Printer Recomendations

[Paystar]

I get so much good info and advice on this site, thought I'd come here for some printer advice. What is the cheapest as far as ink usage? I had an HP 1210 all in one. I thought it was hard on ink at the time (not compared to my new one though) and it had really good print quality. When it wore out the store talked me into a HP PSC 1510. Said it was the new improved version. I wasn't impressed since day one. Even had HP change a bunch of settings because of poor print quality (red is more pink than red) and it's still not great. Anyway, the cartridges are cheaper but hold half the ink of the old one. The box for the cartridges says good for 220 pages. I printed a 24 page Massey brochure with brand new cartridges last night and it ran them dry. $50.00 for 24 pages. Is there a better way to go? I print lots of colour pics so what is the most economical brand/type. Also laser or inkjet?
Thanks for any ideas.

 

[Paystar]

I also tried the fill your own kit for HP cartridges. Tried a bunch of them, followed all the directions, cleaned the contacts and print head, did all the setup procedures and the colour is off on all of them. They also made a mess of ink inside the printer. So while the $24.00 price of the kit (which will refill 6 times) looked good, it seems to be hit and miss.

 

[aczlan]

I get so much good info and advice on this site, thought I'd come here for some printer advice. What is the cheapest as far as ink usage? I had an HP 1210 all in one. I thought it was hard on ink at the time (not compared to my new one though) and it had really good print quality. When it wore out the store talked me into a HP PSC 1510. Said it was the new improved version. I wasn't impressed since day one. Even had HP change a bunch of settings because of poor print quality (red is more pink than red) and it's still not great. Anyway, the cartridges are cheaper but hold half the ink of the old one. The box for the cartridges says good for 220 pages. I printed a 24 page Massey brochure with brand new cartridges last night and it ran them dry. $50.00 for 24 pages. Is there a better way to go? I print lots of colour pics so what is the most economical brand/type. Also laser or inkjet?
Thanks for any ideas.

My parents have had good luck with Canon PIXMA printers, they have ink tanks which hold a lot more ink than a cartridge and are MUCH cheaper (especially from ebay, 5 of each tank for $30ish IIRC). They also have one tank per color so that you only have to replace the one that is out, not chuck the cartridge when one color runs out.
The one they have has lasted for 2+ years of hard use. They have replaced the tanks many times and the print head once. Dad ran the numbers and it was on par or cheaper than a laser printer to print with.

Aaron Z

 

[Paystar]

Thanks Aaron, I'll have to look into one of those. I like the idea of the seperate ink tanks. I did notice around here the Cannons seem to be priced really good, but I've never had any experience with one.

Thanks again,
Shawn.

 

[RadarTech]

If color is not important to you.. There are some Brother laser printers that have $30 Toner cartridges....

I bought one of them for most of my printing..


J

 

[Tig]

I had inkjets since the mid 90s now I am a fan of the cheap laser printers ($60 to $100). They hold up well and cost much less to own and use. Mine is 5 years old and has given us no trouble though heavy use and light use periods. No more dried up ink and prints smudged by a bit of rain. I don't miss the colour at all.
My son's laser is also five years old. It survived university. My daughter's laser is two years old and also trouble free.
Cartridges are about $90 retail and last much longer than ink. We are on our second or third.

 

[JohnDeere4300]

We bought this laser printer. Amazon.com: Brother HL-5250DN Network Ready Laser Printer with Duplex: Computer & Accessories

Then we buy this toner cartridge. Amazon.com: Brother TN580 High Yield Black Toner Cartridge: Electronics

The "cartridge" will print off 7000 pages...Then you can block off the electronic eye to print more, and you can get 33% more from doing that.

We home-school our two teenagers and we needed a good printer... My wife prints off books from the web.

We have been real happy with this printer... We had a small printer and we had to buy the refills, and we bought A LOT of them.

 

[kennyd]

I gave up on color years ago, Laser is the only way to go IMHO. I use a Brother MFC-7820N 5n1 Machine. You just cannot beat the economy of a laser printer.

