All In One Printer/Copier/Scanner Recommendations

[Tosh McCaber]

I've a budget of up to £100 or maybe a bit more, to spend on a replacement all in one printer/copier/scanner, to replace my wife's ageing HP 950, which isn't very compatible with her latest Mac- scanner operations no longer work with OS X. (It never was all that compatible before). We also want it to be available for my PC (we're hard-wired networked).So that probably rules out HP, which, I know have still problems with Mac capability.

I want something that gives reasonable performance, with , again reasonably inexpensive cartridge replacement cost- I've seen printers where the cartridges are as expensive as the (low cost) printer. Also cheap Epsons where that cartridges hold minute quantities, and need constant replacement. Preferably, compatible with recycled cartridges- again, I know that some Epson printer, and probably other manufacturers' are chipped.

We have taken to having the photo images that we want to print into 4x6 processed in the likes of Boots, etc, since their inks are colourfast and reasonably waterproof.

Sorry for the long list of specs. What's your favourite in the price range?

[timmyneedham]

Well despite your comments on HP, we recently bought a C7280 which does it all wirelessly and has a fax and it works brilliantly with my macbook. All I had to do was click on add printer in preferences and it did it all automatically. Cost 100 quid or so. Couldn't be happier with it to be honest and there's even a little app which lets you print photos from your iphone.
TN

[Bushfiva]

My limited experience with HP all-in-ones is that, if it works well, then it works very well. If one of its bazillion drivers or software packages doesn't like you, then you're in for a lot of pain and suffering.

[preduk]

I just bought a Canon PIXMA MP190 for £45 + £20 cashback... Really impressed with it so far especially for £25, it's not a top of a range printer but it does the trick.

[Tosh McCaber]

Preduk,

Where did you buy it? And how did the cashback work?

My understanding, too is that HP drivers are at the root of all their evils. I have an ancient HP1120c, 10 years old, and working as well as ever- except that HP didn't upgrade the drivers when even as far back as when Win 2000 came out. Nor did they with WinXP. Since then, I've lost a lot of the background "nice things" that originally came with it.

I read about an HP on sale a few weeks ago from Aldi- very cheap, but two reviews stated that it wasn't compatible with Macs.

And, if they all work,why do some cost three or four times as much as others?

[ORAC]

I have a HP C6180 which has given me problems updating it's Mac drivers, even more changing it's cartridge set-up from US to UK cartridges when I came home. Yes, HP printers have region codes for their ink cartridges!!

Anyway, when trying to get my various Macs and Time Machine router working with it I gave up, and went out and bought a Lexmark 7675 Pro reduced to £98 at PC World 2-3 weeks ago. Excellent Mac drivers and automated installation.

Still in stock, £90 online with free delivery or £98 in store.

And if anyone wants a HP C6180, hardly used, with a new set of cartridges just installed and a complete spare set - mail me......

[Senior Paper Monitor]

HP7280 is excellent but a bit above your budget price @ around £140 best offer - Staples have some half-price J6410s at just under £90 which are nearly as good (duplexing not as good, software/wireless a bit more difficult to set-up and only has a single colour cartridge rather than individual ones but an otherwise excellent machine). I have one of each working pretty hard in our office following the failure of a couple of old workhorses and can't fault them. Admittedly I haven't tried them in MAC environment (but they both claim compatability - I think ?).

[Keef]

My experience is that those all-in-one devices are trouble. Drivers are not always available, or are huge. Then, one bit goes on the blink and you have to replace the lot.

I bought a decent scanner (not expensive) and separate printer. The two do take slightly more deskspace.

I'd recommend separates, and reading the reviews on Mac and PC websites to see how they perform. There are so many new models released every month that what was the ideal product when I bought mine is probably now obsolete.

[Saab Dastard]

My understanding, too is that HP drivers are at the root of all their evils

I don't think it's the drivers that are the problem - in my experience it is the application software that HP provides that is the problem.

I bought a decent scanner (not expensive) and separate printer. The two do take slightly more deskspace.

I went down this road also, Keef - Canon scanner and inkjet printer - and I've been very satified.

To save desk space, I built a wooden platform that allows me to put the scanner above the printer.

I bought both of mine on the Canon ebay outlet - returns and refurbed plus end-of-life stock.

SD

[BladePilot]

HP Officejet 6310 All-in-One hardwired into my home network. Had a shed load of problems when I set it up initially with my new PC with Vista OS but it seems to have settled down now (touchwood!) Does everything pretty well but the OCR software is utter crp so I haven't loaded that and now use another product for my OCR needs.

[passy777]

Epson XS100

Currently on sale at Tesco (half price) for twenty nine quid.

It is a printer/scanner/copier and works fine with my vaio laptop.

I also have a wireless HP printer and has been pointed out earlier in this thread, it sometimes has a tendency to bugger up my wireless internet connection.

Passy

[Ancient Observer]

Beware HP

Just another "be careful" note about HP all-in-ones. Mine has been a pain.
HP software is extremely difficult to remove. The standard "add or remove" function in control panel removes a small amount of the soft ware.
Their customer service is close to useless, and there's no-one to call from a UK base. What their web-site tells you to do is as likely to cause more problems than doing nothing! - Mine killed my pc for a while doing what their web-site suggested.
There have also been lots of reports of failures as HP software can conflict with IE software versions.
I once wrote to one of their bosses in the USA with my complaints, but that did no good at all. Not even the courtesy of a reply.

[obgraham]

Like others, I agree that HP software is a real PITA. Loads all sorts of programs you don't want then makes it difficult to remove them. Instruction manuals (remember them??) are totally useless.
The printing parts seem to work okay. The scanning software works, but is very clumsy, and hardly intuitive.
Canon scanning software is a breeze.

I'm with Keef -- stick to separates.