View Full Version : Printer Thoughts?
Bill Harsey
10-22-2009, 20:34
Getting ready to throw out another HP printer here. :mad:
Anyone have any thoughts about printers?
Would be nice to print some photo images for presentation and portfolio once in a while too.
Edited to add:
beer will be owed for good answer(s).
Thanks!
Of the (5) HP Inkjets I have purchased, they were all in the trash within 1 year of purchase. I had a Minolta Color Laser that made great prints but it bit the dust after 3 years.
The longest running printer I have is a HP1300 Laser Jet that is 4-5 years old. The next is an HP CM1015 MFP color laser. It runs great, make great color scans and color prints...but the (4) cartridges are about $75 ea.
Mom has had good luck with her Color Samsung Laser, she prints landscape job photos with it that look really nice.
Are you needing full color capability with this replacement printer? Many I know including myself run a b/w laser for high output stuff and have a good inkjet reserved for color. If it's a high output laser that you need a cheap/used but older model of HP might be the ticket (4, 6 series) as they don't die very easily and can be had for cheap if one can find them. My '97 HP 6MP won't die and was bought from a University surplus sale for $40. It was a dept printer with tens of thousands of sheets through it already when I bought in '05. A ~3000 toner cartridge is about ~$45
A number of my clients still have their old Apple laser printers made in Japan by Canon, bought in the mid nineties, but hooked up to their latest Intel Macs. These are at least 800dpi rated. As we are all finding out printers aren't built like they used to be and are outliving many of the current generation.
Getting ready to throw out another HP printer here. :mad:
Anyone have any thoughts about printers?
Would be nice to print some photo images for presentation and portfolio once in a while too.
Edited to add:
beer will be owed for good answer(s).
Thanks!
I have lots of thoughts about printers - most of them are bad.
I bought a $500 300C right when they came out - many many years ago, it lasted ablut 6 years before it gave out - a great printer.
I replaced it with another great printer, the HP 720 - it had better resolution and was faster. But I noticed that the nice 32 ml ink reservoiers had been changed to less than half that, yet the price was about the same.
Another 5 or 6 yeqrs go by - always getting good service and good quality pictures when it suddenly died. I started pricing HPs again - price was way down, nothing seemed higher than $200 - and you could get several that were just as good as the 720 for less than $99. But then I looked at the ink - price for the cartridge was about the same, but now they only held about 5 ml.
I would easily spend Over a $150 per year just on ink - so then I looked for the best quality printer I could find that also had the best ink value.
What I found was the Cannon - that was 3 yers ago - still works great. Paid $160 for it - it also has a good scanner. the color cartridges hold 13 ml each and he black holds about twice that amount - a five pack for that, which includes the big Black ink reservoir costs today $56.
On recent problem, which was institued for guys just like me, is that all the ink manufacturers (cannon included) stopped printing the ml valure on the cartridge - they now say, "number of copies" - that is a very subjective value and would be totally dependent on what and how you print. The mililieter number is a fact and is measureable. That bothers me too.
You can still buy the MP600 - it lists for $179, comes with one set of inks. Also, ther are several Ink websites where you can get ink at half that price in some cases - but most at least 25% less.
Check it out - I reccommend it.
here is the web location: http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=116&modelid=13800#BoxContentsAct (http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=116&modelid=13800#BoxContentsAct)
Kyobanim
10-23-2009, 04:41
I bought a Dell 1320c color laser well over a year ago for around 300. It was off the refurb site. Just changed the first toner cartifidge this week. Have never had a problem.
I get very high quality prints, including photos.
Think about spending more for a quality printer. Ink jets are just throw aways anymore.
When it comes to printers, only one thing comes to mind.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfCYzJAgwrw
I don't think there's one out there that REALLY works well.
Sir William......I wish you the best of luck in your quest. :munchin
bravo22b
10-23-2009, 05:52
I got rid of an ancient HP Officejet last year and got a Canon Pixma MX850. If high volume is a requirement, I don't know that this printer is what you want; I think it's more like home office duty. However, the thing does just about everything and does it well. Excellent quality photo printing, very good scan quality, automatic document feeder, two sided scanning and printing, plus all the other stuff like having a card reader, LCD screen, and networking/wireless capability. I also think the software it comes with is pretty decent. I'm sure that there is already a newer version of it out, and they probably have heavier-duty versions as well. In general, these things seem to get excellent reviews.
Best of all, cheap. I think I paid like $160 for it. At that price, even if it only lasts three or four years I will feel like I got my money's worth.
My 2 cents.
We've had good luck with Cannon. Currently on the third one in 12 yrs. I like the fact that you buy individual ink cartridges. Our current is a 530 series, multi function, scanner, printer, fax... Picked it up on Amazon for under $200.
I printed pictures at one time, but have learned that the print service at the drug store is far better, quicker, and uses the archival paper & ink.
I just take a cd with what I want,, ba da bing,, 15 minutes it's finished..
My $00.0002
Good Luck..
