Cheap printer for TD use?

Running Chess Tournaments
1

Can anyone recommend a cheap printer for club TD use? Got a new laptop and the old Deskjet 1000 won’t play nice with it. Thanks!

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A LOT of TDs use Brother Laser Printers, like the HL-L2400D or the HL-L2405W models

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I’ve used this for several years now. It works great. Cartridges are cheap but do need to be replaced fairly quickly. It’s small and light-weight (as far as printers go) and easily portable. Fits in a backpack easily, whereas most (all?) of those Brother printers do not. Perfect for small and medium tournaments, but I wouldn’t want to run a big one on this.

I notice this particular printer is no longer for sale. You can probably pick up an old one around somewhere, or I’ll bet there’s a newer model available. I highly recommend it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085VMW9YD?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_8

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That’s similar to one of the ones we’re using these days:

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/canon-pixma-ts202-inkjet-printer-black/J7C86SPWR9

(was $40 when we bought it, now $80)

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Perhaps the bigger question is what size of tournament are you running? E.g., what’s a cheap printer for TD use for a 25 player tournament is different than for a 200 player tournament. :grinning_face:

Like @sdlorimor I use the Cannon TR150 for small tournaments (under 50 players), because it fits in my backpack. But for our state championship, we brought in a much more robust printer.

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I concur. I actually went with a small thermal printer, as the size and power tradeoffs outweighed the speed and special paper drawbacks. I would agree that a decent portable printer will likely outlast almost all your other supplies - I would just caution against any inkjet printer (ink could readily dry out between uses).

For transparency, this is the printer I use, because it supports Linux (and a lot of thermals don’t): Amazon.com: Portable Printers Wireless for Travel, A285M Inkless Thermal Printer, Small Bluetooth Mobile Printer Support 8.5" X 11" & A4 Thermal Paper, Compatible with Phone Laptop for Home Car Office Receipt : Office Products