Recommend a printer

[jaredgalen]

I'm looking to buy a printer, cheap, I'm a student so enough said.

I will only be using it for text really, so I'm not that bothered about color and all that kind of thing.
It would be nice if it was quiet and reasonably quick, but hey, I'm looking for it to be cheap so I guess I can't be too picky.

What about taking generic refills??
Any recommendations??
jG

 

[paparazi]

When a geniune replacement set of cartridges cost more than the printer itself the main consideration at this price point if the availability of cheap replacement pattern inks.
I don't know if it's the same over there in the states but here in the UK given jaredgalen's criteria it would have to be an Epson.
Something like the budget C44UX
Not the best of printers by a long way but given the availability of cheap carts, this ones not going to break the bank.
Martin

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[John Lewis]

I'll second Epson in general, although I'm not familiar with the lower end. I do know others that have had very good luck with the C series.

As paprazi pointed out, the printer may be a bit more expensive than say a Lexmark, but the cartriges more than make up for it over a fairly short period of time.

As for the generic / refilled cartriges . . . skip them, at least with the Epson. Many inkjets use a cartrige that has the print head built into them. One reason for the big price tag. HP started that, others followed. If you get a bad cartrige there, no big deal, throw it out and start over.

Epsons have the print head built into the printer. Allows for a higher quality print head, you only have to buy it once. Downside would be that if you get bad ink, you throw out the printer. Some of the third party inks are fine, some are not. Not worth the risk.

On the list to avoid . . . Cannon has had bad drivers from the start. Didn't work on Win 3.0, don't work on Win XP. You would think they would have figured it out by now, but they haven't. Brother goes on that same list, especially the multifunction deals.

Lexmark high end printers (like the ones from the old IBM line) are great, low end is not. HP INKJETS are middle of the road, fair quality for the price, decent drivers, but the cartrige deal puts them out of the market. Many of the others have that problem as well.

 

[stevieblunder]

If your money is scarce, you want to learn how to refill ink cartridges. The first time I tried this, it was a messy disaster. I didn't understand the importance of air pressure in the cartridge.

Seal the bottom with scotch tape while you drill a fill hole in the top and when you are filling the cartridge. Be sure to (rubber) plug the fill hole before you remove the tape and put the cart back in the printer! You need to do this by the sink and plenty of paper towel. Don't forget to rinse the syringe when you are done.

The refill kit I bought recently for about US$17 (at Sam's)has two little jars of black, one each of mag, yel, cyn, light mag and light cyn. Each jar is good for about 6 refills, dunno exactly. The point is that this is real cheap ink. The kit also includes a drill bit for the fill hole, a bunch of rubber plugs, ink syringe etc.

I originally bought my Cannon printer because it has separate carts for each color, but this is less of an issue if you are going to refill them yourself.

Another issue is how well your printer seals the print head when it is not in use. If the rubber parking seat is poor, the head will dry out and plug up. You can soak the head in water to clear it out, but that is a messy pain in the ass. If you print something every day, you will probably not have this problem.

You can waste a lot of paper and time messing with these things. I think the reason printers are so cheap is that the real money is in the ink carts, and the reason they put all the colors in one cart is so that you are throwing away all the ink jet problems with the old cart. Refilling your ink carts means you are willing to take on the problems that would normally go away with the old ink cart.

Steve

 

[zbnet]

Depending on volume of printing, you should really consider an entry-level laser (you said you didn't want to do graphics). Although it might cost more than you wanted to pay, over its lifetime you'll save if you print a decent quantity of pages, because the cost per page is very low. The big issue with the very low priced injets is that you pay through the nose for your ink, possibly many many times the purchase price of the printer over its lifetime.

You can't fault the quality of laser either - no smears when the page gets wet!

 

[jaredgalen]

Wow, lots of advice there, thanks a million.
The price of the epson looks right.
At least when I go out I'll have an idea of what going on.
Didn't realise some had print heads actually in the printer.

Do bad ink cartridges that can mess up print heads come along often, are you pretty safe staying with epson brands?