 

[Mark_in_NH]

I have to 2nd he reccomendation of the Canon Pixma. I have had the Pixma 4000 for 4-5 years now and it gets pretty heavy use with business, monthly billing etc. never mind rcreational use. The ink cartridges are all seperate, just replace the color that out. I have found that although the after market replacement cartridges can be bought offline for about $4 ea. in quantity they dont last quite as long as the Canon ones.

I have had quite good luck in filling the blck cartridges. This seems to be the color that I go through most. I would not hesitate to buy another if this one failed. Fairly inexpensive, even at Staples and it just plain works good.

 

[FrogLick]

PC Magazine does an annual printer evaluation review which you may find useful. It should be available online. Basically the answer to the question depends upon if you want a multifunction printer, color and if so what quality, how much you print, etc. There have been color laser printers available for quite a while now if you need color and want to go that way.

 

[turnkey4099]

I'm debating the Kodak that is being advertised. Price on printer looks good and the ink price can't be beat. Dunno about quality but about all I print are documents so black is what I need.

Harry K

 

[aczlan]

I'm debating the Kodak that is being advertised. Price on printer looks good and the ink price can't be beat. Dunno about quality but about all I print are documents so black is what I need.

If all that you print is black I would recommend that you go with a laser printer. They will give you a better quality print with documents than a inkjet, and will be cheaper than most inkjet printers. Look for one with a 1200x1200 dpi resolution, that will let you print images at a decent quality.


Aaron Z

 

[Paystar]

I want colour for sure. I print lots of pics and brochures. Just want something that won't break the bank.

 

[robb01]

wouldnt recomend laser for color printing, we had one for a while, wasn't that great

 

[aczlan]

I want colour for sure. I print lots of pics and brochures. Just want something that won't break the bank.

If you want color laser I would recommend a Xerox Phaser or an HP color laser, HP parts are obtainable and their printers last for a long time.
Color laser printers aren't cheap ($2-500 new for a decent one) but a good one will outlast you and toner is generally cheaper than ink. Just check on prices before buying one. If you want color inkjet I would go with a Canon PIXMA.

What I like about the Phaser at work is that the pages come out glossy, which may be good if you are printing out brochures for other people and want them to look professional, they will look much better on a Phaser than on a inkjet printer.

Aaron Z

 

[Wil]

I have a Cannon Pixma that I bought to replace the HP printer that came with my computer.

The Cannon is great and I would recommend it to any one. The HP was a piece of junk that I would not recommend to anyone.

 

[rox]

I used to only buy HP printers. not any more, they are jsut junk and the ink is expensive. I switched to Epson several years ago and am very happy.

 

[aczlan]

I used to only buy HP printers. not any more, they are jsut junk and the ink is expensive. I switched to Epson several years ago and am very happy.

HP laser printers (in my experience) hold up pretty well, but their inkjets are a joke.

Aaron Z

 

[California]

HP laser printers (in my experience) hold up pretty well...

HP's early ones, the ones that built their reputation 20 years ago, were bulletproof.

Over the years I accumulated a dozen or more Hewlett Packard Laserjet IIIp's after they started appearing in thrift stores under $5. The rollers (paper traction) and separators (to avoid feeding duplicate pages) are still available; budget maybe $30 max and five minutes work to go through the occasional printer that needs complete refurbishment. Refilled toner runs about a penny per page ($35/3500 pages).

These were often sold to sit on an executive's desk so its not unusual to find one that has printed under 5,000 pages (one case of paper; first replacement cartridge is still in the printer) as indicated by the self-test. In my experience about 40,000 pages is the borderline to where there might be wear.

This is the cheapest and most troublefree way to get into laser printing that I know of. I've given these as casual presents, a couple of them got my kids through high school and then college, and now my $25 stack of spare printers should last me for years so long as someone is still refilling the cartridges.

Not bad for a 1992 model printer. Thanks HP!

 

[2manyrocks]

We used to have an Epson that printed great photos. When it died, we bought a newer "improved" model and it ended up being replaced under warranty. The replacement unit didn't last very long before it had problems. Bought a HP out of frustration with the Epson and we don't like the color picture quality at all.

If you can find a color printer with good print quality and inexpensive ink, please let me know. Right now, we're using Brother laser printers which haven't caused any problems. The HL-2140 was something like only $60 or $70 shipped to our door, too.