Ask HN: Why are printers always so unreliable?

2 pointsby keiferski6 hours ago4 comments

PaulHoule6 hours ago
Mechanical device with moving parts.
Price competition creates a race to the bottom.
Third party inks (in photography forums people are always cleaning up inksplosions when they try borderless printing with off-brand inks)
Paper handling is tricky, like in my old farmhouse humidity makes paper curl. A high end printer can handle this much better.
Cheap paper, mo’ problems.
Operator error. You see reviews on sites like bestbuy.com where somebody posts photos of an inksplosion caused by putting photo paper in the wrong side up. I print photos with documentation on the back and I learned through experience that you put the lightly inked side through first otherwise the ink makes the paper curl and you get more jams.
Bender5 hours ago
I've had one printer in the last 5 years. It's a Brother laser-jet combo unit scanner, fax and all that jazz. It has worked flawlessly which is saying something given the room is full of radio-active dust. No special drivers I just added it through the cups web interface, type lpr filename and it prints. No paper jams. I did have to power cycle it once. I probably just jynxed it.
```
    lpstat -p -d
    printer Brother_MFC-L2710DW_series is idle.  enabled since Sun 01 Mar 2026 02:19:42 PM MST
```
plasma6 hours ago
The trick is to get a laser printer, honestly zero problems.
- PaulHoule6 hours ago
  Wouldn’t say zero but if you are printing most kinds of documents the laser is the way to go.
  On the other hand I am an inkjet enthusiast who prints photos and art reproductions and you can get great results if you: get a good printer, use OEM ink, use quality paper, and perfect your technique. Cheap inkjets do amazingly good work for you pay but will have you tearing your hair out… and knock it off with the third-party ink.
- jqpabc1235 hours ago
  Yes. Lasers don't get clogged print heads.
  And when you occasionally want high quality photo prints, outsource the printing to Walmart, Walgreens, OfficeDepot, Shutterfly etc.. Pickup in 1 hour in some cases.
- ButlerianJihad6 hours ago
  It was only 2 weeks ago that I donated my HP LaserJet MFP, which was manufactured in 2010. It was still 100% functional and had never required a repair. Even the paper rarely jammed.
  My father has always insisted on purchasing the latest inkjet at Costco and he has probably burned through 5 printers in those 16 years when I had one. The OEM compatible toner cartridge was ubiquitous, and lasted around 18 months for my low-volume needs.
  I would never dare purchase anything but a LaserJet. HP has been so very good to me in engineering, support, and reliability. I considered a Brother printer, but without any valid reason to leave HP behind, I stuck with them again for a new model. No regrets!
- JohnFen3 hours ago
  This. I switched to a laser printer many years ago, and have yet to have any sort of problem at all.
- __patchbit__4 hours ago
  For personal use, a laser printer with a network plug that speaks postscript has had zero problems for me.
bell-cot6 hours ago
Excepting the high-end stuff, ~zero purchasers prioritize your "simple, functional, reliable".
Compared to pretty much every other tech product, printers have lots of moving parts. Especially the nightmare called paper. Talk to a engineer some time about how wildly the mechanical properties of paper can vary - even before you leave it sitting around unsealed, at whatever humidity and temperature.