As a Professional Photo Organizer, I’m frequently asked “what is the best home printer?” or “do you have a printer you absolutely love?” It makes me laugh because do people really think my photo organizing abilities mean I’m immune to the printer frustrations that plague all of society?
The truth is I’ve had knock-out battles with printers for years. I’ve tried switching brands thinking a new printer would magically solve all my woes. I’ve screamed expletives when it claims there’s a paper jam, but there IS NO PAPER JAM. It turns out printers just suck.
Or so I thought. Until I made the switch to a toner (laser) printer. I bought the HP LaserJet Pro M15w which prints in black-and-white only, but after years of fighting color printers that were constantly out of a certain ink color- and therefore would print NO colors- I figured it was worth trying something new.
the best home printer
The HP LaserJet Pro M15w. I love this printer. I don’t even care that it doesn’t print color. Black and white is sufficient 99.9% of the time. I have replaced the toner ONE TIME in more than four years. ONE TIME! I smile every time it prints out another sheet, wondering what magic it holds that it just keeps on printing. No connection errors. No ‘replace cyan’ warnings. It just keeps printing. Hallelujah!
Gosh, toner must be crazy expensive if it lasts that long, right?
I expected it to be, but I bought this 2 pack of generic toner and it was only $22. I’ve still only used one of those two cartridges. I’m pretty sure I spent at least that much on my inkjet cartridges every month or so!
What about when you need color prints?
The 0.1% of the time that I do, in fact, need a color print, I send the file to Fedex. Their color prints are fabulous. Certainly, far better than anything I ever printed at home.
If color printing at home is a must, this model offers color printing with the same toner (laser) technology. This will probably be my next printer purchase, but truly, my current black and white printer is plenty for me. And takes up a lot less space on my desk.
What about printing photos?
Guys, just no. Leave photo printing to the professionals. Please, trust me on this. I recommend printing photos from mpix.com.
Enjoyed this post? You may also be interested in my computer recommendations or my favorite photo scanner.
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