ref=...oding=UTF8&colid=2TLY4J7ZNQ7J5&coliid=I1WJ2VA8Y9KSL4&psc=1

The b&w equivalent HP would be cheaper, but we've already got two (three, including the old HP 4MP, now idle) b&w laser printers in the house, and it would be nice to occasionally be able to print in color.

Anyway, that HP color MFP gets good reviews (except for small paper tray).

Does Staples still have their $50 off-if-you-bring-in-an-old-printer deal?

/Mr Lynn

[space-time]

Black wrote:
I looooove my Canon MX 860. I use cheap aftermarket inks, no problems, 4-5 years now? Changing the ink is easy and actually fun (I Love the way it tells me which cart needs changing by flashing its LED-- very R2D2-ish.)
Current equivalent.... not sure...space-time?

funny that you ask me, I am also not sure. I would look for reviews on Amazon about compatibility with generic ink if that is something they want to try. On the other hand, at their age, it probably causes more frustration to deal with generic ink and potential issues, maybe they should stick to OEM ink if they don't print that much. I also heard that some printers use ink when you turn them ON and it may make more sense to just leave the printer ON since they don't use much energy anyway these days. YMMV as always.