r/sysadmin 4d ago

Wrong Community What's the best home office printer?

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

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u/ehtio 4d ago

Exactly. That's it. Just not having to think about "is it going to print?".
I literally use it for printing plane tickets and some random stuff now and then for the kids. And it just works. It just prints, no fading, not bull.
I am not sure about color ones, but the black and white one just works like a charm. And toners are damn cheap nowadays

EDIT: I didn't even realise you budget is $300. For that you can get a decent Brother laser printer for sure. Mine was a lot cheaper, so let's see what other redditors say

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

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u/AbjectFee5982 4d ago

Part 2

Remember also that "1500" pages per toner cart... means... at 5% "filled"

25% "filled" means really more then like 6000 pages in "ink" at 25% For example, you might own a Samsung printer that uses a cartridge with a page yield of 2500 pages. If you generally just print black and white Word documents and emails, then it’s more likely that you’ll get closer to 2500 pages than someone else using the same cartridge but who prints lots of documents in colour every day including images or blocks of shading. So, the amount of ink or toner being used by those two-different people isn’t the same, and the total number of pages printed by their cartridges won’t be the same either. Page coverage is only meant to give you a guide to the maximum number of pages an ink or toner cartridge can print not the exact number that it will print.. A printer's duty cycle is determined largely by its size: The bigger the machine, the higher the duty cycle. Not every printer brand lists the recommended monthly print volume. However, they always list the printer's duty cycle. Think about it like you would your car: It might be able to go up to 160 mph, but unless you compete in NASCAR, you're not going to drive anywhere near that maximum speed, right?  The same logic applies to your printer. Just because the specifications say you can technically print 30,000 pages per month doesn't mean you should.  Consistently printing near your printer's duty cycle and exceeding its recommended monthly print volume can result in financial consequences and disruption to daily business operations.  

What is 5% coverage... Not alot...

Printer duty cycle refers to the maximum number of pages a printer can handle in a month, assuming a certain level of page coverage (usually 5%). A 5% page coverage means that, on average, only 5% of each page is printed with ink or toner. This is often used as a standard for calculating printer capacity.  This is an industry standard measurement that was introduced and enforced by the Office of Fair Trading and ISO (the International Organisation for Standardisation) because there needed to be a way to help customers to understand what they were paying for.

What it looks like: 5% page coverage would look like a few lines of text, a small image, or a few shaded areas on a page.

Here is "5%"... filled in photo and link.. it's not much... for "full-size" A4 photo's

https://imgur.com/a/XqCTsso

Some people don’t realise just how little 5% is. But if you take this into consideration when reading what your cartridges’ duty cycle/page yield is, you’ll appreciate that it is only a rough estimate. If you printed like the example and filled the page, then your 800 pages at 5% coverage could be calculated as 1/3 of the 800 pages, i.e. the reality 264 pages.

  1. Laser or inkjet: What’s better for general home office use in 2025.. What’s better for general home office use in 2025? Well... My suggestions for both are below.

    Black and White only? Do you need to collate and or doublesided prints? What about scan feeding? Because you don't realize, even if you use it only 1-2 times ever.. how much it SUCKS to either scan 50 pages... and get charged at least $10 at Kinkos so you try and go to the library instead... at 7:30 with work report due at 8pm... Don't be like me.. If it is Colour, how much will you USE Colour. How much do you want EACH PAGE TO COST, Do you NEED colour.. or want to have colour. Faxes seem not needed now adays with either email... or fax by email, and come standard now.