Top HP Printers for Students Who Are Home Schooling
Do the walls of your home transform into a classroom by day? Does your dining room table hold the promise of endless educational discoveries? This article will take a look at an unsung hero in the realm of home schooling - the humble, yet mighty printer. 

At the very least, printers for students learning from home should be reliable and durable. But there are many other aspects to consider. We’ve put together this useful guide to help you select the best printer for home schooling. 

Why the right printer makes a difference

Imagine a world where printing mishaps and paper jams never occur, where ink cartridges never run dry at the most inconvenient moments. A world where your printer understands the urgency of that last-minute project and doesn't engage in a battle of wills with the WiFi.

When it comes to home schooling, printer needs can vary depending on the educational approach, grade level, and curriculum. Printers for home schooling have an impact on many aspects of your projects, from print quality, to speed, to how well they fit in the space you have available in your homeschooling area.

Choosing a printer for school projects requires you to know what’s expected from the equipment and the areas where you need it to excel. Think about the most common use cases for your students. Are you simply printing black-and-white pages of text to create offline reading packets and study material? Or are you using the printer to turn brightly coloured artistic creations made with design software into works of art ready to display on the fridge?

High-quality printers for students can bring out vibrant colours, sharp details, and crisp text in your printed materials. Accuracy is also important when it comes to educational usage. Whether it's worksheets, visual aids, or project displays, a printer with excellent print quality can make your materials visually appealing, capturing your child's attention and making the learning experience more engaging.

The best HP printers for home schooling

In today's home schooling landscape, where creativity knows no bounds and knowledge is just a click away, a reliable printer has emerged as an indispensable tool.

HP offers several excellent printers for home schooling, each with its own advantages depending on your student’s needs.

HP Smart Tank 585 All-in-One Printer

Key specifications

  • Print, copy, and scan
  • Print speed up to 12 pages per minute (ppm) in black ink and 5 ppm in colour
  • Print Technology: HP Thermal Inkjet
  • Wireless Capability: Built-in WiFi 2.4G, WiFi Direct, Bluetooth Low Energy
HP Smart Tank 585 All-in-One Printer
Why it’s a good printer for students

HP Smart Tank printers are known for their high-capacity ink tanks, which offer cost-effective and reliable printing for various purposes. In the case of the HP Smart Tank 585 All-in-One Printer, that means you get high-volume, low-cost printing, and up to 6,000 colour or 6,000 black pages of Original HP Ink are included.

Self-healing dual-band WiFi is another feature that could prevent unnecessary headaches for home school teachers who don’t have the luxury of an IT department. This printer aims to create a more stable wireless network by automatically addressing common issues that can affect WiFi performance. By continuously monitoring and optimizing the network, it helps ensure a smoother and uninterrupted WiFi experience for users, reducing the need for manual troubleshooting and intervention.

HP Deskjet Ink Advantage Ultra 4826 Printer

 Key specifications

  • Print, copy, and scan
  • Print speed up to 7.5 ppm (black) and 5.5 ppm (colour)
  • Print Technology: HP Thermal Inkjet
  • Wireless Capability: Built-in Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n
HP Deskjet Ink Advantage Ultra 4826 Printer
Why it’s a good printer for students

HP’s DeskJet series includes budget-friendly models, making them accessible to home school parents who may have limited funds set aside for equipment. These printers provide essential printing functionality without compromising on quality.

The HP Deskjet Ink Advantage Ultra 4826 Printer is compact and lightweight, making it suitable for small spaces like study areas or living rooms where you want to pack away any educational gear at night. Their smaller footprint ensures they can fit easily on a desk or shelf, saving valuable space.

HP Laser MFP 1188fnw Printer

Key specifications

  • Print, copy, scan, fax & ADF
  • Print speed up to 20 ppm (black)
  • Print Technology: Laser
  • Wireless Capability: Built-in WiFi 802.11b/g/n
HP Laser MFP 1188fnw Printer
Why it’s a good printer for students

Laser printers are built to withstand heavy use and have a longer lifespan compared to some inkjet printers. They have sturdier construction and components that can handle the demands of frequent printing, making them a durable and long-lasting option for home use.

A top-seller in the laser printing technology category, many consider the HP Laser MFP 1188fnw Printer to be the best printer for students and teachers who want to produce sharp and precise prints with excellent text clarity. Laser printers are well-suited for printing documents, reports, and other text-heavy materials that require professional-grade quality.

