Printers

[aefibird]

I'm in the market for a new printer, as my old one is definately on it's 'last legs'.

 

I'm looking for a middle-of-the-range colour one, suitable for the occasional printing out of digital photographs and full-colour documents.

 

It's also got to be pretty economical in terms of ink used, and not cost me an arm and a leg to buy new ink cartrdges!

 

I've got an Epsom at the moment, but I'm open to buying any brand.

 

So... anyone got any suggestions??

[ramymensa]

I was kinda poor and got a Lexmark z25. I know it's not the best idea, but I'm quite pleased with it. I print documents, for photographs I go to an Agfa shop with my flash card.

[White Warlock]

It would help to know everything you intend on using it for, and how often. I.e., do you just need a printer, or are you also in the market for a fax, scanner, copy machine? Are your main uses to be color photo prints, or 30 page dissertations on stem-cell research?

 

Based on what little info you provided, my best recommendation would be to own two printers. One for standard print use, and the other for special graphics work.

 

For standard print use, i recommend an older model printer. The best for this niche would be the Hewlett Packard series that uses the HP45 inkjet cartridge (black). These offer quality inkjet print, gives a good amount of print for the buck, and the cartridges can be 'refilled' for just a few dollars. Also, you can find one of these older model HP printers most anywhere... for less than $10. In fact, just last week i bought two of them for $2.50 each, including printer cables (and one of them is also USB capable). Hell, the printer cables themselves sell for $20 each.

 

Last, maintenance on these HP printers is a breeze.

 

For a photo-printer, i have mixed feelings on this. So far, the best photo-printer i've seen has been the HP photo-printer, which provides as much as 150 - 8.5"x11" photo prints on one photo cartridge and one black cartridge. This is actually a very large amount of photo prints for a 'set' of cartridges, and the quality is up there. And, if you want just color prints (as opposed to photo prints), you can use the standard color cartridge, with an output somewhere around 450 prints per.

 

Photo-printers should not be wasted on standard print jobs. And, if you use it only occasionally, i recommend removing the cartridges and parking them in plastic bags... so they don't dry out, leak into the printer, or gum-up.

 

Whatever you do, avoid most of those modern $30-$80 inkjet printers out there. As you seem to show some awareness on this, they do indeed get you on the 'unrefillable,' compressed-air, low output, inkjet cartridges. That's where they make their money and not, as so many clueless consumers assume, on the printer sales.

 

That's all, and good luck.

[aefibird]

Well, most of my print-outs would be University documents (essays and the like) - not quite 30 page stem-cell dissertations, but almost. They need to be fairly high quality (poor quality printing loses students marks at my educational establishment. I also need colour documents on a regular basis for work (I work in a Primary school), and the printing out of occasional photographs.

 

However, it's the economy of ink use that I really want. I'm fed up of paying through the nose for unreliable cartridges that seem to only last two minutes.

[White Warlock]

Ahh, then my two-printer recommendation would be on par with your needs. If, however, you're not inclined to go for two printers, the HP photo-printer will serve you well (although, for the life of me, i don't see why one wouldn't spend the extra 'few' dollars to get the older HP for document printing).

[Drunken Monkey]

hey, have a look in your local asda to see if they have digital printing service for pics (on any recording media).

 

the one near isle of dogs (i know, NOWHERE near you) can do prints for 10p each if you have 50 images.

 

it works out cheaper than running a printer just for the usual 6x4 photos.

 

i mean, it would mean you don't have to think too much about the photo aspect.

[Patrick]

We have two HPs (color inkjet and black and white laser). Like them both.

[whitedragond]

I use the Canon i860, but I also don't mind paying $150 for a printer.

 

It prints fast pages of text in addition to printing nice color photos.

[aefibird]

hey, have a look in your local asda to see if they have digital printing service for pics (on any recording media)

 

Cool, thanks. There's a new ASDA/Wal-Mart superstore opened up in Sheffield, which is fairly near me. I'll go through and have look, they'll probably be able to do digital prints.

[SaiFightsMS]

I have to agree with Patrick and Drunken Monkey. My HP printer is the third printer I have had and by far the only one that really met my needs. It does great pictuare quality color printing and great looking text documents as well. I have printed a lot of things for the resident council - pamphlets and invitations.