Best Printer For Black & White: Any suggestions?

bradhess Loc: New York

Any suggestions?

Badgertale Loc: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

bradhess wrote:

Any suggestions?

The Canon Prp-10 is an excellent choice and the one I use. The Pro-100 is also a good choice and slightly better because if the different ink...but I couldn't tell the difference unless I viewed the same pick printed with both side by side. They are both very good. I would choose the 100 if you are doing landscapes.

Both are discontinued...but the inks are refillable. I use the pro inks recommended by Precision Color and I have had zero issues.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Brother is very reliable... and on sale low cost. Aftermarket toner is low cost also.

I got a 2550 and it has an auto scanner. This is my third in 20 years...
Consumers Report lists Brother as 8 of the top 12.
The Brother MFC-L2690DW with feed scanner is about $150

Why would one want ink for black/white... ??? White ink is hard to find!!!

jscorbin Loc: Woodinville, WA

bradhess wrote:

Any suggestions?

I use an Epson Surecolor P800 printer, which includes four different inks for black-and-white prints: Photo black, matte black, gray, and light gray. The results are outstanding on a wide variety of papers. Printing B&W with subtle color tones also shows beautifully. I have had that printer for seven years, and have not had any issues with ink clogging -- even though sometimes I may not print for several months.

The Epson ink cartridges are expensive, but I do not chance using 3rd-party inks. A clogged print head can be a lot more expensive.

The newer models are the P700 (13" wide, with 25ml cartridges, $38 each) and P900 (17" wide, with 50ml cartridges, $42 each). If you print a lot, the P900 will save you a lot on ink. You can get print samples from Epson.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

dpullum wrote:

Brother is very reliable... and on sale low cost. Aftermarket toner is low cost also.

I got a 2550 and it has an auto scanner. This is my third in 20 years...
Consumers Report lists Brother as 8 of the top 12.
The Brother MFC-L2690DW with feed scanner is about $150

Why would one want ink for black/white... ??? White ink is hard to find!!!

I assumed the OP meant printing black and white photographs. If so, a laser printer is not the way to go. An inkjet with more than one, and ideally 3 or 4 shades of black ink is the best.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Canon uses confusing brand names.

In Canon line, the Pixma Pro-100 used dye ink and the more expensive Pro-10 used pigment ink. It is generally assumed that pigment inks make better black and white. The Pro-100 became very popular because of aggressive bundling and rebate pricing schemes. Both are discontinued.

The replacement for the Pro-100 is the PIXMA PRO-200 using ChromaLife100+ dye ink. My Pro-100 makes B&W prints that I like. The Pro-200 should too.

The replacement for the Pro-10 seems to be the imagePROGRAF PRO-300 using "Lucia Pro' pigment ink. It should be a little better at B&W printing.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

dpullum wrote:

Brother is very reliable... and on sale low cost. Aftermarket toner is low cost also.

I got a 2550 and it has an auto scanner. This is my third in 20 years...
Consumers Report lists Brother as 8 of the top 12.
The Brother MFC-L2690DW with feed scanner is about $150

Why would one want ink for black/white... ??? White ink is hard to find!!!

If the Brother is #8 what was their #! pick?

Canon R Loc: Dayton,OH

Epson p800 surecolor is the best for black and white! I have been using for 6 years. Just amazing prints!

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Bradhess, you did not clarify if you were going to print office printing or photo printing. My suggestion of a brother printer was for practical home office use. For B&W photo printing that is where Quad Tone comes into play. Quadtone is a conversion of a 4 color printer to print shades of gray, this also requires a software [RIP] that translates the gray tones to the printer language as well as special shades of gray inks.

Tutorial discussion: https://crawfordphotoschool.com/digital/bw-printing.php
https://americaninkjetsystems.com/learning-center/beyond-quadtone-purity-gray/

Mike107 Loc: Yorktown Va

bradhess wrote:

Any suggestions?

HP Photosmart 7900 ?

Mike107 Loc: Yorktown Va

HP Photosmart 7900

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

Question, for photo prints then one with multi blacks for printed mater almost any printer that uses cheep ink. Photo printers I think Canon and Epson are the top, it's just how much you can pay for it.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

I’ve read that the best results come from printers using 3 cartridges to render true black and a range of grey.

magpix Loc: St. Michaels, MD

Epson SureColor P800 using their Legacy and Fine Art papers. Also having great results with Red River Baryta paper. Couldn’t be happier with the Epson.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

jscorbin wrote:

I use an Epson Surecolor P800 printer, which inclu... (show quote)

An additional point on the P700 – it has different nozzles for Photo Black and Matte Black inks so less ink is wasted.