Sacamuelas
10-23-2009, 06:44
Sir Harsey-
I am in the same boat as some of the others. I use a canon B/W laser for all my bulk printing/fax/copying. I use an inkjet for photo printing only. Combined price for the two was probably around $250. The much larger toner cartridge for the canon allows me to change her much less often and cheaper than if I used an inkjet. They have been going strong at the office for 2 years now without a glitch.
Good luck.
Also, I use the JJ_BPK's idea when a presentation or extremely important image set is needed. ALthough, I usually just upload onto the walmart or walgreens website and have them waiting for me when I get there. One does not have to bring in a CD or flash memory to the store and wait.
I just purchase a Brother MFC-7840W printer last week when it went on sale for a day for $219.99 plus free shipping. I have been eyeballing this printer for about a month because it had all the features in one unit that I was looking for. I was looking to replace a Cannon printer that I got for free with a purchase on a black friday deal, however I was getting tired of having to purchase ink cartridges for it and waiting for the machine to warm up for a couple minutes before it would start printing. In addition, I also wanted a printer that had scan, copy, and fax capabilities integrated into it. To top it off, the thing that sold me on this Brother printer was its wireless capability. I can setup the printer in any location in the house, away from any computer, and be able to do the work remotely. The wireless capability is very nice, it can be setup as a standalone so I can connect to it directly without it being on the network, or I can set it up as a wireless network printer.
Some of the cool features of the printer include being able to customize the scan options so that I can scan pictures and files into various file formats and resolutions. When you scan something you can either direct it to scan that file to any computer of your choice in the house, or you can scan and have it automatically upload to an FTP server so it is readily available online to retrieve. With additional tweaking a programming, you can be away from home on another computer, and if you want to print something so it is waiting for you at home, you can print over the internet off your machine at home.
I recommend this machine as it really has the power of a professional business printer for home use at a portion of the price of a commercial printer.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828113303&cm_re=brother_mfc-_-28-113-303-_-Product
Bill Harsey
10-23-2009, 16:01
Copy all!
Learned a lot from the posts so far and will keep you advised on what turns up here.
ps. we have had very good luck with newegg.com
Red Flag 1
10-23-2009, 16:08
Bill,
If you are using Windows Vista, it may not be the printer!
RF 1
Bill Harsey
10-24-2009, 09:56
Bill,
If you are using Windows Vista, it may not be the printer!
RF 1
We have Windows XP. but interesting info.
Printer full quit picking up paper, no matter what hammer I used.
Did the math on what was said here and found a Canon printer, it's hooked up and working, just have to figure out how to run it.
boy do I owe a lot of beers...:cool:
Thanks everyone.
DinDinA-2
10-26-2009, 20:15
A few printers ago I had the same problem of it not "picking up" paper. The rubber rollers that pick up the paper had become hard and shiny. I used some solvent to soften the rollers and it worked great for a while. Eventually that fix quit working.
As an IT guy, I have found that as far as basic consumer printers go, they are all about the same... you pay about $100, and you get what you pay for. And this is fine for most people.
If you are really going to use it a lot, get a laser, as they will greatly outlast any ink jet. No specific brands stick out as much better than the other, but HP and Xerox I at least can confirm to be decent.
A few printers ago I had the same problem of it not "picking up" paper. The rubber rollers that pick up the paper had become hard and shiny. I used some solvent to soften the rollers and it worked great for a while. Eventually that fix quit working.
Bill
DD hit it on the head. We have a lot of printers in our office here and this happens a lot. I make it a habit to clean the rollers every 6 months with gauze and rubbing alcohol. This will clean the wheels off and make them pickup your paper.
Try it and you may get it back up and running and have a backup printer.
Just my 2 cents....
Bill Harsey
11-06-2009, 12:30
A few printers ago I had the same problem of it not "picking up" paper. The rubber rollers that pick up the paper had become hard and shiny. I used some solvent to soften the rollers and it worked great for a while. Eventually that fix quit working.
As SF BHT advised, I will do as you say from now on.
As SF BHT advised, I will do as you say from now on.
FYI: Key thing only use rubbing alcohol. Solvents will degrade the rollers over time....
Bill Harsey
11-06-2009, 15:43
FYI: Key thing only use rubbing alcohol. Solvents will degrade the rollers over time....
Good thing you said something,
I was going to dunk the whole printer in acetone. :D
Thanks for the reminder about rubbing alcohol.
We have a HP Photosmart C6180 on the LAN. It is about 2 years old and has offered good service. Ink is not too expensive.
Biggest problem at first was the stupid soft ware, secret LAN code and constant power interruption (a rural A/O benefit). Works great now. The upgrades worked.
I really like the techy stuff, except just after you buy something, it is obsolete and not worth anything. The exception is Windows, about the time they get all the bugs worked out a new worser addition of Windows comes out. At least Windows 7 does not crash as much as when I upgraded to Vista.
Vista was like the drunken energizer bunny, it kept crashing and crashing.