are ink jet printers good for text?

[scooter1]

I want to buy a new printer that will mainly be used for personal documents but sometimes for business text documents. I'd like to get an ink jet printer for the cheap color capability, but I also want it to be able to produce sharp text for business documents. Can ink jet printers produce good 600x600 dpi text on regular paper, no smearing or bleeding etc...?

 

[Arcanedeath]

On standard printing paper the vast majority of Ink jet printers have pretty bad text compared to even the worst laser. If your going to be printing any text for business purposes I'd suggest getting some form of laser printer, even a lowend cheap one. and if you need color get a seperate inkjet for that.

 

[Navid]

You can print good text quality with inject printers. May be not on regular paper. But, the main problem I have with inkjet is that the print is not water proof.
I don't intend to wash my print outs! But, the fact that an inkjet print is so sensitive to water or humidity makes it less robust.

I never submit an important business document printed with an inkjet.

 

[Zepper]

Most inkjet printers do very well with text printing. The Canon iP series 3000, 4000 or 5000 all have pigment based black ink for text printing - the higher end models (iP4000, iP5000) give you two blacks the second being dye based for better photo printing. For really important documents use coated paper like HP or Kodak Presentation inkjet papers as they will make your prints more resistant to smearing. There are also lighter weight coated papers for a lower cost per page. I find my iP3000 prints quite well on Kodak Bright White Inkjet paper too, which is a very high quality 24lb. plain paper. Equivalents to the Kodak bright white are avaiable in most paper makers' lines (GP, Hammermill, etc.).
. For photo printing and graphics work, Canon's own papers are spectacular. But very good results are also attainable with other brands.
. Epson printers are well known for the water resistant and fade resistant qualities of their inks, but I just can't tolerate the continuing clogging problems and the chipped ink tanks...

.bh.