Help - I need to buy a new Printer

[Mr. Downtown]

A few days ago, discovered a small pool of oil under my printer. Hmmmm. I think my printer is broken. Its a 5 yr Epson Stylus Colour Printer. Went to Future Shop today and had a look at whats out there (Is there a better place to go?).

The printer makes on display were primarily HPs, Lexmark (never heard of them), Cannon and Epson. The models varied from single printing purpose to multi-task type units which will print, fax and scan all-in-one. Are these multiple use units a good thing to buy or are you buying something that has three watered-down quality uses due to getting the guts of them all under one hood sort of speak? Which manufacturer makes the best (affordable) colour printer? How much should I be prepared to spend for decent quality (ps: I'm not printing digital pics)

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jackalltt]

printers

My experience, and that of my clients is that i have had more success with epson than the other brands. Stay with just a plain printer instead of a multifunction if you only have basic printing needs. In another 6 months it's going to be outdated anyway!

 

[zoickss]

HP has always been my favorite - all the brands you mentioned are good - also if you do alot of printing you might want to get one with a larger cartridge size.

Here is a good site for information on computer hardware

http://www20.tomshardware.com/consumer/index.html

 

[groo39]

Lexmark is IBM's printer division, though I think they split off as a seperate company some time ago. The higher end ($500+) models have been pretty solid, and warranty service is outstanding (typical IBM), but I don't know if the same applies to their low end.

HP's work well, look good, but their inkjet cartridges are notoriously expensive -- even for the higher end models. Epson doesn't bend you over so hard for the cartridges on their more expensive models.

Personally I replaced my dead Epson Color Stylus 500 with an HP LaserJet 1200 because I wasn't doing enough color printing to justify the ink costs for my print volume, and wanted the slightly crisper output of a laser.

When you're shopping, you need to consider that a "typical" inkjet cartridge will print about a ream of paper (500 sheets.) Assume your printer will last at least two years, estimate how much printing you'll do in that time, and include both the cost of the printer and the cartridges when making your choice.

For example, there is a nice $200-300 Xerox laser printer whose output is quite comparable to the $500-600 I paid for my HP 1200. However, the HP cartridges are well under $100, while the Xerox cartridges were around $200. Over two years, the HP will cost me about $300 less to run than the Xerox, and about the same as similar Lexmark models.

 

[SilentLeviathan]

The Canon i850 is one of the highest rated colour printers around. It's also very affordable at only $230.

 

[James_kw]

I have an Epson printer, they license out theire cartridges to generic companies, my colour is 15, black is 10

HP doesnt do this, 48 colour 48 black

the hPs are good printers, just a shame the cartridges are so expensive..

 

[Stumpy]

I've had almost all types of printers, Canon, Xerox, HP, Epson, Lemark. For home use I'd advise something in the Epson Line. I just recently bought an Epson Stylus C62 and am quite happy with it.

 

[Mustang Jack]

If the cost to operate the printer is important (as it should be because it will far exceed the purchase price in the long run) be sure to look at the YIELD as well as the price of the toner cartridges. Divide the yield by the price to get a cost per page for comparison (ie $100 cartridge that yields 500 pages works out to 20 cents per page). Also remember that stated yields are only based on limited toner coverage per page. If you are doing more than a few hundred colour prints per month you are better off getting something beyond what you'll find retail. PM me if want more info.

 

[UnMEnXTC]

After owning pretty much all the makes, one of the mainthings to look at is - cost of consumables, ie ink.

In my opinion the best buy out the now is the Canon i550. It has individual ink tanks, so if you run out of yellow, you replace the yellow, not all 3. And right now - Future Shop has reduced the price from $179 to $119. At $119 for individual ink tanks, it will quickly pay for itself. It also does a great job of photo printing 0 edge to edge (ie no border)

 

[groo39]

Re: Re: Help - I need to buy a new Printer

Originally posted by Crazy Canuck Or just buy the cheapest printer out there and replace the whole printer when the ink runs out. When you see the cost of some ink cartridges you'll realize this isn't a totally whacky idea. [/B]

Which is why the cartridges that come with the printer are often only half full, or even less. Epson, HP, Lexmark -- every inkjet printer I've owned or set up for a client had that problem.

