Printer advise

[eclipse01]

I know very little about printers and need some advise. I don't use one every day (just here and there) I really would like to get one that has these credentials.

-Under $100
-Ink that doesn't cost an arm and a leg
-Good picture printing quality
-Airprint compatible.

 

[komiothebeat]

ink is going to cost regardless of brand. Best bet is HP, they are good for pictures, I think they are 100% air print compatible , and they have ones that run around 50$

 

[kohlson]

There are many quality variables in printing pictures, including media (paper). And quality is somewhat subjective. We have an HP 4500 printer (wi-fi, AirPrint, duplex, scanner) that was purchased on sales at Best Buy for $50. Ink is more expensive than I'd like, but a better deal on sales, and at Cosct/Sams Club.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

"Cheap" ink is a relative term. You have to consider the economic model of the printer business: The low price of the printer is subsidized by the high price of the ink/toner (like getting a free razor and paying a high price for the blades). That's how everyone in the business does it - you won't find a manufacturer who sells printers at a higher price and then sells ink at a lower cost - they can't compete feature-for-feature with the lower price of the ink-subsidized printers. Smaller/cheaper printers will also have cartridges with smaller capacity - some money can be saved by buying higher-priced printers that use higher-capacity cartridges, but if you don't print all that much, then you may not save much in the long run.

For better photo quality, you may end up with a printer that uses more than four colors of ink. A basic color inkjet printer needs 4 colors - black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. Printer makers will add additional "photo" inks to enhance quality. I currently have an Epson XP-830, I think it was around $129 - it has 5 cartridges, and does AirPrint. I'm not in love with the thing - it has a way of disconnecting itself from the WiFi network, its user interface is from the Dark Ages (despite the LCD touch screen), and the mechanics are fragile (my aging father managed to break off one of the ink cartridge release buttons) - but it does make very nice photo prints for the price.

 

[MRrainer]

If you just use it "here and there", can't you just print at work?
Or go to a print-shop?
;-)
If you print too little, the cartridges (and/or the printer-head) might get clogged, wasting a lot of money in the process.

My father has (I think) an Epson WF2650 and when he replaced the cartridges this weekend with white-label ones, he apparently waited too long, so it didn't print anymore (ink kind-of dried-in).
He brought the printer back to the shop and they promised to fix it...

I'm glad I can print at work (which is very, very rare anyway).
If I had the need to print photos, I'd upload them to a professional service that would get them printed for way less than what I would pay in printer-ink - and at supreme quality.