When it comes to printers I look at quality, features, and price, reviews, and then one final check because I have been bitten by this before is the cost for the ink and how many pages its suggested that it can print per cartridge or cartridge set.
Here is the ink from epson: Looks like its $56.99 (USD) for the set of ink cartridges
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/buy-ink-results.do?sku=C11CA77201&type=1&ref=sem:us-brand-workforce-ink:gs:ink-workforce-epson&wm_crID=45632142&wm_lpID=104063141&wm_ctID=475&wm_kwID=54983001&wm_content=0&wm_g_crID=102495390552&wm_g_kw=%2bepson+%2bworkforce+%2bink&wm_g_pcmt=&wm_g_cnt=0&wm_g_device=c&wm_g_phyloc=9002419&wm_g_intloc=&gclid=CKvKreyoss8CFYpbhgodLf0K0A&gclsrc=aw.ds&wm_kw=%2bepson+%2bworkforce+%2bink&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=%2bepson+%2bworkforce+%2bink&utm_campaign=us+%2D+brand+%2D+workforce+%2D+ink&wm_sd=1Most Inkjet printers are marketed to grab you with a price you cant refuse and the company then makes up for the cost of the printer in a royalty type of way that the more printing you get out of their product the more costly it is to you in that ink doesnt need to be $30 or more per cartridge. Getting generic ink or refiller kits is one way to break out of their business model but that usually leads to troubles.
I myself moved away from inkjets because of my infrequency of printing was costing me. My ink cartridges would dry up on me when sitting a month or longer without use. Id have to perform a clean process and waste ink and that sometimes didnt fix the issue. I then would have to clean the cartridge face of dry ink and then put it back into the ink jet printer and sometimes even then it wouldnt fix the clog issue. So I would be back to the store dumping $30 or more more on ink costs.
I finally found a deal on newegg 2 years ago for a Laser jet and bought 2 of them for $29.99 each brand new. The price was worth the gamble. Normally I wouldnt buy a no-name printer, but it was worth giving it a try and I am glad I did because I havent had any troubles with them yet. But also it could be a situation where you need to use it for it to wear and break and my family is a low printer use household.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828731010&cm_re=pantum-_-28-731-010-_-ProductMy wife and daughter print maybe 50 to 100 pages a month, myself maybe 5 pages if that. The first toner cartridge lasted about 18 months before running out. I ended up taking the toner from the 2nd printer to put into the first printer as a solution to replacing the toner. The cost for the toner is dirt cheap at $29.99 I suppose I should buy one given its this cheap to have one on hand if not 2 to replace the one that I took from the other printer ..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828731014&cm_re=pantum-_-28-731-014-_-Product*While this is a very cheap printer, its quality is likely good enough for the occasional print or low print volume use. I doubt this printer would hold up as well as a HP Business Class Laser Jet in which most run tens of thousands of pages until needing a service kit run through them. This one I shared is just a cheap throw away laser jet. It works perfect for my families needs and very low cost. It even has wireless printing which is quite impressive for the fact that I bought this printer for just $29.99 with free shipping 2 years ago. Ive saved lots of money not having to throw away clogged inkjet cartridges.
I guess the only drawback to this cheap laser jet is that its monochrome and no color, but we dont print pictures etc, its usually information that doesnt require anything but gray scale.
A few years ago I moved away from being print happy with everything. I use to find cool articles and press print and read them later in paper form or to add them to a 3 ring binder of useful tech tips etc. I have since moved to a paperless system using doPDF7 to save important stuff as PDF's, and only stuff that really needs to be printed I print to paper.
