Ask Lemmy

Like other posts - brother, laser.

My ancient HP laserjet died a few months back so I picked up a brother. It amazed me that I just plugged it in (Linux) and it worked. No hplip, no cups config, just worked.

Even more impressive, I tried the network/wifi print out of curiosity and it also just worked... Nothing special, Debian 13 auto discovered it on the network and added it to my printer list.

I had the HP for over 15 years and it was always a bitch to get working with Linux. Hoping this brother lasts at least as long.

Laser.

My wife has a brother black/white laser printer. I got it about 5yrs ago and still going with no issues. She does sell things and makes labels and also uses a small thermal printer that pumps out label packages. Not sure if that can double for stickers for you, but could be an option.

Brother laser printers are my current go to

Brother is the only real choice. Their MFC are very versatile and handy and quite reasonable.

You are correct that Canon and Brother tend to be the best straight forward printers. Brother is better for laser printing and Canon is better for ink jet printing. If you go ink jet go with individual cartridges instead of the combined cartridges it’s way less fuss.

If you can do laser the basic Brothers just work. We had one in our woodshop for almost a decade. Sawdust spray paint etc. and it just did not care. It didn’t end up dying even, we just swapped it for a color version, and we’re on year 4 with that one.

Brother laser printer. Mine's going on 9 years now, a cartridge lasts so long I have to look up how to change it when it finally needs it.

Color Ink: Epson Ecotank (no cartridge bullshit)
B/W: Brother HL-L Series Laser (bulletproof, long-lasting, cheap)

Make sure you know the price of sticker paper and whether you’re really saving any money.

I think canons been enshittified, but mines been solid for over a decade. I buy cheap third party ink, and the difference is big enough to save money even if it’s another cartridge per session. Realistically I haven’t printed anything in like two years

If you are fine with ink printers, get inktank which you can refill yourself with pretty much any ink you can find. Never buy ink cartridge one like ever. Also, I would opt out of ink printers if you are not using them so often and if speed is preferable. They are slow as fuck and in my experience, a seldom used printer would at some point clog and it is pretty much impossible to clean this shit out.

As for laser ones, get preferably Brother. I have Lexmark and their toners can be refilled at home which is nice but I believe Brother toners if not easily refillable at home, can be refiled at print shops for cheap. Also, look for part availability so that in case of some part become broken, you can easily get a replacement off the web. Then you're set!

You're welcome

https://inkchip.net/

Only advice I can give is if you are just printing on paper, pay the extra $ and get a laser printer. Avoid inkjets - they are a complete scam and a waste of money. The toner will last 10x longer, never goes bad or clogs up the print heads, and the quality is better.

I don't know how laser printers handle sticker sheets, but for all practical printing purposes I wholeheartedly recommend a laser printer.

Brother is also a solid brand. I have had mine for almost 10 years now and it's still running like the day I got it.

I had a brother printer (mfc) that i bought and gave to my friend after a couple years. bought another and the colors are off but it works. the ink dries out tho so i was thinking my next printer might use toner/lasers. i just buy ink cartriges, i don't refill.

Brother laser or bust. I use mine once a month Max and it's been years since I even serviced it, they simply last forever with no maintenance. Color laser is significantly more expensive for the initial buy than inkjet but supplies are infinitely cheaper per-page. Problem being I don't know how laser behaves with most sticker package paper, so you'll need to research your preferred stickers to make sure they are compatible.

What’s your budget, here’s 2 options and they should work with the sheets.

Brother HL2405 $139: https://a.co/d/0bHDQ885

Brother HL2460DW $179: https://a.co/d/0ccXVUgP

Echoing others, Brother laser printers. Cheap, reliable, and toner lasts forever. Initial one with purchase is like...40% of standard, and will still get you a few hundred pages. The regular ones are like 1200+, and the large ones are I think pushing 2k for like $70.

You can do stickers on sticker paper with lasers, but idk the quality. Is it like...address labels? If so, lasers are perfect tly fine for that. Fine details? Idk.

The Brothers are really good, but the Ricohs closely behind and a little cheaper. Both with relatively few bullshit going on.

After a long time with HP printers, i switched to Epson Ecotank series. Way better with regards to ink usage and prices.

Key features for me: all-in-one device that also scans and copies, feeder for the scanner, double-sided printing, color.

I have bought a brother laser printer 8 years ago. It just stop working, because of a know problem of not turning on. There's a workaround that a used, and lately let it always on, but it finally stopped working, even with the workaround. Although it was a good printer because I would have spend many times its value if I had used the cheap ones. I also have a xerox and canon laser printer and so far so good.

Old Brother laser printers are great. They're easy to find used, but it's unclear if they're still being made. For stickers there are thermal printers for just that purpose if you want to go that route.

I can't say much about brands, I bought a Samsung color laser years ago and still use it.

What I will say is being able to network print is amazing and well worth having. I can print from my tablet, phone, or desktop.

I have a brother laser printer. It is very basic, but it can print stickers with the right paper.
And the finished product won't run, because it is laser vs ink.
I just put the third toner in, and works fine.
The only thing if you get a basic one, make sure it can use the right wifi network in your home.

Don't even think about getting an inkjet printer unless you really, really need color, and need it often. Even if you aren't dealing with DRM and price-gouging BS, the ink dries and gums up the print heads unless you're using them regularly.

For me, color is a want, not a need (meaning I'm not relying on the quality of the output or making money from it), and only an occasional one. But I did want it, along with other bells and whistles like automatic duplex printing, for my "buy it for life" printer. So I decided to go with a Brother color laser.

I ended up buying two used ones from some office getting rid of them on Craigslist for maybe $50? each. The one I actually print with -- the other is basically for spare parts -- has almost 60K pages on it and is complaining that it's due for some expensive "fuser" and "PF Kit" replacements, but it keeps working, so I haven't actually bothered yet.

If your use case is very much about stickers on sticker paper, and you're doing it regularly and often (not necessarily tons of pages at a time, but not going weeks at a time without printing anything), you may actually want an inkjet rather than a laser. Aside from the images not being as pretty as with an inkjet, the other disadvantage of a laser for you is that because it heats the paper, you might have to worry about paper compatibility to avoid gumming up the machine with melted adhesive.