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Best (affordable) printer for OS X.

X

xoggyux

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 4, 2008
445
0
Hi,
I am looking for the best (affordable) printer in terms of compatibility with MAC OS X
I want something that will not give me headaches and it wont cost a fortune (prefferibly less than 150).
Quality and speed are not issues.

So far I have ruled out HP and EPSON (all) from my list due to the following facts:
EPSON drivers are cr@p and you need guttenprint drivers but they do not work as well as I would like (I have tried them from first hand)
HP printers work well but 3 out of 5 times I print something some kind of service gets stuck at 100% CPU usage and when I quit it I have to restart to be able to print again.

Recommends????
 
Well I don't know where you have gotten the impression that Epsons need the Gutenprint drivers- nothing could be further from the truth. I have a R280 on one system, an RX680 on another and a new Artisan 800 on a third and they all use the Epson drivers, not the Gutenprint ones built in to OSX.

Anyway for inkjet, Epson is only way to go for me for 8.5x11 and scanning. Canon for my 13x19 inkjet prints, Brother 2140 for monochrome laser and Okidata C5500 for color laser and Alps MD5000 for decals round out the assortment.

The most common recommendations in the many threads regarding this are Canons it seems, although there are a lot of other recommendations many of which are in your price range.
 
sickmacdoc said:
Well I don't know where you have gotten the impression that Epsons need the Gutenprint drivers- nothing could be further from the truth. I have a R280 on one system, an RX680 on another and a new Artisan 800 on a third and they all use the Epson drivers, not the Gutenprint ones built in to OSX.

Anyway for inkjet, Epson is only way to go for me for 8.5x11 and scanning. Canon for my 13x19 inkjet prints, Brother 2140 for monochrome laser and Okidata C5500 for color laser and Alps MD5000 for decals round out the assortment.

The most common recommendations in the many threads regarding this are Canons it seems, although there are a lot of other recommendations many of which are in your price range.
Click to expand...

I own an EPSON and a HP printer already, believe me they are terrible (with OS X, with windows they are better) mines (both printers) are cheap ones, the ones you get as "gift" when you buy a computer ($79 or less) so maybe thats why the drivers are so bad (believe me, my EPSON will not work until you install gutenprint drivers, and once you do, the printer prints fine but the scanner doesnt play too well.)
 
I have a couple Canon printers, and I am happy with them. My new one works well with OS X with the default drivers, and it was only about $100 (I got it free with the computer, though). The other one is an old Canon i860 hooked up to a PC, and it is still working fine after several years. A nice feature of Canon printers is the print head separate from the ink, which makes replacements cheaper and refilling simpler (if you ever want to go that route--I don't use much ink, so I just buy the Canon cartridges). The old one prints photos that look as good as professional as long as I use Canon paper (Photo Paper Pro Glossy) and ink, but I don't print photos on it much any more because it is not cost-effective. A 4x6 costs something like $.60 in ink and paper, while I can get them for $.19 at a drug store or slightly more at a photo place. I haven't printed any photos on the new printer, but it did come with a full pack of 4x6 photo paper (Plus, not Pro, though I'm not sure what the difference is).
 
i've had the most success with Canon. my gf has an HP Photosmart C4200 that works perfectly with her new whitebook. its a great printer and im pretty sure its under $150.
Click to expand...
My HP also works perfectly until process "hpdot4d" becomes crazy and freezes (or sequesters) my CPU!

I have a couple Canon printers, and I am happy with them. My new one works well with OS X with the default drivers, and it was only about $100 (I got it free with the computer, though). The other one is an old Canon i860 hooked up to a PC, and it is still working fine after several years. A nice feature of Canon printers is the print head separate from the ink, which makes replacements cheaper and refilling simpler (if you ever want to go that route--I don't use much ink, so I just buy the Canon cartridges). The old one prints photos that look as good as professional as long as I use Canon paper (Photo Paper Pro Glossy) and ink, but I don't print photos on it much any more because it is not cost-effective. A 4x6 costs something like $.60 in ink and paper, while I can get them for $.19 at a drug store or slightly more at a photo place. I haven't printed any photos on the new printer, but it did come with a full pack of 4x6 photo paper (Plus, not Pro, though I'm not sure what the difference is).
Click to expand...
I will not be printing photos, in fact I mostly print stuff for school usually in B/W, and I was thinking in buying a BW cheap laser printer though I havent decided because that would mean having to install 2 printers instead of 1, just in case I do need to print something in color..... Quality is not an issue either, in fact the last 12 months I've been using non legit epson ink, which I got 18 cartridges for $20 at ebay (thats what 1 legit cartridge cost in retail.)
 
xoggyux said:
My HP also works perfectly until process "hpdot4d" becomes crazy and freezes (or sequesters) my CPU!


I will not be printing photos, in fact I mostly print stuff for school usually in B/W, and I was thinking in buying a BW cheap laser printer though I havent decided because that would mean having to install 2 printers instead of 1, just in case I do need to print something in color..... Quality is not an issue either, in fact the last 12 months I've been using non legit epson ink, which I got 18 cartridges for $20 at ebay (thats what 1 legit cartridge cost in retail.)
Click to expand...

If your using this to print papers for school I would definitely go with a laser. I hear people complain who have already been through 4 or 5 sets of cartridges since August and I've had the same toner on this HP Laserjet 1020 for almost two years. It super quick too. Not reliable drivers however for Mac.

I use a wireless HP Photosmart for anything I need to print in color. Which for school has been never, but well it was free with rebate.
 
hp photosmart c4180 AIO here....works ok for what it is ....should be well under 150, don't understand your probs with hp.mine works fine
 
xoggyux said:
I own an EPSON and a HP printer already, believe me they are terrible (with OS X, with windows they are better) mines (both printers) are cheap ones, the ones you get as "gift" when you buy a computer ($79 or less) so maybe thats why the drivers are so bad (believe me, my EPSON will not work until you install gutenprint drivers, and once you do, the printer prints fine but the scanner doesnt play too well.)
Click to expand...

Well sorry to hear that your experience was bad with yours.:( All I can say is that the non bargain basement Epsons (even though the R280 is on sale for $59 right now and it works great so it is kind of a bargain basement one) work fine with 10.4 and 10.5 using the latest driver's from the Epson site-with all functionality intact (including scanning). I have three now and have retired three others- and would not give them up primarily because of their CD/DVD direct to disk printing. Hope you find something that works for you.
 
sickmacdoc said:
Well sorry to hear that your experience was bad with yours.:( All I can say is that the non bargain basement Epsons (even though the R280 is on sale for $59 right now and it works great so it is kind of a bargain basement one) work fine with 10.4 and 10.5 using the latest driver's from the Epson site-with all functionality intact (including scanning). I have three now and have retired three others- and would not give them up primarily because of their CD/DVD direct to disk printing. Hope you find something that works for you.
Click to expand...

the thing is that, that printer seams to be a photo printer (though its weird is so cheap) anyway I do not need CD/DVD (I am moving away from optic media) printing and anyway thats something else that can go wrong...

I am inclined to canon right now.:p
 
Just don't get the cheapest Canon (iP2600) because it has all-in-one ink, so if one color runs out, you have to replace the whole thing (if it works like other printers), which is probably expensive. The iP3600 (retails for $80) would be good.
 
my hp C4480 that was free after rebate ($99) with my unibody macbook pro has worked flawlessly so far going on 5 months now. :D
 
I'll just put this out there...

LASER! If you need color... COLOR LASER!

Over the years the costs are less, the headaches are less, the consumables last longer, and the quality is great. I think my sister's set of color cartridges lasted her around 3 years of high school. I think to replace all of them was like $160, but for three years of color printing this isn't bad.
 
yargk said:
I'll just put this out there...

LASER! If you need color... COLOR LASER!

Over the years the costs are less, the headaches are less, the consumables last longer, and the quality is great. I think my sister's set of color cartridges lasted her around 3 years of high school. I think to replace all of them was like $160, but for three years of color printing this isn't bad.
Click to expand...

they are pretty big tho. if you have room for it at school Laser is definitely the way to go. it should last you a long long time if all your doing is printing papers and an occasional color printout.
 
hypmatize said:
my hp C4480 that was free after rebate ($99) with my unibody macbook pro has worked flawlessly so far going on 5 months now. :D
Click to expand...

