My friend in New Haven is looking for a printer and asked me to suggest one. Unfortunately, its been years since I was in the loop on those pieces of equipment that I have no idea what to suggest.
She is interested in a modestly priced one that does not require your organs as payment for the ink used. So I am searching for a decent printer that offers a good print quality without costing a fortune for the ink.
Anyone have any suggestions?
Didn’t you know that printer ink is distilled from the tears of 1500 year old gnomes that have eaten coal all their lives?
Seriously though: If you don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for ink, don’t get a colour printer. And if you do get a colour printer, get one with separate cartridges. And if you do get one with separate cartridges, make sure you check whether it’s actually honest and doesn’t make you replace all of them regardless of fill level when one is empty (like a fair amount of printers want you to do “just because the ink would get too old”)
Or just buy a cheapo laser printer, and recycle it when it’s out of toner 
Thanks Splutty, I’ll pass your sage advice along. Although I doubt she will understand that bit about 1500 year old gnomes since she is not a gamer. But I will pass along your suggestion to get a cheap laser printer and recycle when it runs out of toner.
Don’t think she is interested in color ink so I’ll do another search for just black ink printers. I just do not remember if anything has risen in the heap from HPs, Brother, Epson, etc. I’ve used them all in the past but they all had a flaw of some sort or another and I do not remember which had what flaw…its been too many years now.
Nothing changed there. Any printer under roughly $2000 is crap 
It may not be so easy to find, but the Konica Minolta 1600 series is the budget go to for a color laser. I got one long ago for only $100, no wifi, etc, but its wired in at the router, so it still works great 10 years on.
Looks like it would be hard to find now from a quick search…
Thanks djoneser, I actually did a google search and found some review listings and forwarded those along to my friend.
Splutty I don’t think she has a budget for a $2k piece of equipment…but I am not sure what she as set aside for one.
I don’t think anyone has 
But the point I was making was more along the line that all “consumer” printers are basically varying degrees of bad. They have gotten a lot better, but due to their price point, they’re all cutting corners somewhere. Whether it be in efficiency, speed, accuracy, etc. So basically what you need to do is try to determine what’s the important thing for you (Crispness? Speed? Longevity of printed material?) and try to find a printer that is good at that (which means it’s most likely bad at most of the other things).
So that’s your real challenge.
Oh yea… my friend and I have always had interesting conversations along those lines for everything that can be purchased… 
Turns out that we differ only in perspective, which actually has led to a very solid friendship because I do not ever remember us having any kind of argument. We always manage to find that we agree more than we disagree.
Two older ladies discussing art, writing, the students we have taught, and the list goes on. But you just cannot find better friends than those who accept you as you are and are willing to see your point of view as you reciprocate in kind. Besides, my son just loves her.
Years ago when he was struggling with writing in HS, I found my friend via a work contact to help tutor my son in order to help him with his writing. Not only did we hit it off, but my friend became sort of a special “auntie” for my son to spend time with while learning how to write.
She is a quite accomplished as you can see from this information: 93.03.09: The Role of the African* Playwright as a Griot
I would recommend she take a look at the HP M130fn for under $200. Replacement Toner cartridge is about $65-70, rated for 1600 pages so about .04 per page. (The original toner cartridge is only rated for 700 pages while the replacement is rated for 1600. So the first cartridge will last half as long.)
https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-laserjet-pro-mfp-m130fn
Connects by USB or ethernet cable which are not included. Ethernet connection can be direct to pc or via network but may also mean getting an ethernet switch box. USB is direct to PC only.
I have always had good experience with HP Printers. M1536dnf is what I’ve been using for about 5-6 years now, which falls in about the $500 price range. This model is more compact and price is better than others which feature wi-fi and color displays. 600dpi is good resolution.
I will tell you that I print… a lot. I’m an artist. I would recommend a simple HP scanner/printer from OfficeMax/Depot whatnot for around $150.00 Here is the great thing… Instant Ink is a thing… You pay for what you print, NOT for ink. I pay for 300 pages a month. 9.99. Nothing for ink. Notta. I have had this printer for over 5 years, I now want a faster one, but this sucker still works. And… has WIFI! 
HP530 I think is what I have.
Do you mind verifying the printer ? I did a google search for HP 530 but did not find anything matching your other information.
Appreciate knowing exactly what printer/scanner it really is. I saw a lot of combos but all were pretty expensive.
Thank you very much Witchy1
For what it’s worth, here is what online consumer reports is showing right now:
All in one printer Ratings.pdf (1.5 MB) Regular printer Ratings.pdf (936.6 KB)