[ooheadsoo]

Nonono, not ANYthing by Canon! I've had 3 cheap models and they all BLOW! If you get a Canon, make sure it's at least something that someone you trust has recommended! Btw, I would personally avoid all top loading printers if possible.

 

[fiddler]

Whatever you do, don't buy Lexmark.

If you do end up being stuck with one like me, do refill the cartridges because Lexmark carts are hideously overpriced (as I found out).

Oh and when you do refill make ABSOLUTELY SURE that the cartridge doesn't run dry, once it dries up you're screwed because the dry ink blocks the print head and it's an absolute pain to unclog.

If you're stupid like me and let your cartridge dry out, what you should do is what I ended up doing yesterday (I thought I'd chime in since I spent so many hours yesterday reviving a cartridge. Yes, I'm stubborn and refuse to buy new cartridges.)

Step 1: Fill a bowl or mug big enough to fit your cartridge in with about 1/4 inch of water

Step 2: Boil the water in the microwave (takes 30 seconds or so). DO NOT PUT THE CARTRIDGE IN WITH IT! Well I've actually read of people actually microwaving their cartridges, but this strikes me as a terrible idea.

Step 3: Remove bowl from microwave. Dip the print head into the boiling water until you see a blob of ink flowing out.

By now the head should be clean and unclogged. If not, well try again.

Print heads are probably not meant to withstand this sort of punishment so do it too many times and you'll probably kill it. Oh well, you were going to throw it away anyway right?

Mind you, my cartridge was only about half dry, i.e. it printed but with ugly streaks, enough to make text unreadable. I have a feeling though that this method would work on totally dried out cartridges as well. I hope this tip can save someone some money!

edit: Sorry for going off on a tangent...

 

[minya]

We recently got a Brother laser printer. I believe it cost around $150. Long story short there's no way I'm EVER going back to inkjet printers. Worthless pieces of crap that break daily and their ink is made of gasoline or something (why else would it be so expensive?)

- Chris

 

[ipodstudio]

My Brother HL-14 laser printer has been a fantastic servant and can be had around that price or less.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

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

I've had this printer in use for almost three years now, and the original toner cartridge is still going strong. It is just what a printer should be, fast, clear, and reliable. And I've not once found myself wishing I had color printing, especially when I see all the problems of inkjets.

 

[Genetic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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

I use at home the HP LaserJet 1000 printer. Two years of loyal services and thousand and thousand of problem free pages.

If the 1012 is, as I think it is, a similar product it is indeed a great (for the price) printer.


Amicalement

P.S. It even has (a must) the possibiblity of an «extended life cartridge» for saving $$$$. I almost forgot, the paper... This could be costly with laser printers. The one I choose, after many trials with many brands, is the HP Printing (92/brightness, 22 lb. ) A real winner.

 

[vwap]

One thing I hate about non-networkable HP printers, both inkjets and laserjets, is HP's software. It's bloated and slow, and in most cases, you have to use their installer to install the printer. I'm usually impressed with their quality, however.

However, if you don't need color printing capabilities, I'd strongly suggest a laser printer. Someone suggested the Minolta around $99, and I've heard wonderful things about it. I'm sick and tired of color inkjets. I've had a number of them ranging from HP to Epson, and while the Epson's I have had were very high quality, the print heads have deteriorated dramatically. "Photo quality", even on photo paper, now has new meaning -- photos with lines. While the color output is (well, was) great, the maintenence wasn't worth it.

I've used a few laser printers in the past, never having a problem with any of the HP Laserjet 2000, 4000, or 8000 series (both color and black-and-white). However, those are all likely out of your budget. The HP Laserjet 1010 series printers are decent, but I still don't like HP's software implementation. IIRC, the 1100 and 1200 series are/were decent.

So, if you have no need for color, get a decent laser printer. For the cost of ink that you'll be constantly replenishing, you'll have more than paid for your laser printer, and the lack of maintenence that they require.

 

[Idiot MD]

I've had this old LaserJet 4 for about, oh... 10-15 years now. Not the fastest horse in the barn anymore but still works great, the usual crisp, deep text and pictures and other than the warm up time, more than fast enough for my needs. You just can't go wrong with a decent laser printer. And if I need color printing, that's what Kinko's is for.

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Idiot MD I've had this old LaserJet 4 for about, oh... 10-15 years now. Not the fastest horse in the barn anymore but still works great, the usual crisp, deep text and pictures and other than the warm up time, more than fast enough for my needs. You just can't go wrong with a decent laser printer. And if I need color printing, that's what Kinko's is for.

We still have these behemoths at work, man, are they heavy! We have the HP 1300's at work also, they are very fast and seem to be trouble free. I like the HP laserjet line, i have a 6L and it works ok, although, the rollers have worn out.

 

[Demolition]

I've had a bunch of inkjets over the years, starting with an HP DeskWriter (Apple-compatible version of the original DeskJet), circa 1989. Before that, I used various dot-matrix printers. I had been a faithful HP customer starting at that point, until a few years ago when I experimented with Epson and Canon printers. As someone mentioned above, the cheap Canons are junky, but the mid- and high-end ones (such as the i900, i9000, and i9900) are excellent.

I plan on buying a Canon inkjet to replace my six-months old HP DeskJet 5150 (which replaced an Epson Stylus Color 600 which, in turn, replaced an Apple StyleWriter (basically a Canon BubbleJet in disguise)). As for the 5150, I only bought it because it was offered to me for $50 CDN (a savings of more than $100 CDN at the time) plus was given six photo and six colour cartridges for free. It was a very good deal and impossible to pass up. However, if I hadn't been offered that deal, I probably would have bought a Canon. The photo mode of the 5150 is quite good, but I suspect that the Canon inkjets surpass it.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Idiot MD I've had this old LaserJet 4 for about, oh... 10-15 years now. Not the fastest horse in the barn anymore but still works great, the usual crisp, deep text and pictures and other than the warm up time, more than fast enough for my needs. You just can't go wrong with a decent laser printer.

I've also owned a laser printer for more than a decade, an Apple LaserWriter IIg that I bought in 1991. It's built like a tank (20"L x20"W x9"H, weighs 50 lbs) like all the other Canon SX engine-based lasers from that era (such as HP's original LaserJets and LaserJet IIs). The LW IIg may have been the earliest printer with standard built-in Ethernet, also. Not sure about that, though. A very handy feature as it allows all the computers on my wired network to print to it.

Anyway, it keeps chugging along with very little maintenance other than needing the occasional replacement toner cartridge. They just don't make tough printers like this anymore.

D.

 

[ch1nkster]

Quote:

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

YES I agree on this. We have 2 of those in our house and neither need replacements for the toner cartiage yet. My dad bought both of them for that price about a year ago and it's a great pirnter so far. Ultra-sharp prints too; only wish it printed color...

For color prints, I have some cheap $30 Cannon i450. I bought it like 4 months ago and it has already run low on ink (I don't really print color unless I really need it for something).

 

[ls20]

i liked the quality of my old Epson inkjet...but it had problems time to time, was quick on ink, and the ink cost A LOT!

Lexmark just cheap



Canon inkjets are AWESOME. I have a S750 (since then replaced by i550) which is stealthy quiet... FANTASTICALLY FAST... is unbelievably economical on ink.. AND it has seperate B.C.M.Y ink cartridges that are only 10$ per. I've printed a ton of stuff on it and it hasnt given me a problem once