New Printer

[Le Pen]

Hi guys,
I'm in the market for a new printer. My 8 year old HP 722c has just about had it.

I would like an Ink Jet. Colour/photo printer.

Does anyone have any ideas on what to avoid? Which ones have poor ink use?

That kind of thing.

Many thanks

LP

[ZH875]

I have just bought a Canon Pixma iP5200R, although you can get the cheaper 5200 (if you only want USB), Great Printer, seems ok on ink usage, but what quality.:ok:

Prints on Photo Paper, uto A4 paper (Duplex) and CDs too.

[Tosh McCaber]

I've had a very reliable HP1120c A3 printer for the past 6 years. Reasonable amounts of ink in each of the B&W and Colour cartridges. HOWEVER, the latest HPs have miniscule ink cartridges- about 9ml in each of 5 or 6 cartridges. My local refill shop says that they last hardly any time between refills.
You're cheaper to replace your Lexmark printer than to buy refills!
My local refill shop also suggested the Canon Pixmas are the bet buys at the present time.

[Saab Dastard]

I appreciate that this only applies to the UK, but I got my Canon Pixma 5000 via the Canon ebay outlet at a VERY healthy discount. Ditto my scanner.

I have been favourably impressed with all the Canon gear I have owned or had dealings with, including the accompanying software.

Not so keen on HP stuff any more (especially the software), although they are still the best for Laser printers IMHO.

SD

[Conan the Librarian]

Think I would be slightly aware of HP. From what I hear, (This WOULD need checking) the cartridges are chipped in such a way, that older ones will not do the squirty bit as they are "too old" Lexmark are incredibly expensive to replace cartridges and from what I have seen, are a bit iffy in quality as well.

I use an Epson R800, but a full complement of 8 Epson cartridges sets one back around 80 quid. Most of the Epson range have a lot to be said for them. Canon I would live with too. Compatible cartridges are ok, but if you after good colour balance and longevity, then I would think twice - no - three times at least.

Remember that good though various printers may be, that they are simply vehicles to flog you ink. This can be pretty frightening too. Do you need a photo printer? If so, then get a good one. If you are doing occasional photo printing, then something cheaper to fill might be a good route to take. If you really need that fidelity, it is going to be more expensive. I would look at Epson and Canon, possibly HP, then work out from there.


Conan

[Keef]

I went through the same process. I have a vintage HP Laserjet 2100 for B&W work, and it's excellent.

After a series of Epson bubblejet devices, all of which cost more per annum in ink than the cost of a new machine, and all of which clogged their jets if left unused for more than a few days...

... I bought a Canon Pixma. It has a whole bandolier of ink cartridges (well, five of them), but the "aftermarket" ones are about £3 a pop and last many months at my usage. They rarely clog, and the print quality is excellent.

The only drawbacks are:

1. The drivers are about 50MB, so you need plenty of disk space;

2. It won't work with Linux. There are "cobbled" drivers, but the quality is awful.

If I were buying another printer now, it would be a Pixma. The latest model looks a lot "cheaper" than mine, but a friend who has one is very happy with it.

[amanoffewwords]

I have a vintage HP Laserjet 2100 for B&W work, and it's excellent.


I concur ;-)

If I were buying a colour printer to replace my inkjet HP840C I'd go for a colour laser - the quality is superb and it can print on photo paper etc. And prices are dropping all the time.

[Tosh McCaber]

But I've heard that the same price mark-up applies to Colour laser cartriges as for inkjet. Replacement cartridges can cost almost as much as the original machine?!!

[spannersatcx]

I'm too in the market for a new printer, current HP 950C, as the price of aa black and colour cartridge is near on £50. I thought of getting a new one that uses cheaper cartridges, do mainly text prints plus colour docs. Don't print photo's as it's cheaper and better to go to ASDA.

Epson seem more inclined to be photo printers, not really thought about Canon yet!

[oldbeefer]

Bought a Canon Pixma 3000 a year ago - separate colour cartridges are great and the print quality superb. They now do an all in one printer/scanner/copier for under £100 - can't be bad!

[747-436]

I have an HP5940 deskjet. Very nice printer, had to have quite a slim one to fit in the shelf under my desk. Only problem I have with it is at the moment it sometimes has trouble picking up paper from the feeder so you have to assist it!!
Otherwise a good buy. Prefer HP as when you change the cartridges you get a new print head in them. Remember when I had a canon at University the print head used to dry up if not used for a month or so.

[terrain safe]

Have a Canon Pixma 4000 printer. Had it for over a year and it is truly great. Bought the missus a Canon MP170 multifunction device a while ago and is also excellent. Am now going to buy an Mp160 and MP180 for the kids. Had Canon for years and they are great. :ok: :ok:

[Le Pen]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the info.
Went out yesterday and bought myself a Canon Pixma 5200.

After a mini Nightmare with the software hanging (ended up downloading same from Canon site) and being a bit shocked at the overall size of it, I printed my first photo.

:D :D :ok: :ok: :D :D :ok: :ok:

FANTASTIC!!!!!

Excelent colours, Perfect balance, superb finish.

Thanks once again guys

LP

[BOAC]

May I join the thread? Same problem for me, looking for Father C to replace a well-used Epson Colour Inkjet. Pixma sounds like the answer? What is the situation with the chipping of cartridges on this machine?

[Keef]

I suppose there are chips in the cartridges (not looked), but Printerinks.com cartridges (under £4 a pop if you buy a job lot) work perfectly in my IP5000.

[BOAC]

Thank you, Sir - just the info I was looking for!:)

[spannersatcx]

I've just replaced a HP 950C with a cannon pixma ip4300, so far so good.

I don't print photo's with it, it's cheaper and easier at ASDA!! Found the printing on a cdr a good feature.

[Saab Dastard]

Keef,

Thanks for your tip re: cartridges!

SD

[modtinbasher]

I've got an old Epson Stylus that uses unchipped cartridges and I never print colour. Despite this, the colour ink cartridge still gets used as I suspect the m/c uses colour to supplement the black when this runs on empty. So what did I do? I got a very cheap black refill kit from Tesco, drilled both the 3 colour (combined) and black cartridges as per the instruction leaflet, refilled them both with black ink with the hyperdeemic noodle as supplied, put the rubber plugs in the fill holes ready for next time, and away it went!