Advice: Best Sub-$100 Inkjet printer

[krays]

Hi, I'm looking for a sub-$100 inkjet with not only relatively cheap initial price, but also good overall long-term costs. Mostly for reports and such with a few graphics here and there.

I haven't been shopping for a printer in ages, which among the big brands are the good ones (HP, Canon, Epson, Lexmark, etc)? Or are printers of such good quality nowadays that brand manufacturer pretty much irrelevant?

Thanks!

 

[RossMAN]

There are a few major things to remember:
1) Brand name does matter in my opinion. Therefore I would choose (in order):
HP
Epson
Lexmark

I have never used a Canon but hear good and bad about their reliability/quality.

2) As you know the cost isn't just the printer but also the cost of the ink cartridges. First find a few models you are interested in, compare how much ink they use, check on ink prices, does it take one black and one color cartridge?

3) Read reviews, reviews, reviews and check the UseNet NewsGroups for actual owners recommendations, rants, raves and complaints.

4) Which OS are you running?

5) Whatever you do, buy USB (assuming your PC/Mac has USB).

6) Color print quality usually depends on the type of paper you use (which can cost a lot of $).

Here are some very helpful computer review web sites:
1) PCMag.com
2) CNET
3) PCWorld.com

For me personally you get the most bang for your buck and quality with an Epson inkjet. I had a workhorse of a printer the Epson 740 which was awesome, it was small, fast, somewhat quiet, ok ink usage and the ink cartridges you can buy anywhere. Your best source for a deal is to check the anandtech hot deals forum several times a week or even several times a day.

You recently missed a great deal on the Canon BJC-3000 for $49

Onvia has great prices on color ink jet printers.

Probably your best deal is buying a Lexmark printer from Staples.com

You could buy a Lexmark 3200 for $29.50 with free shipping.

or buy a Lexmark Z22 for $24.98 with free shipping.

These are after using a coupon and receiving your rebate.

Best of luck and let us know which printer you decided to purchase and why!

 

[krays]

Thanks for the input!

I was actually checking out the PCworld site and considering the Canon S400 since it has the lowest overall 1 year operating costs (from cnet, black ink is about $11, which seems quite good). Still not sure yet though, because of the >$100 price tag. It does have the added bonus of being able to be used as a scanner with an optional $60 scanner cartridge though, which is enticing.

I'm a little wary of the Lexmark models, because from what I read, their operating costs (ink, ink cost per page) is quite high.

I've also been reading that some Epsons need constant printer head cleaning due to clogs. Do you notice this with your Epson?

Thanks, I'll be checking out Cnet now, as per your suggestion

 

[RossMAN]

krays - Nodda prob, you're welcome.

I owned my Epson 740 for about 1.5 years and never had to clean or do any maintenance other than:
1) Load new paper.
2) Buy new ink.

That's it. Printed like a charm, since I printed mostly text black and white I bought a Brother HL-1240 laser printer for 77 cents (thank you MSN - the offer has been dead since 01/2000).

I would read a lot of reviews on the Canon to see how it's print quality, speed, noise level and most importantly reliability are. Those in addition to operating costs should be your major concerns.