can someone please recommend a reliable printer?

[Jean]

Greetings:

I would appreciate if someone can recommend an excellent and reliable inkjet printer. My main application is Graphics, AutoCAD and Internet and I need something that is reliable (more than 3 years), networkable (at least equivalent to my current HP890C) with D-link router & printer server DI-704P, HP/GL or HP/GL 2 capable for AutoCAD application, fast printing, and excellent resolution. After 4 years in service my HP 890C cease functioning all of the sudden. I don't know if HP is built for reliability, since I know couple of friends and including myself the life span of HP printer is about over 4 years under sparingly use (100 page / week max, it is way below 5000 page / month as per HP specification). Should I buy another HP product? If so, should I pick a mid-range HP 990CSE $299, HP960CSE $200 or a high performance one such as HP 1220C $400, or HP 2280 $521. If I pick a high performance and its life span is as short as a mid-range then it doesn't worth the extra money. If it were you, what would you do?

Advance thanks for your time and help.

Sys 1: Dual PII 266, 3x128MB SDRAM PC66, 1x30GB IBM 75GXP HD 7200RPM, 1x 10GB WD 5400RPM, 10/100 Ethernet SMC card, Router Netgear RT314 for internet sharing, Router D-LINK DI-704P for printer sharing, Dual Boot WinMe and Win2K SP2

Sys 2: Athlon Tbird 800, 2x 128MB SDRAM PC100 CL2, 1x40GB IBM 60GN 7200RPM, 1x30 GB IBM 75GXP 7200RPM, INTEL PRO 10/100 Ethernet card, Router Netgear and D-LINK DI-704P, Win2K sp2

 

[crypticlogin]

How's your current printer not functioning? It might be more worthwhile to replace a part instead of hunting for a new printer altogether.

I don't use a printer often enough to make any not-out-of-thin-air recommendations.

 

[Slogun]

I just did the research thing for a new printer. HPs are getting fairly poor reviews these days(mediocre graphics quality and talk of power supplies burning out prematurely), and I was originally leaning towards an HP.

I just bought (and recommend) the Canon S900. It is a top rated photo printer. If you go to DPReview, you will see that a lot of the digital photo afficianados are using this model and it's larger brother the S9000. I am stunned by the quality of printed photos. It prints borderless 4x6 glossy photos, quick and easy that look like they came from the photo lab. It also uses 6 ink cartridges, so you only replace the color ink that gets used up , rather than the whole color ink cartridge.

I ordered mine on Thursday morning for $300 at Buy.com with free shipping, the damn thing was delivered to me Friday afternoon!

Oh, one thing. It is a USB printer, it wouldn't work with the usual parallel port print server. I'm getting an HP jetdirect 175X print server so I can access it conveniently from all the comps on my network. (Apparently there aren't too many USB print servers, the jetdirect 175X sells for $200 or about $130 on eBay). In the meantime, it networks fine as a shared printer across my WinXP Pro and Win98SE platforms.

 

[farmercal]

I didn't need anything quite like you are looking for but I did buy a Canon S600 because it has a different cartridge for each color of ink. I was tired of buying three colors when I only ran out of one. This thing is so quiet that I can barely hear it print and quality if excellent. For the first time in years I don't worry about how much my kids use the printer because the replacement cartridges are cheap for this printer.

 

[Mikki]

I can recommend Epsons as well, I've had one for 5 years, one for 3 and my new one is a year old, and all three still run great. Quality is awesome, and the prices are fantastic. Highly recommend them.

 

[Slogun]

Yea, my Epson did extremely well for 4 years until a year of using cheap ink clogged the print heads I think. I found Epson ink to be expensive, don't know if it still holds true with their newer printers.

 

[Jean]

Thanks to all who reply.

There are many people recommend the Canon S9000. My only concern is the speed 1ppm color (based on Canon spec web site) is awfully slow for a $500 printer and I don't know if it support HP/GL or HP/GL2 for AutoCAD application. The later is the most critical criteria. I want to be able to control the lineweight (super thin to thick line at will). And I haven't known any other way to do this without HP/GL or HP/GL2.

tenchim: It's rather a long story (see below). After follow his instruction the printer refuses to print. I must do something wrong to it or the printer is just dying. I would love to be able to replace parts but so far I am unable to tell what's wrong with it. I had a few HP tech from HP technical support forum guide me through a couple of things but none has been able to pinpoint the problem yet.

