Best Printers for Seniors in Australia: Simple Buying Guide

A printer is one of those things that sits quietly in the corner until the day you really need it, then suddenly you are printing a boarding pass, a form for the doctor, or a photo of the grandchildren for the fridge. For an older person at home, a good printer takes the trip to the library or the copy shop out of the picture. The trouble is that printers can be fiddly, and the running cost of ink catches a lot of people out.

The good news is that you do not need anything clever. The right printer for most older Australians is a simple all-in-one that prints, copies and scans, connects over Wi-Fi so it can sit anywhere in the house, and does not cost a fortune to keep fed. This guide explains the choices in plain English, names models sold here, and points out the one decision that saves the most money and frustration. If you are also choosing a laptop or computer, see our best laptops for seniors in Australia guide.

How the main options compare

The biggest question is not which brand, it is how often you print. That decides whether you should worry about ink drying out, and whether cheap ink or a cheap printer matters more.

Need	Better fit
A bit of everything now and then: forms, letters, the odd photo	A simple all-in-one inkjet (HP DeskJet or Envy, Canon PIXMA)
You print a lot and want cheap ink	A refillable ink tank printer (Epson EcoTank, HP Smart Tank)
You print rarely, mostly black-and-white documents	A small Brother laser printer, so ink cannot dry out
Lovely photos of the family to keep or post	A Canon PIXMA or an Epson photo all-in-one

What matters most

The ink, not the printer, is the real cost

This is the part shops are quiet about. A printer can be cheap to buy and dear to feed, because the maker earns its money on the ink cartridges. If you print often, that adds up fast. A refillable ink tank printer like the Epson EcoTank costs more on the day you buy it, but the bottles of ink last a long time and work out much cheaper per page. For a light user it does not matter, but for someone who prints the church newsletter every week it matters a great deal.

Ink that dries out if you do not print often

Here is the most common frustration we hear about. Someone buys an inkjet printer, uses it twice, then goes to print a form a month later and the colours come out streaky or nothing comes out at all. The ink has dried in the nozzles. If you only print occasionally, a small laser printer such as a Brother sidesteps the whole problem, because it uses a dry powder toner that simply does not dry up. For black-and-white documents it is faster, cheaper to run and far more reliable for the rare printer.

All-in-one and wireless

Buy an all-in-one. It prints, it copies, and it scans, which means you can copy a form or send a document to the doctor without a second machine. And choose one with Wi-Fi, so it can sit on a shelf out of the way and still print from the laptop, the phone or the iPad anywhere in the house. Nearly every printer on sale now does both, but it is worth a glance at the box to be sure.

Ink subscriptions: handy, but optional

HP offers a service called Instant Ink, available in Australia, where the printer orders its own ink and you pay a small amount each month, starting from a few dollars for a light plan. It is genuinely convenient and can save money if you print a fair bit. The catch is that it is an ongoing subscription tied to the printer, and some people would simply rather buy a cartridge when they need one. There is no wrong answer here. Just go in knowing it is a choice, not a requirement.

Best options to look at in Australia

All of these are stocked widely through Officeworks, JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman and The Good Guys, as well as the brands’ own Australian sites. Models change often, so look at the current range rather than a single product code, but the families below are the sensible places to start.

HP DeskJet or HP Envy all-in-one

The easy everyday choice. These are small, tidy inkjet all-in-ones that print, copy and scan, connect over Wi-Fi, and set up with a friendly phone app. The Envy does slightly nicer photos than the DeskJet. Both take standard HP cartridges, and both can use Instant Ink if you want it.

May suit someone who

Prints a mix of letters, forms and the occasional photo, and wants something simple and affordable to buy.

Things to check

The cartridges are the running cost. If you will print a lot, look at a tank model instead. If you will print rarely, a laser may serve you better.

Plain-English verdict

A safe, simple all-rounder for the average home. The one most families end up with.

Epson EcoTank or HP Smart Tank (refillable)

Instead of cartridges, these have refillable tanks you top up from a bottle. You pay more at the till, but the ink lasts and lasts, and the cost per page drops right down. If there is real printing going on at home, a club roster, recipes, lots of photos, this is the money-saver.

May suit someone who

Prints often and would rather spend more once than keep buying cartridges.

Things to check

Filling the tanks is a small once-in-a-while job. It is easy, but it is a touch more hands-on than dropping in a cartridge.

Plain-English verdict

The cheapest to run by a distance. Worth the higher upfront price for a regular printer.

Brother laser printer (mono)

For the person who prints a document now and then and nothing else, a small Brother laser is the most reliable thing you can own. It prints crisp black-and-white pages quickly, the toner does not dry out if it sits unused for weeks, and a toner cartridge lasts for hundreds of pages. It will not print colour photos, but for forms, letters and the like it is wonderfully fuss-free.

May suit someone who

Prints rarely, mostly text documents, and is tired of inkjet ink drying up between jobs.

Things to check

It is black-and-white only unless you pay a good deal more for a colour laser. If you want photos, choose an inkjet.

Plain-English verdict

The most dependable choice for the occasional printer. It just works, every time.

Canon PIXMA all-in-one

Canon’s PIXMA range is a strong alternative to HP, especially if photos matter to you. They print, copy and scan, connect over Wi-Fi, and produce lovely colour prints of the family. Setup is straightforward with Canon’s app.

May suit someone who

Wants good photo prints as well as everyday documents.

Things to check

Like any cartridge inkjet, keep an eye on ink cost if you print a lot, and print something now and then to keep the nozzles clear.

Plain-English verdict

A fine all-rounder with a soft spot for photos.

Your rights if something goes wrong

Wherever you buy a printer, the Australian Consumer Law is on your side. Anything sold by a business in Australia comes with automatic consumer guarantees: it must be of acceptable quality, match how it was described, and do what the salesperson said it would. These guarantees sit on top of any manufacturer’s warranty and can outlast it, so a fault that appears after the warranty period may still be covered. Your agreement is with the shop that sold you the printer, not with HP, Canon, Epson or Brother, so that is where you go back to.

For a minor fault the retailer can choose to repair it. For a major failure, the kind that would have stopped you buying it, you can ask for a refund or a replacement, and the choice is yours. One thing to watch with printers: a shop cannot force you to keep buying its own brand of ink to honour these rights. If a retailer will not help, contact your state consumer body, such as NSW Fair Trading or Consumer Affairs Victoria, or the ACCC at accc.gov.au. Keep your receipt, as it is your proof of purchase.

Setting it up

Modern printers set themselves up with a phone app that walks you through it step by step, and most of it is just following the pictures. The one part worth a hand is connecting it to the home Wi-Fi and to the computer. Our guide to connecting a printer to a laptop takes that slowly. You will find more help in our laptop and computer guides.

The best overall

For most older Australians, a simple HP or Canon all-in-one inkjet is the right buy, easy to use and easy on the wallet. If you print a lot, spend more on an Epson EcoTank and save it back on cheap ink. And if the printer will mostly gather dust between rare jobs, a small Brother laser will save you the heartache of dried-up ink. Match the printer to how you actually print, and you will be happy with it for years.

Next steps

Once the printer is home, the first job is getting it talking to your computer. Our step-by-step on connecting a printer to a laptop covers it gently, and if you are still choosing the computer itself, our budget laptop guide is a good place to start.