HP OfficeJet Pro 9020 All-in-One Printer

Key specifications

  • Print, copy, scan, fax, and ADF (duplex)
  • Print speed up to 24 ppm (black) and 20 ppm (colour)
  • Print Technology: HP Thermal Inkjet
  • Wireless Capability: Built-in Ethernet, WiFi 802.11b/g/n
HP OfficeJet Pro 9020 All-in-One Printer
Why it’s a good printer for students

As the name of the HP OfficeJet series implies, this printer is ready to help out with your professional projects and fulfill all your work-related document needs. If your kids are home schooling in the room next to your own home office, this is a great printer to share with the whole family. With Ethernet connectivity, you can place the printer in a central location that is accessible to everyone on the network. This eliminates the need for physically connecting each computer to the printer with cables. Instead, any computer on the network can send print jobs to the printer wirelessly.

When searching for the best printer for school projects, the HP OfficeJet Pro 9020 All-in-One Printer makes its way onto many parents’ lists due to its ability to handle a wide range of printing tasks, including presentations, worksheets, photos, and creative projects. This versatility makes it suitable for various educational, work, and personal printing requirements.

Eco-friendly printing tips for parents

It’s understandable that responsible parents and teachers may be hesitant to incorporate printers into their lessons when paper, ink, and electricity are all consumed in the process. However, a varied approach to home schooling that combines both digital and physical methods with learning can lead to a more well-rounded course of studies.

Using a printer for school projects can have an environmental impact, but there are several eco-friendly printing tips parents can follow to minimize their carbon footprint. 

Here are some tips for eco-friendly printing:

Print only when necessary

Before hitting the print button, consider whether printing is essential. Encourage digital reading and use screens for reference whenever possible. Save documents digitally and only print when there's a genuine need for a physical copy.

Print double-sided

Enable automatic duplex printing (printing on both sides of the paper) whenever feasible. This reduces paper usage by up to 50%. Adjust printer settings to default to double-sided printing to make it a habit.

Recycle ink cartridges

When your ink cartridges are empty, recycle them properly. Recycling ink cartridges helps reduce electronic waste and conserves resources. Luckily, we make this very easy through our HP Planet Partners program. Recycle your HP Ink and Toner supplies by checking our list of convenient drop-off locations or inquiring about our collection service.

Power management

Here is an easy opportunity to pass on the importance of energy saving to your home learners. After using printers for students, teach your kids how to enable power-saving features, such as automatic sleep mode or power-off timers. Also, remind everyone to turn off the printer when not in use for extended periods like vacations or weekends.

Minimize margins and font size

Adjust your document layout to minimize margins and use a smaller font size when feasible. This allows more content to fit on each page, reducing the number of pages required for printing.

Ease of use and kid-friendly printers for students

By prioritizing user-friendly interfaces and simple setup processes, printers for students become more accessible and enjoyable to use. Even young learners can navigate through printing tasks with ease, customize their prints, and troubleshoot minor issues, fostering a sense of independence and encouraging them to take ownership of their printing needs.

HP printers offer several features that make them easy for kids.

Touch screen displays make navigation and selection of printing options effortless. The intuitive touch interface allows children to easily access various settings, preview documents, and select print options with a simple tap.

Many HP printers offer access to a range of print apps and templates that provide a library of educational materials, colouring pages, puzzles, and more. Kids can explore and select from a variety of pre-designed content, making printing fun and exciting.

Sometimes, an unexpected lesson pops up when using printers for home schooling. Both the student and parent may be stumped when trying to diagnose a printer problem. HP offers comprehensive support and learning resources for our printers. Kids and parents can access online guides, video tutorials, and troubleshooting assistance to resolve common issues or learn more about a printer's features. These resources can teach kids to fix minor problems independently or seek help when needed.

Summary

Having the best printer for students empowers you to create a dynamic, personalized, and visually engaging home schooling environment. It supports your teaching efforts, enhances your child's learning experience, and enables you to showcase their progress effectively. 

With the right HP printer by your side, you can bring your home schooling projects to life and make a lasting impact on your child's educational journey.

About the Author: Elle Rex is a contributing writer for HP Tech Takes. Elle is a research-obsessed writer currently based in Hong Kong. She enjoys exploring topics that involve innovation, startups, psychology, and travel.