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June 21, 2002 03:48 AM GMT

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Greetings:

After installing a new color cartridge (Turn off the printer, open the lid, turn on the printer, change the color cartridge, close the lid), the orange LED (above the power button and power green LED) blinks (it acts like there isn't any paper in the tray, in fact there are plenty) permanently even though it seems to print out ok. Is there something wrong with this printer? If so, could someone please recommend a new HP deskjet printer that could support HP-GL/HP-GL2 for CAD program such as Autocad and it must work with DLINK router-printer server DI-704P?

Advance thanks for your time and help.


Sys 1: Dual PII 266, 3x128MB SDRAM PC66, 1x30GB IBM 75GXP HD 7200RPM, 1x 10GB WD 5400RPM, 10/100 Ethernet SMC card, Router Netgear RT314 for internet sharing, Router D-LINK DI-704P for printer sharing, Dual Boot WinMe and Win2K SP2

Sys 2: Athlon Tbird 800, 2x 128MB SDRAM PC100 CL2, 1x40GB IBM 60GN 7200RPM, 1x30 GB IBM 75GXP 7200RPM, INTEL PRO 10/100 Ethernet card, Router Netgear and D-LINK DI-704P, Win2K sp2

Sort Answers By: Date or Points

Ken Chahley


June 21, 2002 11:36 AM GMT points for answer: Unassigned109876543210

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Try reseating the cartridge...power on, open lid (carriage shud go to center), UNPLUG printer, remove cartridge, check that contacts on carriage are clean, reinstall cartridge, close lid, plug printer back in and let carriage go to parking station.
Tuan Do


June 22, 2002 18:55 PM GMT [ N/A: Question Author ]

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Ken: thank you very much for your assistance. I follow your instruction and all contact on the carriage looks clean (checking with a headband loupe at 3X magnification). In doubt, I even use Qtips w/o any kind of solvent or chemical and gently wiping out the surface of all contacts, air clean using Air Duster Can, re-sitting both cartrige, close the lid and finally plug the power cord in. The LED is still blinking in orange. Any other idea or suggestion is greatly appreciated.

By the way, in which case this LED is blinking in Orange?


June 23, 2002 15:09 PM GMT [ N/A: Question Author ]

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Ken:

I don't know what could be wrong. After follow your instruction (no, I am not saying that it's your fault, it's just a coincidence), the printer refuses to print. I try to follow HP instruction and perform the Print Self test, Communication Test, Self Diagnostic Test and all fail. I just want to make sure that I've done everything possible before throwing the printer away.

Advance thanks for your time and help.

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[crypticlogin]

You haven't had any recent paper jams, have you? If so, have you picked through the entire paper path for stray bits of paper?

Also, Deja.com returns a couple of entries about an 890C and the yellow LED (I searched under "HP890c problem"), but this one thread seemed really interesting:

Changed the date? Changed the cartridge?

Hope it leads you someplace. Good luck.

 

[mdcrab]

If you plan to connect your printer to the print server port on your DI-704P you may want to stay away from an HP. I am using an HP 882C but it will NOT work on the print server port on my DI-713P. I am considering going to a Cannon.

Here a link to DI-704P info:
D-Link

mdcrab

 

[Big Lar]

I run the 960cse for photo prints only, and have no problems with it, and the prints are fantastic.

 

[Dreadogg]

I love my HP photosmart 1115 it works great and does doublesided printing and the quality is great. I have had a epson beforehand and was very disappointed in the ink jet jam dirty freaky thingy that always happened when I was wanting to print something it would just sweek and er and beep at me then spit out paper and type all sorts of wierd text!

 

[trikster2]

I saw the "reliable printer" in the title and my Samsung Laser (ML-6060) came to mind.

It works flawlessly with my SMC router/printserver (similar to D-LINK) and has great featurs like

a 550 sheet paper tray
memory expandable to 64mb with cheap sims
usb and parallel at the same time
true PCL-6 (why it works so good with the SMC)
a network card and post script upgrade available if you want to expand in the futre

We dumped our Canon ink jet for it and were pleasantly surprised how little we miss not having the color output....

However, your requirements are graphics so unless they are black and white graphics the laser is out of the running.

Or is it? With a cost per page of .02 to 04 cents versus an ink jets .15 to .20 cents or so, if you are printing a lot, a laser can pay for itself while greatly extending the life of whatever Ink Jet you do decide on.

It's been on the PCPRO "A-List" as the bet personal laser for over a year now (link may not work as I had to hack my login out of it).