The first cartridge dies in a hundred pages or so, the purchased ones mysteriously last 2-3 times as long.

It's all manipulation of perception to get you to buy the product. One way or another, they're all going to try to suck your wallet dry.

 

[68.5]

Don't buy a Cannon! They're good at cameras, but not printers.

HP's are generally very good and reliable, as are Epson's. I have lots of experience with all 3 brands.

As for Future Shop, I personally hate them and their sales people, and I usually go to one of those small computer places (where nobody speaks English but they're very nice anyway...) and get a better price.

BTW, why is this message box so narrow?

 

[Knight]

My HP versus Lexmark experience is the same as that of the PC Magazine Reliability Survey

Chart
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/download/0/1532/printers.pdf

Article
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,368188,00.asp

Plus our Lexmark has been way more expensive to run than a comparable HP.

 

[ShizzleMaNizzle]

margins on printers are so low that you'll be hard pressed to find comparable products for cheaper anywhere else, so Futureshop is as good a place as any to go.

For the most part, at a non-publisher level, a printer's a printer's a printer. Rule of thumb is to get the best numbers (specs) for the lowest price.

 

[groo39]

...so Futureshop is as good a place as any to go.

Just make sure you don't waste your money on an extended warranty. At the lower end of the pricing, you're better off just saving the "warranty" money for your next printer purchase if the current one dies. At the higher end of the pricing, you're probably looking at commercial equipment and should be dealing with someone who provides real service, not nickel and diming between discount chains.

 

[Mr. Downtown]

Going out to look at the printer selection this weekend. Thanks Alot !!!!! you guys for all your helpfull input. Much Appresh.

 

[fernie]

I'm getting a Lexmark 4 in 1 [6150] this weekend. Priced about $299 at Future Shop. Seems like the best deal from my research.

Fernie

 

[fernie]

I'm getting a Lexmark 4 in 1 [6150] this weekend. Priced about $299 at Future Shop. Seems like the best deal from my research.

Fernie

Damn bastards. I bought the 6150 Lexmark because it had faxing [not scan/fax], a top feed and it accepts legal size documents. Of course, the dang cartridge is running out already though the sales guy promised that it included a full catridge, not display product. Grrr. I hate geting lied to from some schmoo!

Other than that, it worls well and hasn't jammed once.

Fernie

 

[DenWa]

I have an Epson Photo Stylus 760. I've had it for over 3 years, and it was only about $200 (printers have gone down a lot since then). The printer has moved with me three times, and even fell off the back of the moving truck onto the pavement. It still prints vibrant and even color, and I don't have to change the cartidges that often. I would definitely recommend Epson to anyone.

DW

 

[breadman]

I have a Canon bjc-2100....bought it new off half.com for about 40 bucks US. Its a decent printer, works great for text, maps etc....just average for photo's. Reason i bought it was i found a website selling generic black cartridges for a buck and color cartridges for 1.67. Black cartridges last me about 60 pages or so....about 2 month's.

If all you want is a cheap printer for text etc, do a search for cheap cartridges and then look for a printer that uses those....

 

[ycghiydvo]

I have a refurbished HP 4050 hooked into my home network which ran me $100. I purchased a brand new toner cartridge for it, which cost more than the printer. Yield works out to about 1.25 cents per page Plus, I will probably never run out of toner as I don't print reams of material.

I also have an HP 842C for those jobs that need color in them. Costs a bit more per page (about 8 cents per), so i only use it occasionally, just enough to keep the ink flowing.

Just make sure you know what you are printing before you go and buy. If you are just printing black and white, consider a laser. If you have a network at home, the lasers also sometimes have cards built right into them so you don't even have to have a computer on to print from them.

If you need color, then get something that may not printspectacularly, but be able to save you a little when buying cartridges ever other week...