Most inkjet printers have a monthly volume of anywhere from 1000-3000 sheets, meaning that is the pretty much the maximum amount of prints you can do in a month without breaking your machine. But beyond that, there are really no estimates as to how long modern inkjet printers will last.

Prior to the home printing explosion of the last few years, the limited amount of inkjet models on the market were all pretty durable. Tons of people had old HP Deskjets that were still in operation after six or seven years of regular operation. Then came the era of the sub-$100 printer and everything changed. People began chucking printers after a year because they got clogged, had paper jams or just plain stunk. The idea of fixing minor problems with your printer fixed in order to extend its life also vanished. Prices went down and technology got better, but reliability went out the window.

So when you buy a new printer today, how long should you expect it to last? Two years? Maybe three? While we can’t give you an exact answer, here’s a short rundown of what you can expect

• Lexmark/Dell - you probably will not make it past two years (even if you do, most people will have given up by then). Dell printers have only been on market for three years or so, and we’d be surprised if a lot of people still had any of their first-run models.
• Epson - hit or miss. You could have it for a few months and it gets clogged or you could have it for years. Depends on which model you get.
• HP - also hit or miss. They used to be reliable workhorses, but now the market is flooded with low end Deskjets. Don’t expect more than two years out of a cheap model.
• Canon - probably the best bet for keeping your printer beyond two years. You will likely pay a little bit more upfront for one of their models, but it will be worth it in the long run. We very rarely hear of people discarding their Canon inkjets out of frustration, something we can’t really say about any other brand.

The lack of real specific numbers is due to the fact that these “next generation” printers have only been on the market for two or three years. The technology of inkjet printers keeps getting more and more complicated, so it’s hard to compare to any printers older than a few years.