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Comment by tamalpais | Hacker News Reader

I recommend checking Wirecutter [0] when making a purchase like this. It’s a site that publishes detailed, well-organized, and well-researched reviews of consumer products. I check anytime I buy anything durable, though I don’t always go with their recommendations.

Their “Affordable and reliable” printer pick is the Brother HL-L2350DW for ~$100 on Amazon [1]. I have a similar model, the HL-L2340DW, for the same reason you’re looking for.

[0] https://thewirecutter.com/

[1] https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-home-printers/

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Wirecutter makes their money from affiliate links, so the potential for conflict is high.

They also mostly just meta-analysis rather than doing their own. Their biggest source is Consumer Reports, who don't make their money from advertisers. Much better to go straight to the source: https://www.consumerreports.org/printers/best-laser-printers...

Subscription required, but that's the point -- no conflict of interest.

For those who don't want to subscribe, here are the Consumer Reports recommendations:

Best for work: Brother MFC-L2710DW

Best for price: Brother HL-L5200DW

Best for presentations: Canon imageCLASS MF642Cdw

You’re not wrong that there’s the potential for conflict of interest. Many commenters on Wirecutter articles note that the options they choose are more expensive.

But the articles are well-written and have saved me considerable time. They’ve done much of the work of comprising shopping for the reader. I have no qualms buying through their links when the linked product is the right balance of reliable and economical.

The best Wirecutter recommendations come from the comments, not the articles.

You’re definitely on to something here. The comments are half the value. There’s usually someone wanting to know why a given option was excluded or why a conclusion was reached by Wirecutter staff.

Any similar recommendations for color laser printer?

the recommended Canon imageCLASS MF642Cdw is a color laser printer

Thank you. Looks great, but simplex scanning is a show stopper.

Thank you for the suggestion! I love wirecutter but I've learned to take their suggestions with a large grain of salt. I have no less than 10 products bought from wirecutter suggestions but there are lots of other examples where I diverged from their suggestions.

In fact I looked at that post on printers and specifically their budget Brother laser printer pick [0] but the 1-star reviews were concerning which actually led me to ask here on HN.

[0] https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0763WDSYZ/

I have that printer and use it to print music sheets about one a week. I'm two years in and still have plenty of toner.

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