i'm very happy this printer type is still being made

Many moons ago, I got exposed to one of the best damned printers ever made, the HP LaserJet 4 Plus. People love this thing so much that they are STILL reconditioned and sold on eBay to this day, STILL have new toner cartridges manufactured for them, and STILL have repair kits and replacement parts made to fix them. That's the staying power of the HP LaserJet 4 Plus. It's that good even though it was made 30 years ago.

What made the HP LJ 4+ so good is that it just worked. Black-and-white printing only, reasonable print speed and rock-solid reliable. They were built for office use and cranked out print after print with no complaints.

But can you get this with a new printer now for the home?

Yes. Thankfully, there is the Brother L2460DW:

The advantage of getting the Brother over an old HP LaserJet is that it's new and wireless is built right in whereas on the HP it obviously isn't.

Like the old HP, this printer does one thing. Print black-and-white. No color. And that's fine because all anybody cares about is black ink and not the color crap. It uses the 830XL toner, and replacement toners start around $50. That's actually pretty darned good considering how insanely priced inkjet carts are.

To note, the L2460DW is not cheapest version. There is also the L2405W. On the higher end is a model with built-in scanner and fax, the MFC-L2820DW. That one costs more, but for people that want a scanner/printer with reliable black-and-white printing, oh yes, that will do just fine.

When you're sick of inkjet crap, you go laser and stay there.

Everybody knows that inkjet printing is a racket, both for the printers and replacement ink carts. Many thousands of people get frustrated with their printers daily, mainly because it's always the COLOR carts that run out first when all you want to do is print in BLACK.

Anybody who prints at home regularly eventually learns that monochrome laser printing is what works best. Yes, you could try your luck with a portable thermal printer. Those do work, but thermal paper is annoying to deal with. You're better off with tried-and-true monochrome laser. The print quality is better, it's a proven reliable way to print, and you don't go into the poorhouse buying ink carts over and over again.

Published 2024 Jul 18