printer for my windows 7 computer

[mbday630]

gosh, I hope that you people aren't getting sick of me asking questions all the time! I need to get a printer -my old one gave up the ghost and I thought that I could get by without one but I am having to print out forms and stuff - plus, I miss having one to print out recipes. I am using my old windows 7 computer again and I need a cheap, cheap, cheap printer that will work with this. Can you please steer me in the right direction on where to get one? thanks.

[draclvr]

I would just go some place like Wal Mart and see that they have. The printers themselves are pretty cheap, but the ink can be expensive. If you don't need a scanner, the straight printers are really cheap... less than $50.

I have an hp, but there are plenty of other brands out there. I saw a straight up Canon printer at Amazon for $30.

We never tire of questions, so bring 'em on!

[JKEerie]

I have an Epson Work Force printer, scanner, copier that I've used with my Windows 7 and now my Windows 10 laptops. I have it connected wirelessly to both. I got it at Wal-Mart a few years ago paying less than $40 as I recall.

[mbday630]

I was thinking that it would be hard to find one that would work with this old computer. I would like to spend around 50 dollars. I don't need a scanner - at least I don't think I would need one. so, I don't need to find out if the printer is compatible or anything? any one will do?

[draclvr]

There is no issue with using a printer with a Windows 7 computer. I have one hooked up to an old XP computer.

[JKEerie]

With many of them, MB, they come with software that you install on your computer. Set up is generally straightforward. As to a scanner, I have found that feature especially helpful when I've had to sign and send legal or financial documents back and forth. It was especially helpful when I was settling my Mom's estate.

[middletoe]

Probably any printer that works with Windows 10 will work with Windows 7, but check the box. Usually printers will work for previous versions of Windows as well as current ones. Windows 7 was supported until very recently, so there should still be printers being sold that list Windows 7 as supported.

We have a printer which works with every version of Windows since XP as well as Mac (at least since OSX 10.4) and every version of Linux my brother has ever experimented with, from 2002 to present. Currently it sells for 3 or 4 times what we paid for it because it's apparently going for collectors' item prices. If you get an older printer, you run into that "collectors' item prices" problem, so you should probably get a current model.

And as JKEerie suggests, don't assume you won't use the scanner feature. We don't use ours often, but when we do it prevents us from having to leave the house. Leaving the house can be really bad if the weather is bad or if you're sick and don't feel up to driving. Or maybe it's late at night and you're trying to get paperwork ready to mail the next day, and you don't want to leave the house late at night. Not to mention it's inconvenient if you forget a page or two at home and have to drive back out again to photocopy some more. So how good is your memory? Mine is shot and has been for many years. Our printer's scanning ability has more than paid for the difference in price between itself and a similar model that lacked the scanner.

[draclvr]

I couldn't do without a scanner... one example is a recent request for service for an item. I had to submit a copy of the sales receipt.

[JKEerie]

I couldn't do without a scanner... one example is a recent request for service for an item. I had to submit a copy of the sales receipt.

That reminds me of using the copier function to make copies of items before I submit them. Wine rebates readily come to mind!

[LadyKestrel]

I use a scanner frequently for graphics, but also for making copies of important papers for my documents file. I've had good luck with Epson over the years, but I don't remember the price I paid for my wireless scanner/printer combo.

[mbday630]

thanks for the info. yes, I need a printer for dealing with my mother's estate and I guess a scanner would be helpful. the next time I am in Walmart I will look for something cheap there - and check the box to see if it would be compatible with windows 7. I looked on Amazon and didn't find anything there. also, would an inkjet or laser be better?

[middletoe]

Get an ink jet printer.

Though color laser printers aren't as expensive as they used to be, and you still won't be able to find one for $50, there may be other concerns. Last time I was in the market for a printer, I read something about laser printers emitting toxic gas and/or nano-particles.

I don't know whether that problem has been fixed by now. You'd think it "could" be fixed with some sort of filter. But all the articles I've found are either from research done in 2007, or from places that sell ventilation equipment to offices and are trying to drum up business.

Anyway, we opted for an ink jet printer/scanner (Brother MFC-6490CW) that has been very good. Before that my brother had an Epson which worked many years before becoming erratic. So either Brother or Epson brands would be reliable in my opinion. I'm sure there are other good brands. But I wouldn't touch an HP with a bargepole after all the funny business they've pulled with their ink.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20050 ... 0232.shtml
and more recently...
https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-set ... ettlement/

[mbday630]

That is interesting reading and I will steer clear of HP printers. I think I got my last printer for 59 dollars and it had a scanner. it worked great for many years. I will look for one when i get to walmart next - I just need something cheap. I probably would only use it 6 times a year.

[draclvr]

I love my hp printer, but they really rip you for ink cartridges. But I don't use mine very often, so it's no big deal. But I really do like the printer... it's an hp Envy 4510 and I've been using it for several years now.

I would suggest not going for TOO cheap or it may not last very long.

[middletoe]

I love my hp printer, but they really rip you for ink cartridges.

You expect to pay a lot for ink with printers.
They undercharge on the printer itself and then overcharge on the ink.
That's why when you choose a printer you should also check how much the ink cartridges cost.

But what HP did was way worse than charging a lot for ink cartridges.

The 2nd year I owned the HP printer, it ran out of ink at a bad time. So next day I went to the office supply store and bought a backup cartridge along with the new cartridge. I thought I'd avoid the problem of running out of ink by buying a backup cartridge. That way I could replace the used up cartridge as needed. Bad idea. When the time came to change the cartridge, the backup said it was out of ink too. Out of ink, despite having been unopened and still full of ink. I never again made the mistake of buying another "backup cartridge" for that printer. Clearly it was the kind of printer where you have to be prepared to go out and buy a new cartridge whenever you want to use the printer.

So here's what happened the next time the HP printer ran out of ink. Despite that I'd hardly used the printer that year, and the cartridge was almost full, the printer was saying it was empty. Next day I went to the office supply store and bought a fresh new cartridge. Guess what? The printer said the freshly purchased cartridge was empty too. I returned it to the store, and they said it was out of date. They said HP cartridges go out of date even if you don't use them. I asked for a refund instead of a replacement. The store gave me the refund because I still had the receipt. I'm not sure why they were selling out-of-date cartridges -- especially since they apparently knew what would happen.

I did without a color printer until I had time to shop and buy a new printer, which certainly was not going to be an HP. In the meantime I used an old hand-me-down black-and-white dot-matrix printer from the 1980's. Since it was made in the DOS days, the only drivers ever made for it were DOS based (DOS/Win95/98/ME only). It was too old to use with XP or even Windows 2000, so I had to attach it to an old 486 computer (1993 vintage) to use the printer. It was a dot matrix printer -- what they had before inkjet printers. It worked well enough for printing text that I never bothered getting another printer. Even though the old printer hadn't been used for years, it still printed with its decades old cartridge. It was a Umax brand printer. Umax is still around, though I don't know if they still make printers. I only had to replace the cartridge once in all the years I used it, despite it being a hand-me-down and having a used cartridge. Amazingly the cartridges were still sold in office supply stores, despite the model being from the 1980's.