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Comment by Brajeshwar | Hacker News Reader

I’m on the other side. My daughters print like crazy; stickers, custom doll costumes, new experiments, artworks, and then their school related stuffs. I go through the 500-pack A4 sheets in about a month or two, besides the sticker papers, photo papers.

I bought a Inkjet Brother Printer about 8+ years ago and I have refilled the ink-tank just once after the first installation. I think a full-tank last about 5 years. I’m about to add a Brother Laser Printer too.

Oh! I also print for the neighbors pretty regularly (I live in a large gated neighborhood). Their kids needs some good colorful print for school, I do it for them. I’m the guy who keeps unexpected things that comes in handy. I’m happy with that.

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> I’m about to add a Brother Laser Printer too.

Be careful. Brother is doing shaddy things this days, like lowering printing quality, or not printing, if a non-Brother toner is detected. E.g. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NzaRVEzYuz8 for a toner hack that shouln't be needed.

What! They were supposed to be the good ones and not join the others.

I can recommend Kyocera - my current one has been going strong for 15 years now. I had problems with paper transport about two years ago - but that's expected after that many prints, and was solved with a reasonably priced field maintenance kit.

As far as I know they're still not doing any nonsense to force you to use their toner - but even if they did I probably wouldn't care as the original toner is cheap enough that I just can't be arsed to figure out good compatible ones.

Brother has clearly denied these claims:

"Brother printers do not intentionally degrade print quality based on whether a Brother Genuine or third-party ink/ toner cartridge is used."

https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/06/brother_firmware_upda...

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/03/brother-denies-using...

Now that we are discussing this, I should add that I kept recommending this Printer to anyone who asked for Printers in the neighborhood. I know at least four other families in the neighborhood who got the exact same printer and are happy with it.

Suggestion: Keep your printer clean, and covered while not using.

What model is that? Ink doesn’t dry and lasts for five years when you’re going through 500 pages a month. Sounds incredible.

"Brother DCP-T710W Inktank Refill System Printer with Wireless and Automatic Document Feeder" bought on Jul 15, 2019. My order history shows the Inks replacement bought in late 2023, so I must have likely replaced it in 2024. So, roughly 4-5 years-ish.

I think this is the one https://store.brother.ee/devices/laser/dcp/dcpt710w

I’m the same way. That’s a good guy to be.

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