Printer suggestions

[dizzydot]

Hi all,

I'm looking to replace my epson R800 photo printer for something a bit more economical to run as it's costing me a fortune in inks.

Seeing as printers constantly keep being updated I thought it best to ask here for up to date opinions.

I don't really do much (if any) photo printing anymore and if I did I could just use the R800 just for this. Basically I now do a lot more bog standard printing. It needs to be colour not just black and white. Most of it is university work but I can end up printing quite a few pages at a time hence the economical bit!

Ideally it needs to do double sided printing, and I quite like the idea of 3 in 1 so I can copy and scan if needed.

I know Kodak are supposedly better ink price wise but I have heard that the cartridges are just smaller so you still end up replacing them more quickly negating the slightly cheaper price.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

 

[r0k]

Hi all,

I'm looking to replace my epson R800 photo printer for something a bit more economical to run as it's costing me a fortune in inks.

Seeing as printers constantly keep being updated I thought it best to ask here for up to date opinions.

I don't really do much (if any) photo printing anymore and if I did I could just use the R800 just for this. Basically I now do a lot more bog standard printing. It needs to be colour not just black and white. Most of it is university work but I can end up printing quite a few pages at a time hence the economical bit!

Ideally it needs to do double sided printing, and I quite like the idea of 3 in 1 so I can copy and scan if needed.

I know Kodak are supposedly better ink price wise but I have heard that the cartridges are just smaller so you still end up replacing them more quickly negating the slightly cheaper price.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

I have a Brother HL4040CDN color network laser printer that prints duplex. The toner is not cheap so I use it sparingly but unlike all the inkjets I've ever owned, every time I need it, it "just works". No dried out ink that always always always needs to be replaced with a $57 cartridge BEFORE I can get the printout I need. I tend to like Brother printers. I had HP inkjets and the ink didn't seem to dry out as much as when I used Canon. I never tried Epson or Lexmark. I've heard it's a good idea to steer clear of Lexmark but I don't have first hand experience to back that up. My son has a Kodak single sided inkjet he uses at college but it seems like he is always buying ink albeit cheaper ink. If you're sick of ink, try a color laser. They cost what B&W laser used to cost a few years ago.

I remember when $50 for a printer would get you a cheap inkjet that needed $90 ink. Now you can get a decent B&W laser for $99 and a color laser for $250. Duplex costs a bit extra and I always buy network printers these days but in the end, not dealing with ink is priceless.

I prefer Brother because they list OS X and Linux on the outside of the box. The drivers ship with OS X and the printers work very well. The only down side is that Brother uses some underhanded techniques to try to enforce purchasing toner before it is absolutely empty but you can google a workaround for that easily enough.

 

[dizzydot]

Thanks for that r0k much appreciated - never really considered a colour laser printer before , I always thought they were ridiculously expensive but I'll take a look.

dizzydot

 

[paintblock]

IMO printers are all hellspawn that require your constant attention and infinite supplies of money. If your problem is that inks cost more per ounce than platinum go on Amazon and look for some cheap replacement ink. Try the DIY ink refilling kits. If it screws up your printer, eh, you were in the market for a new one anyways.