Update: after lots of research and $200 off pricing through HP affiliate purchase program, I went with a color laser. It's the HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M553dn, which I got for just under $600 with a normal price of $759. I'm happy.

Give the HP page wide x555 a chance. A good test is take a highlighter to a demo print and run it across text. Do this for prints that are fresh, ones that are 15 minutes old and ones that are an hour old.

The ink lock chemistry and new tone lock papers might surprise you.

Whatever it is, try for an off-lease enterprise-class colour laser. Juat make aure you can get toner.

You will get an amazing machine that can do hundreds of thousands of pages at a much better quality.

If you've got the cash to spend, a new enterprise class colour laser will absolutely do the job.

What kind of budget are you looking at?

Brother

OKI. I’ve got a 3200? It’s 8 years old and still prints like new. My dad uses it for printing a metric shit ton of invoices

Another vote for a Brother laser - my home office one is brilliant. Wifi, colour, cartridges (non genuine) can be purchased online incredibly cheaply. Scans / etc - it's excellent.

Brother laser printer

I got a brother color multi-function laser that can scan both sides of the page!

I had a brother b&w mfc before - awasome!

And a brother b&w laser printer before that.

The laser ink just does not dry out - and its 5000 pages.

Love them

We are using Epson EcoTank for a home use. Wireless prints in color and the ink lasts for a long time. You won't made mistake trust me. :)

Brother

I normally recommend Brother black and white printers, the cheap ones, however your requirements are a bit more demanding.

I would still stick with laser, inkjets are unreliable, extremely cheaply made, and the way ink is sold is a crime.

Brother is my favorite brand, they seem to hate their customers the least with their policies, lock in, etc. I would start there to see if they have a color laser that fits your needs.

I will never buy another HP product. Awful all the way around from set up, to software, cost. So freakin bad.

I have an HP and it's a piece of hell. I hate everything about it. It's somehow the worst equipment i have bought in my life. I hope it becomes sentient so that i can torture it as much as it has tortured me so far.

Please avoid HP. It’s a real POS brand. Brother is the way to go. I haven’t tried Canon and the others.

A few months ago i switched from an HP to a Canon MF753Cdw, which is a color laser printer. I got an extra feeder drawer so i can have one loaded with envelopes, and one with standard paper. It's worked great. No garbage apps to DL or substructions. It was plug and play and it seems to print quickly. I don't need to print as much as you do, however. I doubt i print 100 pages a month...

That said, i'll never buy an HP again. The only reason i went with Canon was that i wasn't finding a comparable Brother color laser that met my needs.

Literally anything made by brother that's laser will be fine. We got a 30 year old brother on Craigslist about 3 years ago and we have only had to change the toner once, plus the cartridges are cheaper for older models. They last FOREVER.

I'm in charge of the printers at work....

Each printer is banging out about 150 pages a day in both black and white and color.

The best printer I have is the Brother MFC-L8900CDW. It's coveted so much by the other spaces, that they route their printing to this one, and are willing to walk across a warehouse for their work.

You can use third-party ink, but you'll have to look at the Youtube video which shows how to do it. Our gear manager Nick, figured it out, so it's entirely possible to not be stuck with the crazy cash needed for ink these days.

I wouldn't be able to speak to any newer printer that blocks these methods of using different ink.

One of the other spaces uses a HP Pagewide, which will not, for the life of me, use third-party ink. It literally shuts down. So frustrating.

Laser brother model.

whatever it is, make it laser. 

When I have to deploy a desktop printer I've moved to brother.

Big fan of Fuji xerox for the primary mfp’s

Everything HP makes is a steaming turdpile.

Brother MFCs are incredible workhorses with very little maintenance typically required. I'll not recommend anything else these days.

From an administrative perspective, I think you BEST option, is to keep printer makes (and even models, less likely) as close to same as possible. The more different manufacturer and version drivers you put on a server, the more chance for instability.

That being said... I personally go with HP printers. Another course of action, is look for a printer vendor. They will usually get you 'deals' on leasing a bunch of printers, and you pay a monthly fee, or some will let you purchase outright. Doing this, makes it a little easier to keep hardware up-to-date, and maintain some semblance of order in what devices you are managing.

Best of luck.

We use IPP(S)/CUPS, meaning we don't install hardware-vendor-supplied drivers.

