Anyone have printer suggestions???

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
L

LandfillLumber

Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2007
Messages
1,706
Location
warren, michigan, USA.
Need to replace my HP printer that has always had a mind of its own.Printing when it wants to,and now its not reading the cartridges correct(keeps saying an error remove and replace).It three years old so I'm ready for a new one just want so advice on what i should get.This is what I need only simple printing(no photo printer),I want it to have a copier,not worried about fax or scanner.I think you get all 4 no matter what,not sure a printer exists with just a copier added???I also want the ink to be cheap,I had a printer years ago that cost a ton to buy cartridges for,I have been happy with the price/length the HP cartridges have lasted.Oh my price range is low say no more the $150,but $100 would be much better.Thank you any help is great,Victor
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
I just purchased a Canon MP560 at Staples for $99. It is a printer, scanner, copier. Can be used wireless. So far I think it is great. Had two previous Canons and they were great also and Canon has super great customer service.
 
I picked up a Canon ip2600 at wally world for $30 + tax and have been very happy with it. It's a back feed so the paper is not bent around a roller, this allows me to print heavy duty photo paper without problem.

It uses two carts that I fill. Office Depot sells a refilling station for the carts and it actually works as designed. The black station cost me $18.95 + tax. The kit has about 6oz of ink and a pump to fill the cart. I have run at least 4 reams of paper and still have at least 1/2 of the ink supply left.

The print is good, the only problem is it is a little slow, about 3 or 4 pages per min.

Hope this helps.
 
I received a Kodak all in one scanner, copier and printer ESP -3 A10 and I like the print quality, and the way is sips ink, plus the cartridges are inexpensive, Black 10.00. the only drawback is it's a bit slow, but does killer photo prints and does shipping labels great, Wal-Mart about 90.00
 
If you don't need colour get a laser. I've got a samsung that is about 8 years old and still runs like the day I got it. Toner is expensive when you get it but it runs about 1 cent per printed page vs. 10 cents with any of the inkjets. If you need colour make sure you get one with seperate ink tanks for each colour then when you run out of one colour you only change that colour and don't throw a third of a tank of some other colour out.

I just stopped using a canon 6100 not because it didn't work but because I messed up the blue printhead with some oem ink and couldn't find another printhead around here. If I find one I'll put it on the wife's computer. I replaced it with an epson nx115 for the few times I do colour it works great, and has separate ink tanks for each colour and built in scanner/copier.

If you go the laser route just about any scanner has copy software that will print directly to what ever printer you are using.
 
I have a Brother Multi-function laser model 7440N. I've only had it about a year, but I've been very happy with it. It produces good quality prints and has so far been trouble free. It has built in wireless, so I can easily share it with other computers in the house. It has an optional straight through paper path which is useful for heavy stock. I paid about $125.

-Barry
 
bitshird said:
I received a Kodak all in one scanner, copier and printer ESP -3 A10 and I like the print quality, and the way is sips ink, plus the cartridges are inexpensive, Black 10.00. the only drawback is it's a bit slow, but does killer photo prints and does shipping labels great, Wal-Mart about 90.00
Click to expand...

Ken,
Do you have any idea how many prints you actually get from their ten dollar refill?? (I ask because I want to know, not because I want to debate).

Thanks, if you can provide a correct answer!!

Ed
 
The nice thing about the HP printers is that when you replace the ink, you're
replacing the print head. With some other printers, if you damage the head,
you throw away the printer.

The bad part about the HP's is the ink cost. Good luck trying to compare
prices, you need a good magnifying glass to see how much ink is in the
refill .. and some of them are not marked at all.

$30 bucks for 1.4 tsp of ink?
 
ed4copies said:
Ken,
Do you have any idea how many prints you actually get from their ten dollar refill?? (I ask because I want to know, not because I want to debate).

Thanks, if you can provide a correct answer!!

Ed
Click to expand...

Ed, I've done close to 70 instructions (2 pages each) approximately 75 USPS Shipping labels and I'm showing about a third of the ink gone, plus I've done 20 or so 4x6 photos, and 3 or4 8x10s although I'm not sure whether black comes into play during the color printing, but I would have drained my Lexmark Z series by now. It's seems to be reasonably efficient.
One thing is that it does have a seperate print head, that may be to down side to it, but otherwise it's far mor economical than my Lexmark, but then just pouring ink out of a bottle is as well.
 
