Best Value All In One Printer (For Ink and Printer Cost)?

[ag227]

My current printer HP C4180 is now starting to refuse to take ink cartridges.

Ive tried looking for new printers and there is so many that im lost.

I should say that I do use it for printing some photos.

What is considered the best value brand for ink? and what is the best value printer from that brand?

Thank you....

 

[talmy]

I've owned way too many ink jet printers over the years and can't easily recommend any of them! No brand has been better than another. In general I've found that the more you pay for the printer the less expensive the ink and the faster and higher quality the printing. Also I prefer "business" models over "photo" models because photo printers are more expensive to use and photofinishers do a better and far less expensive job (of course you have to give up instant gratification).

The best thing to do is read customer reviews (like on amazon.com) and pay particular attention to reviewers owning Macs.

 

[miles01110]

How many photos do you actually print? For probably 95% of the general population, Snapfish is the most economical way to print photos.

 

[Canadian47]

Printer Issues with my imac

Purchased my new imac before christmas, and have bought an HP 4500 all-in-one printer. However I am having problems with that printer. First I couldn't get the wireless to work, so I used the usb to connect directly to the imac. Now the printer will not print at all. Everytime I issue a print from the imac, nothing happens, even though the printer is showing as ready. I am about to use a baseball bat on this printer. Any help on this problem? Is there a printer that I can buy that will be compatable with imac Lion? Any assistance is appreciated.

 

[skorpien]

Have you tried running Software Update while your printer is connected?

 

[takeshi74]

What is considered the best value brand for ink? and what is the best value printer from that brand?

"Inkjet" and "value" don't belong in the same sentence unless there's a "not" separating them.

Purchased my new imac before christmas, and have bought an HP 4500 all-in-one printer. However I am having problems with that printer. First I couldn't get the wireless to work, so I used the usb to connect directly to the imac. Now the printer will not print at all. Everytime I issue a print from the imac, nothing happens, even though the printer is showing as ready. I am about to use a baseball bat on this printer. Any help on this problem? Is there a printer that I can buy that will be compatable with imac Lion? Any assistance is appreciated.

This has nothing to do with this thread. You really should create another instead of threadjacking.

 

[chrisvee]

Depends what you need in the printer. You say all-in-one, but that could mean a lot of things. Do you need a wireless printer? Laser or inkjet? Duplex printing?

I'm considering buying one of these Samsung CLX-3185 laser printers. Colour laser, 3-in-1 (print, copy, scan), but it's not wireless and it doesn't print duplex. Oh, and it's on sale!

Also, since you say you'd be printing photos, I'd almost recommend an inkjet, but no. I don't have a lot of good experiences using inkjet printers. And --

"Inkjet" and "value" don't belong in the same sentence unless there's a "not" separating them.

So, colour laser would be your best bet. I'm not sure how well they print photos, but I'm sure they'd be fine. Be sure to check out reviews, like what talmy said. Amazon usually has a lot of reviews, be sure not to be biased by the good reviews though. I like to start with the low reviews and work my way up.

 

[TheIntruder]

"Inkjet" and "value" don't belong in the same sentence unless there's a "not" separating them.

I agree. Unless one has a frequent need to print color photos, a black/white laser is the most economical option.

A fully-featured laser AIO can be had for ~$150, perform a myriad of tasks, and won't suffer from expensive, volatile and short-lived consumables.

A professional photo printing service can take care of photos, with better results, and some like Costco's with only minor inconvenience.