Top 5 Printers for Home and Small Business and How to Save Money on its Supplies

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June 16, 2016 Printers,Reviews,Top 10 Lists

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If you are looking to purchase a new printer for your home or small business, it is most likely that you found dozens of options from a number of different manufacturers including HP, Brother, Canon, etc. How do you find the right one that fits your needs without breaking the bank? If you print anywhere from 250 to 2,000 pages a month for your personal use at home or at a small business office, you may find these printers a good fit for you at a reasonable price, averaging $254. Brother and HP pretty much dominate this space with their compact size and affordability.

 

What other factors do you need to consider when you are purchasing a printer? Your supplies cost for both toners and papers. All of these printers offer duplex printing which would reduce your paper usage. The most expensive part of printing is your toner. It is common for the printer manufacturers, also known as Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), to sell the printer supplies at a very high price. Brother OEM toners below average about $70 while HP OEM average $112 per toner. For one OEM CF410X color set, you will spend $712 when you only paid $623 for the printer itself! What you may also notice is that Brother printers require a “drum unit” that needs to be replaced every 12,000 to 15,000 pages.

 

Aftermarket toner cartridges, or compatible toner cartridges, have been around for a while and we have been seeing more and more quality compatible toners sold by US-based companies offering good customer service. While most of these printers below are fairly new to the market, it is not hard to find aftermarket toners online sold at a fraction of the OEM price. Of course, you need to be very careful when considering these compatible toners, but once you find a reliable company selling good quality products, they can really help you save a lot of money for every toner you have to replace. For example, a well-established online retailer, Supplies Outlet, offers the HP CF400X set at $144.99 while you will spend $389.96 for the OEM. That’s a 63% savings! Even when you are comparing a $68.49 Brother TN660 OEM toner, you will still be saving 78% buying the compatible toner from Supplies Outlet at $14.99, or $12.99 per toner if you are buying a five pack.

 

There are many ways to save money on printing if you know where to look. Before you spend hundreds of dollars on your next toner purchase from Brother or HP, be sure to check out some alternate options to see how much you can be saving.

Brother HL-3170CDW Digital Color Printer with Wireless Networking and Duplex

Black/White or Color: Color

Printer MSRP: $249.99

Functionality: Print

Recommended Monthly Print Volume: 300 to 1,500 pages

Supplies: TN221BK, TN225C, TN225M, TN225Y, DR221CL (drum)*

Supplies Yield: 2500 black, 2200 color, 15000 drum

Supplies OEM Cost: $381.96 per set, $149.99 drum

Printer rating on Brother.com: 4.1/5

Brother HL-L2300D Compact, Personal Laser Printer

Black/White or Color: Black/White

Printer MSRP: $99.99

Functionality: Print

Recommended Monthly Print Volume: 250 to 2,000 pages

Supplies: TN660, DR630 (drum)*

Supplies Yield: 2600 black, 12000 drum

Supplies OEM Cost: $68.49 toner, $104.99 drum

Printer rating on Brother.com: 4.4/5

Brother MFC-L2700DW Compact All-in-One Laser Printer with Wireless Networking and Duplex Printing

Black/White or Color: Black/White

Printer MSRP: $199.99

Functionality: Print, copy, scan, fax

Recommended Monthly Print Volume: 250 to 2,000 pages

Supplies: TN660, DR630 (drum)*

Supplies Yield: 2600 black, 12000 drum

Supplies OEM Cost: $68.49 toner, $104.99 drum

Printer rating on Brother.com: 4.0/5

HP LaserJet Pro M402n Monochrome Printer

Black/White or Color: Black/White

Printer MSRP: $269.99

Functionality: Print

Recommended Monthly Print Volume: 750 to 4,000 pages

Supplies: CF226X*

Supplies Yield: 9000

Supplies OEM Cost: $196.99

Printer rating on Google.com: 4.3/5

HP LaserJet Pro M277dw LaserJet Pro M277dw Wireless All-in-One Color Printer 

Black/White or Color: Color

Printer MSRP: $429.99

Functionality: Print, copy, scan, fax

Recommended Monthly Print Volume: 250 to 2,500 pages

Supplies: CF400X, CF401X, CF403X, CF402X*

Supplies Yield: 2800 black, 2300 color

Supplies OEM Cost: $389.96 per set

Printer rating on Google.com: 4.5/5

*High yield toners used if available