Last edited:
NewLondon88 said:
The nice thing about the HP printers is that when you replace the ink, you're
replacing the print head. With some other printers, if you damage the head,
you throw away the printer.

The bad part about the HP's is the ink cost. Good luck trying to compare
prices, you need a good magnifying glass to see how much ink is in the
refill .. and some of them are not marked at all.

$30 bucks for 1.4 tsp of ink?
Click to expand...

Right idea, but an alternative plan would be to locate the "how many copies per refill" information somewhere. The copier industry assumes a 6% original and the printer industry assumes a 5% original, usually. So, if YOUR originals have a lot of pictures they may be 10% image area and yield half as many prints as the 5% industry "standard". But, at least it's a standard, so they are all judged against each other equally.

This MAY not apply to Kodak, as I have tried to read their fine print and it LOOKS LIKE they are using their standard photo size (4x6??) against everyone else's letter size (8.5 x 11).

Simple, huh?????
 
ed4copies said:
Right idea, but an alternative plan would be to locate the "how many copies per refill" information somewhere. The copier industry assumes a 6% original and the printer industry assumes a 5% original, usually. So, if YOUR originals have a lot of pictures they may be 10% image area and yield half as many prints as the 5% industry "standard". But, at least it's a standard, so they are all judged against each other equally.

This MAY not apply to Kodak, as I have tried to read their fine print and it LOOKS LIKE they are using their standard photo size (4x6??) against everyone else's letter size (8.5 x 11).

Simple, huh?????
Click to expand...

Yeah.. worse with HP toners though. The cartridge is empty when THEY
say the cartridge is empty. 2500 blank sheets from a 2500 print cartridge
is still an empty cartridge (even though it's full of toner)

I believe you're right on the Kodak printers (for home use) They say that
their consumer photo printers are meant for photos, which are 4x6.
Nobody mandates that they use the same 'standard' as anyone else.

Similar to the whole "dpi" fiasco when Epson entered the consumer inkjet
market.. a very good inkjet produces an effective 300 dpi print. (each dot
is 1/300 inch) Beyond 400 to 450 dpi, most people's eyes can't see it. But
that doesn't stop them from claiming 26 gazillion dpi or something.

I'm glad I'm out of that business.. :tongue:
 
Well, I've gotta put in my two cents worth here. I've had Canon, cousin has HP. For the last 12 years I have used Epson exclusively. No problems at all from any of them.

If your going color, make sure you can buy the ink colors in seperate cartridges. That way if you run out of cyan, you don't have to buy a cartridge that has magenta and yellow as well.

When you look at a printer, you should be able to see approzimate # pages/cartridge. If your internet savy, you can check this info out on manufacturer's site. (I'm seriously into Epson because I do photography and need a reliable, quality, archival print.)
 
CSue said:
(I'm seriously into Epson because I do photography and need a reliable, quality, archival print.)
Click to expand...

Too bad you're not closer .. I've got a Fujix PG4000II collecting dust in
my garage.. won't fit in my office. And I don't think it has 500 prints on it :eek:
 
I haven't read all the replies yet so you may have gotten the advice you need already.
The bad news is that you won't find a printer with low cost ink. They have even stopped printing the amount of ink a cartridge will hold on the box. I used to look for printers that used carts with no less than 20ml of ink. Now, they don't say because they often only hold 5ml.
No matter what you buy the printer will probably be OK and the ink expensive.
If you want archival inks and a high quality photo print, be prepared to drop big bucks.
Stay away from Kodak. Their software nearly destroyed my computer, a real nightmare.
 
We bought a Kodak all-in-one printer this past spring. Lasted about two weeks. We're still fighting with them. I saw an ad on buy.com for a Brother laser printer, and the reviews were great, so we bought it. Set it up as a network printer, so we can print from all our computers without any particular one having to be on. It has been rock solid - what a nice printer! Staples had some Brother all-in-one printers on sale, they were closing out some models. One I looked at was about $110. What I liked about it was the color cartridges were separate so you only replaced the color you were out of instead of all of them at the same time.

Good Luck!

Scott.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom