Printer suggestions?
Anyone have any suggestions on printers? My old one died at the beginning of the summer, and after weeks of scouting, I was pretty sure that I wanted the Canon Pixma ip4000 (one of the last Canon inkjets to use the über-cheap microchip-free ink cartridges), but it's pretty much nowhere to be found on the intarwubs now. (Even eBay.)
Can you recommend any printer (laser or inkjet) that's worthwhile?
- color preferably
- hopefully less than $200, prefer less than or equal to $100
- don't need a built-in scanner / fax / microscope / caulking gun
- cheap ink refills
- decent enough quality to print photos, but not necessarily a "photo printer"
- willing to buy old/refurb models (if they are still for sale somewhere)
I have a friend who swears by his color laser printer (I forget the brand), and I'd be willing to suck it up and invest in one, but I tend to print on odd things like freezer paper, card stock, and t-shirt iron-ons, so I'm wary of getting a laser printer.
Anyone have any recommendations? My last one lasted so long, I don't even know what brands are the good ones, aside from the usual suspects (epson, canon...?).
(If this needs moving to a different forum, please do so; I just wasn't sure if it was tech supporty or for science!y enough.)
Can you recommend any printer (laser or inkjet) that's worthwhile?
- color preferably
- hopefully less than $200, prefer less than or equal to $100
- don't need a built-in scanner / fax / microscope / caulking gun
- cheap ink refills
- decent enough quality to print photos, but not necessarily a "photo printer"
- willing to buy old/refurb models (if they are still for sale somewhere)
I have a friend who swears by his color laser printer (I forget the brand), and I'd be willing to suck it up and invest in one, but I tend to print on odd things like freezer paper, card stock, and t-shirt iron-ons, so I'm wary of getting a laser printer.
Anyone have any recommendations? My last one lasted so long, I don't even know what brands are the good ones, aside from the usual suspects (epson, canon...?).
(If this needs moving to a different forum, please do so; I just wasn't sure if it was tech supporty or for science!y enough.)
Comments
I haven't shopped for a printer in some time, but I tend to lean toward the cheapest models available that get the job done. Your usual suspects are still the reigning champs when it comes to bang per buck ratio. As far as cartridge price goes, make sure the printers you're looking at can be refilled by third-party cartridge refillers. It's much cheaper, but some printer companies are starting to prevents refilled cartridges from working in their newer printers (usually by disabling the cart after it reaches a certain age, as stored on its internal microchip).
I usually cast my eye toward HP, but one of my biggest factors while shopping is Mac compatibility, which has little to do with quality or ease of use.
I'd also say that you need to stay the hell away from anything by Lexmark. I had a Lexmark before I got my HP. It was cheaper, and I don't print much. Usually once a month at minimum. Problem with Lexmark printer was that their ink cartridges are shit and I had to replace them every month, despite how new they were previously. Save a little money to waste a lot. Don't buy Lexmarks.
But, I paid $20 for it, so I guess I got what I paid for.
HP is very good. I use them in the office where I work part time, and I never have any problems with them.