Printer

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Sylvus
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Printer

Post by Sylvus »

I want a new printer and don't really want to spend a whole lot on it, as I have lived without one for a couple years now so I can't imagine it's a necessary purchase.

I'd like one that could print in color, and the ability to print photos would be cool but it's definitely not a necessity. Any recommendations?
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Post by Syenye »

printers are pretty cheap these days, it's the ink that's so expensive. i like laser printers, but there's no need for one if you don't print a lot. the photoprinters are nice because they have the card readers built in, but once you figure in the cost of paper and ink, it's really not any more expensive to just order prints from your photo store of choice.

if you do want a photo printer, i'd go with a canon. i have an HP photosmart that does really well, but there's talk of hp ink cartridges "expiring," ie refusing to work after a certain date to force you to buy more, but this isn't something i've ever run into.

i got an hp officejet 7210 recently, and it has lots of bells and whistles i probably won't ever use. i like the ethernet port on it though, so that's something you might want to look into if you have multiple PCs.
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Post by Sylvus »

I was just looking at reviews on Tom's Hardware and CNet and I'm leaning toward the Canon Pixma iP5200. Anyone have personal experience with that one?
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Post by noel »

I don't have experience with that particular one.

I did have a Canon in the past and I ended up having issues with it.

I would highly recommend buying an HP printer if you're going to get a printer. I currently have a 990cse which does double-sided printing for teh win. My parents have a 500c that still works after about 10(+) years. HP printers basically don't break ever.

Edit: I'm pretty sure I've had mine for 6+ years with no issues. I can't say enough about the longevity of the HP printers.
Last edited by noel on January 29, 2006, 6:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by laneela »

If you need more than just a printer, I highly recommend an HP 7210, All-in-One printer. It prints in color, prints pictures really well and is also a fax, copier, scanner and card reader.
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Post by Soreali »

I would stay away from Canons or Epsons.. In my experience, I saw more of them returned than anything else.. HPs make great printers. If you're looking for a nice printer, the HP 2610 AIO is a good choice.. Only downside is you dont have a paper feeder.. But If you're just using it as a printer/photo printer.. It's a good choice to go with. I know thats what I used to tell people to by when they came to me..
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Post by Zaelath »

HP, Lexmark, Samsung (really)

As for printing colour photos... it's going to be a very expensive process which gets you mediocre quality prints for more money than you would spend at a Wal*Mart (or whatever non-corporate whore of babylon photo place you have in town) getting laser prints on real paper.

For instance, if you don't use it for a month your print jets are already going to be getting clogged with dried up ink. Which means you get one set of prints from a colour cart... craptastic.

Anyway, desktop colour is a pointless exercise in throwing money away so you can go "cool, I printed this from my own computer".

Get a cheap B&W laser; the Samsung ML-1610 for example is all of $89 and you'll probably run for years without needing the $63 (3000 page) replacement toner. I've put the various ML series printers in everywhere that someone needed a low volume B&W laser, never had to return one yet.
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Post by Winnow »

If you do very little printing, the Epson Stylus Photo 200 for 79.00 or cheaper is great for also printing directly onto printable CD and DVDs. It's Inkjet and also had great color but if you're going to do mass quantities, the ink would be costly.

If printing onto CD and DVD's directly isn't important, I'd go with a laser printer.

My laser printer sits in a closet and the Epson gets turned on once every few weeks at most to print out mapquest directions or maybe some key command docs for an app or game.

Hardcopy....ewwwww.
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Post by Aslanna »

I'm cheap and just print stuff at work.

But I always feel guilty about it after!
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Post by Aabidano »

Pick up a low end Lexmark, Okidata or HP B&W laser and print your color at WalMart.

Laser cost per page is 1/10th of an inkjet, assuming you print regularly. If you don't it's even worse, you print a few then the cartridge is crapped out next time you want to use it. They're expensive if you print a lot, if you don't they eventually dry up and it's expensive anyway.

Ink jets are just a money pit. Great marketing idea though.
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Post by Denadeb »

I have had Lexmark, Epson, Cannon pretty much most of them. I preffer HP printers if you want one that doesn't cost all that much but copys, scans and prints the HP PSC 1610 is about $120 and also has a camera card reader. Good print quality and if you really want you can buy photo quality ink for it to print photos. Its also not a huge printer about 18 inches wide 8 inches tall and 12 inches deep.
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Post by miir »

I've had a HP Laserjet 6p for about 7 years now. I've gone through about 3-4 disposable colour inkjet printers in the same time.


I work for IBM and I would never recommend a Lexmark personal printer. They're total crap.
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Post by Aabidano »

miir wrote:I work for IBM and I would never recommend a Lexmark personal printer. They're total crap.
Pretty happy with my E312L, 4 years and ~4500 pages so far with no problems at all.
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Post by Soreali »

miir wrote:I've had a HP Laserjet 6p for about 7 years now. I've gone through about 3-4 disposable colour inkjet printers in the same time.


I work for IBM and I would never recommend a Lexmark personal printer. They're total crap.

After Lexmark took themselves over they actually started to put out some decent machines (6350 aio, 4250 aio) and haven't heard many complaints from their lasers..

I agree with the crowd here.. If you're not gonna do a lot of color, just get a B&W laser.. For every 10 or so inkjet cart. you go through you'll go through one laser cart.
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Post by Voronwë »

I have a Canon Pixma 4000 (i think that is the model #)

you can probably pick one up for less than $100. Cost per page on ink usage is cheapest when you buy Canon v. HP or Epson

HP is the most expensive printer to use based on Consumer Reports studies.

My Canon blows away the 3 HPs i had before it, and it prints photos. Its fast on normal printing stuff and good enough for all the basic things i need.
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