My HP laser printer 2430dtn is no longer picking up paper and it's not worth refurbishing for ~$200.
A few years ago I would have stayed clear of inkjets but after I read about HP PageWide using 80% less energy than laser whilst printing faster, I did some more research and I found the printer manufacturers to be quite competitive and using pigment ink instead of dye ink and I was surprised about the progress that is filtering down and that companies are replacing their lasers with PageWide technology.
The wife asked for an A3 printer to share with me for both business and personal use (with a price less than $1500) and my requirements being duplex scanning and printing, I narrowed it down to the Epson WF-7725 and the Brother MFC-J6930DW, laser printers being completely out of range for A3 size. The ability for inkjets to print colour prints for the kids appeared to be a bonus. The MFC-J6930DW does A3 scanning and the MFC-J5730DW does A4 scanning (I bought after a few hours research but I probably would have bought the MFC-J5730DW since the MFC-J6930DW is huge).
I took my MFC-J6930DW home yesterday and printed some photos for the kids and was blown away with the quality of the prints compared to Kmart. The inks may be expensive over time (but my research found that the price has come down for this too) - black ~3000 pages is ~$65 and colour more expensive but not over the top - the issue with inkjet being they recommend you print often to keep the ink flowing and use cartridges within 6 months, but the entry cost is so low compared to laser I suppose it ends up cheaper for lower volumes. I purposely put some water on a black page and there was a little smudging but a lot less than what I saw 10 years ago, the thing about inkjet I'm not happy about coming from laser is the quality of the text isn't as perfect, but overall it's cheap and works.
The difference between the Epson and the Brother is that the Epson heads are fixed on the printer whilst the Brother are in the cartridges (so the Brother is probably better for more adhoc usage). Note that you can probably get Harvey Norman to match CPL or other stores for $290 less $100 cashback so they will come to the same price if you are an Epson fan.
Anyway down to the dollars - note that you can get this printer anywhere local to you to avoid expensive postage, but I found my local store Centre Com to be most convenient to me. Warning: they are both quite heavy and bulky machines and I couldn't fit mine in my WRX with booster seats in so I had to walk the trolley down the road since I live close to the shop, but they would fit in an SUV or larger car.
MFC-J6930DW @ Centre Com $309 ($209 after $100 cashback)
MFC-J5730DW @ Centre Com $249 ($179 after $70 cashback)
MFC-J6930DW @ UMart $299 ($199 after $100 cashback)
i wouldnt mind going inkjet but sometimes i go 2-3 months without printing then do a whole print session - what is the recommended care for non consistent use and avoiding ink dry out?