Thats exactly the same I have (though i think I paid $79 an then got a $79 rebate) anyway it does works fine, its just that sometimes that process (hpdot4d or something like that) gets stuck with CPU at 100% and I have to restart, I confess that I hardly restart my computer so that might explain the problem, though I have browsed around in forums and I am not the only one experiencing the issue so who knows, anyway....

I think I'd be buying a BW laser printer which is better (and more compatible with OS X
Lexmark
Samsung
Brother (found a really small and cheap one at newegg for $79 and its looking promising)
 
xoggyux said:
I will not be printing photos, in fact I mostly print stuff for school usually in B/W, and I was thinking in buying a BW cheap laser printer though I havent decided because that would mean having to install 2 printers instead of 1, just in case I do need to print something in color..... Quality is not an issue either, in fact the last 12 months I've been using non legit epson ink, which I got 18 cartridges for $20 at ebay (thats what 1 legit cartridge cost in retail.)
Click to expand...

I paid £50 for a Samsung laser printer + £20 for a replacement cartridge. That has lasted me for five or six years, and it has printed without any fail.

PS. Hope the cheap cartridges are not sold by an Epson employee straight from the Epson warehouse (with the money going into his own pocket). Something like that happened here in England, and when the company found out, all his customers were sent bills for the correct price, and they had to pay.
 
I've been running a HP Deskjet 4200 series for about 4 months. Installed drivers from the included disk (which was for OSX) has run perfectly since. It is however used mostly for printing off some emails, google maps etc.. I don't do photo printing with it. So far so good, and picked it up for $79 bucks at a Office Depot. Basic use it works perfect.
 
We have an HP PhotoSmart 7200 (wireless) for anything that needs tob e color, or if we need a copier; I have never used the scanner so I can't talk to that, but everything else seems to work well, except that it occasionally loses the wireless signal. We also have a Brother HL2170W for everything else, and it is a workhorse! It also is wireless, often available for $100 or less, fast, cheap to run, and uses the Brother drivers. Wireless setup is sort of a pain (you have to do the wireless setup over USB!), but once that is doen it works like a champ! If I had only one printer this would be it. And it is small to boot. Can't beat it.
 
xoggyux said:
I already said several times I'd like to stay AWAY from HP/EPSON due to not very pleasant experiences with OSX
Click to expand...

My roommate just picked up this Samsung CLP-315 color laser printer from Fry's for $149, and she uses it with both windows 7 and OS X. It prints really well with both OS's. The only drawback with a color laser printer is that it is expensive when it comes down to replacing the toners, because most that I have ever been acquainted with require individual toners. I'll prolly pick one up when I move out to replace my Canon.

amazon has it for $149
newegg has it for $179
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
xoggyux said:
HP printers work well but 3 out of 5 times I print something some kind of service gets stuck at 100% CPU usage and when I quit it I have to restart to be able to print again.
Click to expand...
eh? I have an HP laserjet 1300n. It's network attached (comes that way, no 3rd party devices required), so anyone on my wireless network can print to it. I've never once experienced what you describe. Drivers are outstanding. It's a rock-solid reliable and also inexpensive printer - two qualities seldom seen in the same printing product.
 
xoggyux said:
Thats exactly the same I have (though i think I paid $79 an then got a $79 rebate) anyway it does works fine, its just that sometimes that process (hpdot4d or something like that) gets stuck with CPU at 100% and I have to restart, I confess that I hardly restart my computer so that might explain the problem, though I have browsed around in forums and I am not the only one experiencing the issue so who knows, anyway....

I think I'd be buying a BW laser printer which is better (and more compatible with OS X
Lexmark
Samsung
Brother (found a really small and cheap one at newegg for $79 and its looking promising)
Click to expand...

I turn off my printer whenever i am not using it which sees to be the best thing to do. I felt it running once and the next time I need to use it I ran into some problems but ever since then I turn it off and I have never had a problem with it again.

The only times that I noticed some heavy cpu usage was whenever I go to dashboard and the inktool widget scans to check the ink levels. You can turn off the widget and you won't have that problem.

btw I am a university student too so my printer has been seeing a lot of action.
 
For B/W printer the Brother HL-2170W series works great. Very small and compact also with wireless connection.
 
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