Canon 3-in-1 Printers

Hey guys, How are doing ?

I would like some opinion about those 3-in-1 printers from Canon :
1. Canon Pixma MX310
2. Canon Pixma MP480
3. Canon Pixma MP240

I need a printer for my school works, and I don't want to pay 40$ per month for toners. Do you think I should go for a Canon ??

THX

 

I have the Canon Pixma MP780, and I usually don't print much. Though the 780 has two black ink cartridges. I go through two once every few months.

 

I'm fine, thanks. I hope you are well.

While it might sound like an unnecessary expense, I'll suggest you get the cheapest monochrome laser and color inkjet all-in-one you can find. Use the laser for all your text documents and the inkjet for color graphics and scanning. Some searching should get you both for $100-$200. A side-benefit to having separates could be experienced if one of them fails.
The laser's toner will last a lot longer (thousands of pages) than the inkjet's ink (hundreds of pages), given equivalent output coverage. Lasers have excellent speed and text quality.
Use the inkjet sparingly. Default to the laser, unless color is required.
You'll probably be faced with ink depletion before toner depletion. If you paid less than $50 for the inkjet, it may be cheaper to buy another, rather than buying ink. But, the ink can sit in your drawer. Either way, have replacements on hand.
If you foresee printing more than a couple of reams during your stay, and use an inkjet for everything, you could spend hundreds on ink.
A color laser is another option, but their graphics quality (from my experience) isn't as high as inkjets. Also, a color laser multi-function will cost more than the two separates combined and the cost of the multiple toner cartridges can add up (the consumables have always been a "gotcha").
I bought, for my nephew-collegian, a Brother HL-2140 (laser) and a Canon MP610 (AIO) for $120. If you need networking, tack-on another $50-$80. He uses some stick-on rubber feet and a board so they can be stacked.

 

Yeah, this is what I think I'm gonna do. With my last inkjet printer (Lexmark Z310 I think, not sure), I bought a 5$ ink refill kit on eBay and I had ink for one year (10 refills I think). It was very easy to refill and it printed as good as with the original toner.

 

Anyone else's opinion ??

 

I agree. Laser is way more conveniant if you print regularly. But for a student, if you don't print a lot, inkjet can do the job also, plus you can get an all-in-one with an inkjet. It would help to know your printer usage and if you really need color printer and all-in-one features. Btw, you can also refill toners for really cheap on eBay.

 

Thank you all for your helpful information

 

Finally, I got a Canon MX300 for Xmas. Up to now, I think this is a great printer, installation was very easy

 

One thing to add.
Its generally better to have separate appliances - in case one breaks and qualty tend to be better too.

For the canon Pixma range you can buy cheap replacement ink which works fine - but isn't quite as "strong" in terms of colour content - black is more a dark grey than true black for example.