Thanks again.
jG

 

[jaredgalen]

One more query,I'm hearing great things about the Canon i250.
What do people think,I know mhkwood said to avoid them, but the good reviews!!!!

jG

 

[paparazi]

I disagree with mhkwood, canon printers "NOW" are very good indeed and tend to lead, in terms of print quality, at most price points, if you intend to use genuine carts then Canon are also reported to be amongst the most economical to run.
The photographic print quality on my Canon 850i is nothing short of breathtaking! I know the 250i is a couple down the run from mine but is also reported to be a the leader in it's class.
Sorry to disagree again but if you are thinking about getting an Epson for economy then you just have to use cheaper (quality pattern carts) or you are defeating the object of buying the Epson in the first place.
Martin


Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[zepper]

Yes, I just ordered a Canon i450 from Outpost.com for $57 and change shipped ground (about the only place that seems to have any left except Amazon - i455 is the current equivalent but costs $71.shipped from newegg). Can't beat it for the money except getting it to work with Linux will be problematic. Cheap compatible ink tanks are available everywhere too. From my recent experience with a C82, avoid Epson unless you are willing to pay for Epson brand ink tanks and print a LOT to keep the nozzles unplugged. If Linux is in the stars for you, Epson and HP are the way to go if you want ink jet.
. And as others have said, most college students will find a laser printer to be a better value over the long haul as the per page and lifetime costs are much less even though you have to come up with more up front. The new Samsungs are great values.

.bh.


He who dares not offend cannot be honest. -- Thomas Paine.

 

[zeitghost]

It seems to me that there is something very odd going on when you can buy a complete printer for less than the cost of the replacement cartridge.

The Lexmarks are ok, and when the ink runs out, you throw it away & buy a new one.

rgds
Zeit.

 

[jaredgalen]

Aghhh!!
The thick plottens.
I have just seen on amazon the Canon LaserShot LBP1210 LaserShot laser printer, delivered to my door for about 120 euro.
Considering I was quoted 89 euro for the epson c44 Plus in one shop, should I go for a laser instead and pay that little bit more?

The canon i250 is 70 euro at amazon, is the upgrade worth 50 euro. Sure it depends on the amount or printing I do, but do laser printers generally have a longer life than inkjets???

I know I'm probably, confusing the issue, but this is a big buy for me, if I'm going to spend the money, I want to know I'm doing the right thing.

I will probably be at Amazon 'cos the shops here in Ireland are totally to expensive.

Thanks again
jG

 

[zepper]

The 1210 looks OK. They don't mention the duty cycle (how many pages per month it's rated for) nor the design life (how many pages before the engine gives up) in the specs. The only Canon laser I've had experience with wasn't a good one but that was a Win Laser (very low cost at the time). And the 1210 is not sold here in the states. If you can find a good refiller there (one that can refinish the drum and replace any other needed parts as needed as well as adding toner) then you could get the per page cost of consumables down to US 1 cent per page or less plus paper cost - I found the factory replacement cartridge at eur 40. which is eur 0.016 per page at the 2500 page claimed life. The cost of the engine at an estimated 100,000 page life would be eur .00007 per page. No ink jet will likely come close to that.
.bh.


He who dares not offend cannot be honest. -- Thomas Paine.

 

[zepper]

Sorry, the engine cost is .00008 (120-40/100000).
.bh.


He who dares not offend cannot be honest. -- Thomas Paine.

 

[shtick]

Laser = Hewlett Packard
Inkjet = Epson
Dot Matrix = Okidata

STAY AWAY FROM LEXMARK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Smaug1Tech]

Howdy,
I know this is an old post, but I'll say this:
Caveate Emptor! Look, the cheapest inkjet unit is worth using it to death, toss, and buy another! They come with new ink!

 

[sulumnad]

Just get yourself a Laserjet 4 on ebay. You should easily be able to get one with a decent amount of toner left for under $100 that will print several thousand pages. I have one I got off ebay, unfortunately I bought it from a nearby city and got hit with tax and shipping; but last I look you can still get one for cheap. I even got 3 spare toner cartridges. They average 500,000 to 1,000,000 copies lifetime. You'll never get that out of an inkjet. Most likely an inkjet would die before you finished 1 toner of a Laserjet4. I'll never run out of toner and it didn't cost me much(unfortunately it pushed $110) but that was my auction.
Marc State ITT
"Buy something that lasts"

 

[ceh4702]

I have heard some people say the brother Laser Printers are nice and cheaper than HP.

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[SkipCox]

First, I'd like to thank all you folks for a good discussion of low end printers. I moved away from hp last year and bought my first (and only) lexmark. With the printhead clogging problems, I'm unlikely to buy another.

The c series epsons referenced above and the canons seem to be the better choices and values I've seen from my rather small amount of research. I did notice an epson c64, digitrex 3.2 megapixel camera and 32Mb sd card bundled for 80 bucks USD after rebates from OfficeMax. Sounds like it would be worth a look no matter where you live.

Bye bye Z33...bye bye clogged printheads unless the new epson printer cartridges clog like the old photo stylus 700's did.

Skip

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