Can you recommend a good printer?

I have 4 different printers.

1. An old Canon, which is reliable and has served me well over the years. It prints A3 and has an in-built scanner I’ve never used. Ink lasts quite a lot from what I remember, and I’d generally recommend it.
2. An Epson900 that prints on CDs. It’s a nightmare to actually get it to do that, as the tray gets stuck more than 50% of the time, and you need to trick it into accepting it. I think ink is generally ok, but I only use it for regular B&W printouts nowadays. I’ve given up on the CDs.
3. A B&W HP, sorry I don’t remember the model. I use it at work and it’s extremely fast. I generally print text on it, and it’s not that great with photos anyway. Ink lasts quite a lot.
4. A very cheap Lexmark I bought at the super-market. It’s quite practical, it’s fairly fast and easy to use, with a scanner that is also fast and easy. Unfortunately you do need to remortgage your house every 3 pages or so.

I always fill up the old cartridges at a special shop. Saves a lot of money.

Honestly, I think you should invest in a laser printer. My dad bought a laser printer a year ago and we still haven’t needed to buy new cartridges. It’s a good investment. If you need color, color laser printers can be pretty expensive, but are probably worth it in the long run considering you only need to buy new ink every several thousand prints. Otherwise, you can easily find reasonably priced monochrome laser printers.

I don’t have a particular one to recommend. I’m not home right now so I’m not sure what brand and model my laser printer is.

My job involves support and repair and all sorts of printers.

Ditto on the laser printer idea. Ink jet printers are cheap but as you astutely mentioned, consumables are going to be very expensive. Buying a laserjet printer will be more a expensive one time cost, but in the long run you’ll be better off. The laserjet will last you longer and will perform better.

Now here’s where you have a decision to make:
Is black and white printing going to be sufficient to your printing needs?
If you say yes, definitely get a laserjet printer, especially if you print out at high volume. If you need color prints, an inkjet is going to be more cost effective because color laserjet printers are very costly.

Hewlett Packard is the way to go for Laser printers.