When you move past drivers, everybody has laser printers that are reliable at the conservative end of the number of pages per month for which they're rated. It's likely that half of the different models are using the same print engine internally, anyway. (In the 1980s, Canon made the print engines for all non-Xerox xerographic printers, I think. I don't know how many manufacturers of print engines there are today, but I bet it's still not many.)

As far as we can tell, PC Magazine is the only non-vendor media source still systematically doing printer and scanner reviews. You can sometimes find one-off reviews from end-users, but those reviews won't be directly comparing the units with similar offerings, so they tend to be extremely subjective. You can find some random but important information in ad hoc reviews occasionally, though.

Also check /r/printers, but Redditors only tend to post there when they need a new printer or need help, so there's not a big community answering every post.

I have tried so many at home printers over the past decade for homeschooling. I wanted something that I could task with printing hundreds of pages because I like downloading and printing several of the curriculums. I also wanted something that could print great photos and designs for at home business and hobby. If you absolutely have to stick with inkjet then the ecotanks do save on ink and that's great but every one I had quit working 3 months- 2 years. Brother makes great printers- Epson is meh and HP is a big no! The only thing that has been successful for me is using a laser printer. They are far more affordable now. Figure into the cost buying paper made for laser printers. If you can, def get laser.

I'd only look at ink tank printers. I have a canon and it's great. Super cheap to run and has a lot fewer issues than other printers. I haven't added more ink in years and I use it a lot.

I've never had a home printer I've liked, but I reserve special ire for the HP with Instant Ink, and I urge you not to get one.

The printer itself is fine, but the software and subscription is a racket. When our credit card on file expired, they bricked the printer even though it had plenty of ink already! Changing your subscription is very complicated, so my husband and I have to have a mini-meeting each month just to figure out how much we might be printing this month and next month so we can plan accordingly.

We were considering the eco tank and I wish I'd gotten it instead.

Ecotank

Got a brother color laser printer about 6-7 years ago and it’s phenomenal. I print for work, fun, and homeschool. We have replaced the cartridges once. After 20+ years in offices with various models and types of printers and well as 30 years of home printers, it’s the only one I’ve had that I actually like.

Brother laser multifunctional printer

I did my bachelors, 2 of my masters, and am doing my phd with mine. These things are tanks and are the cheapest and easiest to maintain

Do not buy HP. If your printer stops working, for any reason, and its out of warranty their support response is "well must be time for a new printer!"

That was my experience anyway.

After I threw away my HP I got a Canon. Its still new, but working very nicely, and it doesn't require a subscription for purchasing ink like HP does! (A subscription that charges you monthly, regardless of if you buy ink or not, btw.)

Brother color laser MFP. Solid as a rock.

Brother Printers are the way to go! Cheaper to replace ink which will save you so much money in the long term. Even their cheapest product is better than any other company

I’ve been using the Brother HL-L2350DW for a while now, and it’s been solid. Setup was quick, and it prints sharp text with zero fuss. The toner lasts a long time, so you’re not constantly replacing it, and it’s super cost-effective. Wireless printing works without issues, and it doesn’t take up much space. If you’re tired of inkjet problems, this one’s a no-brainer.

I like the Epson EcoTank for a light use office printer. It’s full color, Ink is cheap, and hasn’t ran into many issues other than needing to power cycle it occasionally. Also, you can pick them up at Costco and their return policy is the best. I even picked one up for my mother and put it on a smart plug so I can power cycle it remotely.

For a hassle-free home office printer, go with the Brother HL-L3270CDW if you want a reliable color laser that won’t chug toner. It’s network-friendly (Ethernet & Wi-Fi), easy to set up, and doesn’t throw driver tantrums. No scanning, but if you need an all-in-one, check out the Brother MFC-L2750DW (mono laser). Both are low maintenance, secure, and cost-effective for a home IT setup.

The one at my local library. I have to print something like 5 times a year, at most. Printers are becoming so unnecessary.

+1 for Brother. Also I would avoid anything from Xerox

We like the Brother MFC-L3750CDW

Brother is the only good choice. They're not perfect but everything else is hot garbage.

Also fuck HP and whoever had the idea of creating an account to be able to scan.

Brother is gtg

We've been very happ[y with Brother printers.

They outlive their warranties by a significant degree, support continues well after the purchase and software updates are also frequent.

IAmSoWinning has a good point, how many pages per month would be expected from the printer?