A printer, please

T

termite

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Nov 10, 2004
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Looking for a printer. Nothing fancy, simple, solid performance without the #$%@! proprietary ink cartridges of the Dell multi-purpose/do-everything (but nothing well) pos printer that came with my computer. I looked, but was overwhelmed at an office supply store. Thanks all.
 
Termite, we have two we use. One is a Brother HL2140, B&W, toner cartridge, excellent little printer for misc. items, 1000-1100 pages per cartridge, & the other is a Canon Pixma MP530 color/fax/scanner/copier/printer do-all my wife uses for her photographs & other color needs. Takes the individual ink cartridges, useage depends on what is running. Can't really go wrong with either one, both running off the same computer.
Good luck with your shopping.
Be safe.
 
If you are going ink jet I would cast another vote for one of the Canon Pixma products they go easy on the ink compared to some others. Recently I've been hearing good things about Laser printers though, they are more expensive up front but you save on ink down the road. I think when my Canon quits I will look at those pretty hard.
 
I had an HP that sucked ink like a vampire sucks blood. I recently bought an Epson
Workforce 325. So far it's been a very good affordable printer.
 
If you are looking for just very basic printing, go to Fry's or some place like that (Staples etc) and get the cheapest inkjet printer you can find from HP, Canon, or Espon. Ask if they have full-size cartidges. Often you can find one for around $30 which is cheaper than the ink. Some people find it cheaper to throw away and buy a new one rather than buy replacement ink. Not very green though.

You might want to check Craigslist for a good used HP Laserjet if you only need B&W. You'll get a ton of pages out of one toner cartridge.
 
+1 on Brother 2140/2142. I use it heavily for school work (printing lecture slides, double-sided) and have gone through half a stack of paper (5 months so far) and it has lasted me way longer than my Hp multi-function printer (whose ink ran low after 1.5 months).

Either way if you're just printing documents, a laser printer is the way to go.
 
Do you need color, fax, copy, scan? If not I'd recommend the HP LaserJet Pro P1102. It also has WiFi, awesome printer and it turns out loads of copies per toner (toner is around $90). Lasts for at least a good 6-8 months with moderate daily use (15-30 pages).
 
I have had HPs, Epsons and Canons. My $50 Canon iP1800 has been the most reliable of the bunch until it just gave me the "waste ink tank almost full" message. I will buy another $50 or $60 Canon.

I had 3 HPs. They all had sever mechanical problems. I had 2 Epsons. They both died early deaths and the ink prices for the individual cartridges was outrageous. I checked into Kodak printers and they don't seem to be highly thought of.

One comment about ink. Consumer Reports did a test of non-oem ink and found that it is false economy. They said that you used more ink cleaning the heads then you did printing. That has been my experience too.
 
I like my HP Laser Jet. Set me back about $400 5 years ago. Black and white only but it's fast. Unfortunately, I think the toner may be a carcinogen. Cough.
 
Ben B said:
Sad, but true that printer ink is one of the most expensive liquids in the world

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/consumers/liquid-expensive.html
Click to expand...
This is why I recommend a laser. I can get cartridges that will print 5000 plus sheets. I hate ink printers. They are slow and expensive and a PITA. These days everyone is going paperless anyway. I think I have a stockpile of ~5-6 of these 5000 sheet toner cartridges. Could be a lifetime supply. BTW, what will you be using it for?
 
JUST1MOR said:
Termite, we have two we use. One is a Brother HL2140, B&W, toner cartridge, excellent little printer for misc. items, 1000-1100 pages per cartridge, & the other is a Canon Pixma MP530 color/fax/scanner/copier/printer do-all my wife uses for her photographs & other color needs.
Click to expand...

+1
We have almost exactly the same setup. The Brother is a great little workhorse and up front costs not that high - here it's currently around US$102 for the printer and US$70 for the cartridge which lasts for ages. It's the second Brother I've had and set up as default printer to keep costs (ink) down. Pixma printer meets the colour needs which are actually quite infrequent (photos and occasional piece of school work). I have some fancy schmancy scanners so no need for a multi-purpose device
 
Thank you all for your help. I just want something to print from my computer and make copies. ...and next it's a slide scanner to start going through hundreds of 35mm slides after finding a printer. Getting lots of suggestions for a reconditioned Epson.
 
termite,

One thing you might consider if you are looking to get a slide scanner is to just have it done professionally. There's a ton of places out there who will do quality slide scanning for less than .30 a slide (that's 333 slides per $100). If you figure out how much you are going to pay for a scanner, any software, and most importantly, your time, you may find it better to just send them off and get them back on CDs or DVDs. After all it is a one-time thing.

good luck
 
we use a lexmark desktop laser printer at work -- $150 for the printer and $70 for toner, but the toner is good for 6000 pages and doesn't dry out over time like an inkjet.
 
+1 for a laser printer unless you need color.

another +1 for a Brother MFC unit. I have a 10 year old (or so) MFC 8420 that still works great and a 1 year old MFC 8670 at my office that works perfectly. Toner is way cheap compared to inkjets, especially Brother's toner (compared to HP, at least).
 
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