[chillysalsa]

Ok, my 3rd Epson has finally bitten the dust.
I've grown to hate their products, the printhead always gets clogged and 'misses' lines though the images. The 'Headcleaning' and 'Nozzle Alignment' utilities don't help, nor does changing cartridges.

SO: what would people recomment for a budget (~$100) printer? I know HP have the nozzle built into the cartridge - thus it could avoid the 'clogging' problems I've had with Epsons. I'm thinking of the HP 3820, has anyone had bad experiences with HP's?

What about Canon - any good and reliable models from them?

I need something basic for college - mostly printing reports, some CD covers, etc.

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[LobsterSan]

I've got an HP 920c. I picked it up pretty cheap ... I think it was something like $99. You could probably find it used on Ebay for dirt, or somewhere new for less maybe. I am also in college and find it works very well for my needs. It's quiet, prints with reliability, and works with everything I've thrown at it. Granted, you won't be getting photo-realistic quality with it, but i've put together some nice CD covers for people using it. If you look at the photos from a distance of a few feet, they look like photo-quality. This printer is perfect for a low-budget, no hassle, no frills, reliable printer.

Replacement ink kits are also very helpful if you plan on doing lots of printing.

 

[MacDEF]

With rebates, I was able to pick up a Samsung ML1210 laser printer for $99. Excellent printer, on many "best buy" lists.

 

[CaptBubba]

Quote:

Originally posted by LobsterSan Granted, you won't be getting photo-realistic quality with it, but i've put together some nice CD covers for people using it. If you look at the photos from a distance of a few feet, they look like photo-quality.

Something the printer industry really doesn't want you to know is that the paper used matters much more than the actual printer. Take a high end and print with normal paper and print the same image on a low-mid range printer except using good photo glossy, and I'd be willing to bet the cheap one actually works better. All things being equal though the high end one would smoke the lower one in speed and image quality.

I have an HP 932c, I like it except for a few things:
The ink cartridges, beacuse they house the print head, are rather pricey.
USB setup gave me some trouble at first.
Folding paper bin can mangle paper if you hit it.
Photo printing is slow (hq)
This may just be a bug, but for some reason it cuts off random text when I print from Illustrator.

I really like the fact that the print heads are replaced every time you put more ink in, which is actually suprisingly infrequent.
USB now works flawlessly under Win XP (had trouble w/ win98SE) and is quite handy because I have a laptop.
The photo quality is good, once it is done (using Kodak glossy paper).
Draft mode is great, really fast, and doesn't look bad. Very usefull for those times when I have a paper due in like five mins.

Beware the cost of ink! Most printers now come with "starter" ink sizes meaning you will very soon have to purchase more ink, which can run over half what the printer cost you in the first place Figure that into costs as well.

 

[LobsterSan]

Quote:

Originally posted by CaptBubba Beware the cost of ink! Most printers now come with "starter" ink sizes meaning you will very soon have to purchase more ink, which can run over half what the printer cost you in the first place Figure that into costs as well.

Bubba: If you're doing a lot of printing, you should look into refill kits. They can save a bundle. For the average user, a one time purchase of a 1/2 pint of black ink will be more than enough for 10+ years. There are a lot of companies with ink kits, some are really pretty high quality (they sell archival inks used in art-quality prints that don't lose color or fade). There are also kits that are dirt cheap. And if you are too lazy to figure out how to do the refilling, then there are also generic carts (though you want to be selective about those -- some are great, some are not so good, but they are mostly much cheaper than the stuff HP or Epson wants you to buy).

Anyone have a dye-sub printer? Those things are amazing...

 

[00940]

be cautious with generic carts, some company (HP surely, epson I should check) introduced electronic chips on their proprietary carts so that you can only use these on your printer.

 

[andrzejpw]

I picked up an HP 1160. It's about a year old model, so I got to pick it up for $200, down from $450. It's originally a business printer. So it's fast, has a duplexer(two sided printing!), and is just amazing with Black and white. Photos also come out very well. A PC Magazine review said its a for those people who need a laser, but also want color. I've been very happy with it.

 

[CaptBubba]

I go through maybe a catridge a year of both black and color. The trick is to get the high-capacity ones (hp sells a 42ml black one) and they last a very long time. I prefer to replace the catridges because I doubt the print heads were not designed to be used for more than the cartridge was filled with. That and I couldn't get the ink-refill kit I bought to work correctly.

If you are just going to be printing text there really is no substitute for a laser printer. Pick up an old one for cheap, many of them have great quality for suprisingly little money. Also the old ones have off-brand replacement toner so that reduces the cost as well. My family has an 8yr old HP laserjet 4L at home and it still works flawlessly and lasts forever on a toner cartridge. Plus you get nice sharp text.

 

[KR...]

The high end Epsons are the best, their low end printer are on the other hand junk.

Quote:

Something the printer industry really doesn't want you to know is that the paper used matters much more than the actual printer. Take

There are 100's of different types of "papers" that you can use, but not every printer can take all of them.

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

I'm done with injet printers, they are not worth the time and money... they break so easy and then you just got to toss them, almost like they are dispossible.. replacing inkcartridges cost insane amounts for not much more then a plastic mold with ink in it. Next up will be a laser printer for me.

Biggie.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

ANYTHING by Canon!!!! THeir printers are the bomb when it comes to quality and realiability.

You may consider spending a little more money to buy one that uses individual ink wells/tanks as the cost of replacing a whole set of three colors every time the cyan runs out is horrible. That's how they make all their money - cheap printers and way overpriced ink!! Try and find something with 4-7 separate ink wells/tanks!! You won't regret it!!!!

 

[Mr.PD]

We just replaced our printer a few months ago. I was going to get a Cannon until I heard about the print head in the printer versus the print head in the cartridge. I so seldom use the printer that I figured I would get a gummed up print head in the Cannon. So, I went with an HP. I got a HP Deskjet 5550. This model has the newer print pogram Photo Ret IV I think, and it is a no frills model. We tested it and a fully loaded model at Staples and they printed the same. This model was only $159 at that time. It's been working great. BTW I stuck the paper in both models so I know it was the same paper.
Another feature I like is this printer has an auto shut down program. So the thing isn't on all the time and it will turn on automatically when you go to use it.

 

[chillysalsa]

Thanks for the advice folks!

 

[fractus2]

Anyone own this printer? It's $197.54 at office depot w/out the usb connector. This review likes the Lexmark E220 by a slight margin though.

Recommendations on a b&w laserjet for home use (letters, memos, mostly documents)?

HP LaserJet 1012 printer

 

[mbriant]

I've had 3 Canon printers in a row and they've all been great. My latest is the i860 which I've seen for as low as $200 Can ($130 U.S.) It prints excellent photographs and comes with 5 ink cartridges....yellow, cyan, magenta, and black for colour printing and then a separate extra large different black for regular letter printing.