i need printer recommendations

[just-some-guy]

wife said she wants a printer to print coupons.
i would like to have one that prints out a descent picture.
i'm figurin that a built in scanner would be par, idk.

a major factor here is INK.

$100ish

any info that alerts me to issues i don't know about ?


thanx

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Here's my view on home printing:
Quality photo printing is complicated and very expensive - I let pro's do it - online you can always find very low priced prints and print deals. Typically 11c per 4x6 which is about 1/10th of what you'd pay vs printing it at home.

INK is expensive and dries then not in use.

Get yourself an-all-in-one laser printer/scanner and save TONS of money on ink.
About 5 years ago I bought a cheap Samsung Laser printer - it's big, noisy while printing and takes about a minute to warm up,
However: It costed me $120, I still use original toner which came with it and after it warms up it prints about 25 ppm at 600 dpi....

Just pick one with lowest cost per print toner replacement:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010330630%201613940385&bop=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&CompareItemList=630|28-113-304^28-113-304-TS,28-102-029^28-102-029-15%23,28-112-186^28-112-186-TS,28-107-395^28-107-395-S01,28-113-302^28-113-302-TS

 

[penpitt]

I have an older Canon Pixma iP6600D that does a real good job at printing pictures. It is not an all in one so it just prints but I am very happy with it. It has the added advantage of 6 different ink cartridges. Some people may not like having to buy that many different cartridges but I like replacing only the color that is out. The ink is also supposed to have a 100 year fade resistance. It seems Canon has some decent all-in-ones that are out now and at reasonable prices

 

[markw]

Economically, nothing beats having your photos printed on-line at some local retailer. Walgreen's, Walmart, shutterfly, etc are cheaper than keeping stock of ink and photo paper.

That being said, for all other functions (printer, scanner, copier), I've done well with HP's PSC series. Check Staples, Wal-mart, Amazon, etc and you should be able to fine one for < $100.

 

[GlocksRock]

I second the all in one HP photosmart printers. As for ink, you can get it cheap on either ebay or amazon, and I've gotten photo paper for ridiculously cheap on woot.com a couple of times, so for the few photos I do want to print, it's not expensive and it saves me the hassle of going somewhere to print them.

 

[gholt]

I have an older HP 2500 laser printer and I also have a scanner. It is a workhorse. I have been silently hopin that it would croak so that I could buy a all in one printer, but to no avail. It still keeps plugging along.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I have an older HP 2500 laser printer and I also have a scanner. It is a workhorse. I have been silently hopin that it would croak so that I could buy a all in one printer, but to no avail. It still keeps plugging along.

Yea, these old HP printers are built like tanks... Not so much with newer ones

 

[gmichael]

Stick to a Canon or HP laserjet. Most other brands (including HP) are just retagged Canons with higher prices. All in ones are nice. Bublejet and inkjet models use too much ink and they dry up if not in use. The inkjet nozles clog up, and the cleaning proccess uses about half an ink cart.

 

[cschang]

With the price of laser printers nowadays, I think it is the best way to go.

About 7-8 months ago, my Father found a great deal on a Samsung color laser all-in-one. I set it up for him, and was pretty impressed, especially at the price he got it for.

Myself, I have a smaller Dell color laser (1320c I think). Been very happy with it.

 

[pzaur]

Sign up for the weekly/daily emails from buy.com, newegg.com, supermediastore.com, frys.com, and tigerdirect.com. At least one of these places is blowing out ink (supermediastore) or printers on a weekly/daily basis.

-pat

 

[GlocksRock]

I get the XL ink cartridges for my HP printer, it's a better value that way, plus I never buy at a retail store, online is the way to go to save money.

 

[njedpx3]

heavy duty color laser Dell 3130cn -- $399

I have an older HP 2500 laser printer and I also have a scanner. It is a workhorse. I have been silently hopin that it would croak so that I could buy a all in one printer, but to no avail. It still keeps plugging along.

You should have spoken up sooner. I just had a HP laserjet 2550 croak (scanner went bad). Also HP deosn't support anymore , but i had four new toner cartridges: black,cyan, yellow , magenta. Just yesterday took it to recycling along with old GPS and old Laptop.

Ir eplaced it with a Dell 3130cn which should arrive today or tommorrow! Fast Color laser printer with heavy duty toner life ( 4,000 pages) but probablly more cost than OP wants to spend at $399.

All-in-all a Color Laser is very economical, high quality print and fast.

Later,

Forest Man

 

[just-some-guy]

hey guys

i FINALLY got a printer ! a Brother HP 2140 mono laser.

just a couple of test prints. man, this thing is fast. not that that matters.

will work well for its intended purpose.

thanx for the advice.

 

[zumbo]

Sorry I am late. I use an Epson RX595. What's nice about Epson is that you only have to replace the color you are out of at a time. All colors are separate.

My pictures are far better than Wallgreens, using Epson Ultra Premium Luster Paper. This is the textured type paper a professional would use. Good stuff.

Paper can be used in many:
http://www.amazon.com/Epson-Premium-Luster-Inches-Sheets/dp/B00006B7P4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1291529138&sr=1-1

 

[basspig]

I know it's more than $100, but at $199 this week at Staples, the Brother MFC-6490CW is a steal. 11x17 flatbad scanner, printer, FAX with ADF (document feeder). I picked on up this past weekend on sale and it was a no-brainer. It does just about everything but make coffee, it's networked, so you can print to it from any networked computer in the house and the ink is economical, relative to the big boys. I've been a skeptic about Brother til now. Our local hospital uses Brother printers/scanners too.
I loaded up a stack of documents in the ADF hopper, opened OmniPage and in 3 minutes, it scanned, converted to text and saved a Word doc of a 19-page film script.
Having 4 in 1, it saves electricity, because only one power supply is used, and one connection to the PC or network. One of the most useful office gadgets I've every owned.