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Best and Worst Mac Printers

D

DockMac

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 22, 2008
184
1
What are the best and worst mac printers that you have experienced?

What are the ones with decent print quality, but little problems?

I plan on purchasing a new MacBook and Printer combo. I am thinking of going with the laser route. Most prints will be text, with a few photos. Thanks for the help.

TIA.
 
We recently replaced our Epson inkjet with a Brother HL-2170w laser printer ($99 from Amazon, last time I looked).

Despite lack of anything approaching the Mac-way-of-doing-things with administration software, we haven't had any problems with either printer, but we went with the laser since per page it costs about 1/10 that of the inkjet ... our six year old was flying through ink cartridges printing stuff from Nick Jr. We went with the HL-2170w since it was the cheapest wireless network printer we could find. Once set up, it's been fine ... but the set up process isn't the most user friendly.
 
DockMac said:
What are the best and worst mac printers that you have experienced?

What are the ones with decent print quality, but little problems?

I plan on purchasing a new MacBook and Printer combo. I am thinking of going with the laser route. Most prints will be text, with a few photos. Thanks for the help.

TIA.
Click to expand...

The best are the HP kind. I have a HP Photosmart C4480 and works great and I just replace my 5 year old HP Deskjet less than a month ago...It's very healthy so far
 
Samsung Printers

Thanks for the responses on the Brother and the HP. I am actually considering the Brother, but there are rebates for all the other brands.

Any word on the Samsungs Printers? They seem new to the US market, but appear to have been established in the Asian market.
 
I agree on the HP 4480. It came for free with my MacBook (although I believe you can get it for around $60 on Amazon) and it works great! It serves as an all-in-one, aesthetically matches my Apple hardware for the most part, and I can use its built-in media card reader to view my digital camera photos in OS X on my iMac without having to plug the camera in via USB. I believe this particular model is an excellent choice for Apple computers.
 
DockMac said:
Thanks for the responses on the Brother and the HP. I am actually considering the Brother, but there are rebates for all the other brands.

Any word on the Samsungs Printers? They seem new to the US market, but appear to have been established in the Asian market.
Click to expand...

I've got the Samsung ML-2010. I purchased it about two years ago on a screaming deal, and I've now replaced the toner once. We have an Epson stylus photo for pictures, CD's and color and the Samsung for B&W. It worked great with PC's, and with a little help from MR, I was able to get it working with my mini just fine.
 
CJC Off Road said:
I agree on the HP 4480. It came for free with my MacBook (although I believe you can get it for around $60 on Amazon) and it works great! It serves as an all-in-one, aesthetically matches my Apple hardware for the most part, and I can use its built-in media card reader to view my digital camera photos in OS X on my iMac without having to plug the camera in via USB. I believe this particular model is an excellent choice for Apple computers.
Click to expand...

I got mine from Best Buy for $49.99 plus tax..
 
Canon!

The last HP printer I had couldn't even print in a straight line, but I've had two Canon's (IP5200 and now an IX4000) and they've been great.
 
peskaa said:
Canon!

The last HP printer I had couldn't even print in a straight line, but I've had two Canon's (IP5200 and now an IX4000) and they've been great.
Click to expand...

Gonna have to agree with that, my Canons always perform wonderfully. Currently have a MP620 and highly recommend it. Another poster mentioned the Samsung 2010 and I can recommend that as well.
 
Canon appear to be the most "Mac-friendly. Just purchased a Canon Pixma MX850 AIO and very happy with it (though Canon does not have a fax driver for it).
 
Samsung :D

Well, I'm not a printer genius or anything but,

since the OP asked for a Samsung printer user, here I am :)

I use the Samsung CLP-300N, a network colour laser printer that's pretty compact.

The relationship between the printer and my mac is excellent, nice and easy to print. However, the printer itself is too small to be any "good".

But if you go to a high-end Samsung printers, you'll find them amazing.

Good luck :D:D
 
I have had a great experience with my Canon MP 610, I have tried using a few Epson's before and the drives and software are just plain bad! (R340, RX680).
 
i have an hp 42xx (i think) all in one inkjet that i got free after rebate with my macbook pro. it prints great, doesn't require a driver if you install the latest hp apple drivers (altho i only use it to print, can't vouch for the other functions) and always works. the ink isn't too badly priced if you shop around. i used the hp driver at first and it was kinda clunky, but i removed it and installed the apple driver and all is well.
 
I LOVE my brother 2100 series laser printer, that I bought for about $80. I think they are down to like $60 these days. I'm in grad school so I print out a TON of paper and the laser ink last forever. I've printer atleast 1000 pages and six months in, its finally indicating that I have low ink. Amazing, considering new ink cartridge cost $35. Its not photo, so I recommend anyone to buy one laser for 90% of their needs, and a color or all in one for printing pics. I find those cheap color printers apple and many manufacturers sell use ink like no other. Ink jet refills are where manufacturers make up their cost, and where consumers are hit.

