Is there something inherent to inks and paper that makes a simple, functional, reliable "Toyota Pickup Truck" printer impossible to create?
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.
lpstat -p -d
printer Brother_MFC-L2710DW_series is idle. enabled since Sun 01 Mar 2026 02:19:42 PM MSTCompared 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.
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!
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.
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.