Is there an optimal printer to use with Surface 3?

[Raymond Lavertue]

I have to buy a printer. Is there a best one for use with the Surface 3 and why? I generally find all printers to be flawed in design and overpriced. I wish Microsoft would design one. I wonder what model printer Microsoft supplies its staff with?

 

[xandros9]

I'm not a printer expert, but any printer worth its salt should play nice with the Surface 3, since at its core, its just another Windows PC.

MS probably uses those big heavy duty communal copiers and printers if they're anything like a stereotypical office. Not exactly for home use I must say.

 

[jmshub]

You can get inexpensive black and white laser printers for $100-200 these days, and if you need color, you can get color laser printers for under $300. My company just bought a couple of Dells for under $100 with AirPrint to print from some iPads that have been working pretty good.

I recommend laser printers so much over inkjet printers. They are so much cheaper to operate, since toner is considerably cheaper per page than ink cartridges, and ink frequently clogs at the ink nozzles, ending up with poor print quality.

 

[RumoredNow]

Moved to appropriate forum...

As per this advice: http://forums.windowscentral.com/ask-question/292973-who-should-post-ask-question-forum.html WC members are free to post in all areas of the board. Please use Ask a Question only for time critical help issues that affect the immediate functionality of your device.


In my home, we just got a WiFi connected printer and we love it. I think you don't really want a wired connection to your S3. There is no reason, as others above say, that you can't use any off the shelf unit as your S3 is running desktop. There should be no special hoop to jump through.

For the record, we got a Cannon Pixma 2920 at Walmart. Not too expensive. The only thing to watch out for with ANY printer is the size of the software suite they want you to install, just trim it down on install to save space on your S3 and leave the full suite for your PC. Also for setup you need a CD/DVD tray and a Printer to USB cable to get the unit up and running on your home network.

 

[P_Devil]

I have not come across an optimal printer for the Surface 3. I had an older HP from 2010 that supported wi-fi and AirPrint, back when the latter was new. It served me well for the last 5 years but my fiance constantly had issues whether she used her MacBook Air, iPad mini, or Surface 3. We have since purchased a new Canon MX470 from Sam's Club. It was only $50 and came with a total of three black (one standard, two XL) and three color (one standard, two XL) cartridges. The price of the printer was essentially the same as a black and color cartridge for the HP printer so I didn't argue.

Again, I don't have any issues scanning or printing with it and my Surface 3 is my only PC. Like before, she has some issues but, as of late, I have been attributing them to user error. I don't really think it matters so long as you purchase a wireless printer. Windows 8.1 on the Surface 3 has automatically found every wireless printer on every wi-fi network I have connected to, downlaoded the appropriate software, and installed everything within a 15 second time period.