On top of that, it works great with my mac.
 
DockMac said:
Any word on the Samsungs Printers? They seem new to the US market, but appear to have been established in the Asian market.
Click to expand...

I've got an SCX-4500 I love it besides a couple of gripes: the price is rather high, however this is not the case with most Samsung printers; the tray - two gripes: 1. It only holds 100 sheets and 2. if anything gets in the way of the tray its really difficult to load paper because you have to take it all the way out; the print speed could be better. What I like: it's mostly quiet; you can't ask for a cooler looking printer; it's more efficient then some other printers I have owned; the scanning is awesome - it has the really cool light that follows the scanning bar . Overall I'm fully satisfied with the printer.

I purchased it at Best Buy, it was just after a price drop so it was on par with most online stores and I got the two year warranty, which was the main reason. I figure a warranty for ten percent of the item is not bad given how nervous I was buying Samsung for the first time.

I have owned a laundry list of HP Printers everything from the mobile 470WBT to laser to photo, all have been mostly a charm with the exception of the Laserjet 1020. I didn't do my research and bought the printer for $100, at the time half off, assumed that they just forgot to put the Mac compabitle sticker on it. In reality it's not, I used gutenprint and a couple of other hacks, but it wasn't really fully functioning, so then I sprung for the Samsung.

If you do your research, here, CNet and other places - printers seem to be something you can really chose just what you want. Hope that helps.
 
If you can swing a Xerox Phaser solid ink printer, they are great. They use solid wax cubes and a box yields about 14000 prints. Best output prints look good on any paper as the wax sits on the surface and doesn't get washed out by being absorbed by the paper fibers.

I have seen refurbished units for about $400. The attachment shows a new $800 unit from cdw.ca. If you can find it as a refurb, it will be significantly less.
 

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I have the Epson Artisan 700. It's awesome! Wirelessly print and scans and has a hidden paper tray to keep your workspace neat and clean. The prints are fabulous. I have had 3 previous Epsons and have been very happy with each of them.
 
I have a HP CP1518ni. Great little color laser printer. Works fantastic on my macbook.
 
Canon PIXMA iP90v.

Excellent print quality, fast, quiet, and does a great job with photos and text.

Portable to match the macbook pro, and silver and black to match the macbook pro.
 
I have 2 printers...

Samsung ML-2851ND - A small, fast (30ppm), monochrome laser printer for text-only. Also has networking as well as Duplexing (2-sided printing) built in. You can also access the printer via a web browser and check the printer status, ink remaining, etc.

Epson R1800 (discontinued, replaced by the R1900) - An awesome high quality photo printer which uses 8 pigment-based inks (superior durability and longevity.) Prints up to 13x19" prints, or 13 x 44" if using roll paper. I use this one 99% for photos, and print the occasional color page once a week or so when I'm not regularly printing photos to keep the ink flowing.

Both work flawlessly on OS X, and I even used the R1800's firewire port, to avoid taking up an extra USB slot (I don't use firewire for anything other than the printer, but have lots of USB devices.)

My Samsung is hooked directly to my wireless router (also avoiding a USB slot) and so anyone in my house can print directly to it.

Hope this helps!
 
My main printer is a HP 5150, which I got for free with my PowerBook in 2004. Simple, sharp, ink lasts forever. Some of the current cheap HPs have produced good output, from what little I've seen.

Also, be aware that laser printers use a lot more energy while working than inkjets.
 
GoKyu said:
Epson R1800 (discontinued, replaced by the R1900) - An awesome high quality photo printer which uses 8 pigment-based inks (superior durability and longevity.) Prints up to 13x19" prints, or 13 x 44" if using roll paper. I use this one 99% for photos, and print the occasional color page once a week or so when I'm not regularly printing photos to keep the ink flowing.
Click to expand...

My wife uses the R1800 for all our photos and colored prints, but it's connected to her PC. Great photo printer. The only downside is that the only store nearby that carries the cartridges is OfficeMax, and they don't carry the optimizer. As long as we remember to order online before it runs out- no problem.
 
I have an Epson 3-in-1... although the printer is fine, I can't change inks and check ink levels through my Mac. I need to connect a Windows machine to run the maintenance apps.
 
From experience over the years:

HP: all garbage from the first inkjet to the last laser model. Most unreliable print quality and results. I will always recommend that people stay away from HP printers, even on the Windows side. Ink is very expensive and fewer features than other vendors as well as unreliable print jobs.

Epson: first inkjet was so-so, second was much better. Much closer to Canon experience but that goes without saying as most printers run a Canon engine.

Canon: best printing experience by far, so far 6 printers used and 3 still in service including the amazing MP780 multifunction that my wife refuses to give up. I have a 2 year old Canon laser printer that performs superbly.

I heartily recommend a Canon printer for 100% reliability and quality.
 
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