GD Epson inkjet trash...

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
18,368
11
81
So I'm sick of ripping apart my Epson C86 to clean the nozzles every time I want to print something... and sick of spending $70 on ink every 6 months to print not even 100 pages.

Looking for a cheap, but decent monochrome laser printer for home. Right now I'm looking at this or this. Open to other suggestions as well. I want something that just fekkin works when I want it to, and won't stop working after a year. I don't print often, but when I do print, it's something important and I don't want ink smeared all over the page or grey text instead of black, or crappy quality that looks like it's a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
Samsung is decent, especially for the price. RossMAN's GD had one for $50 (AR?) yesterday or the day before, deal may still be on.
 

MaxxuM

Member
Jan 15, 2006
27
0
0
I hate Epson now myself... I just tossed mine out after the first time they got clogged. I would go with an HP laser. My organization is still using 8-12 year old HP lasers and all six have never broken down while six of our 18 Lexmark Optra's have all had thier pickup arms (paper roller thing) break and another 5 keep showing Error NVRAM... flash them and they break down again in three months. Lexmark lasers are junk.
 

Lemon law

Lifer
Nov 6, 2005
20,984
3
0
Epson inkjets don't take kindly to infrequent use-----the older non chipped Canons like the ip3000, 4000, and 5000 are way better-----but still won't beat a laser in infrequent use applications.------if you don't need color you have two good choices there for monochrome lasers.
 

Maximus96

Diamond Member
Nov 9, 2000
5,388
1
0
is it possible to physically clean the epson nozzels yourself? i have a 880 and the clean nozzle function in the printer properties isn't doing much anymore.
 

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
18,368
11
81
Originally posted by: Maximus96
is it possible to physically clean the epson nozzels yourself? i have a 880 and the clean nozzle function in the printer properties isn't doing much anymore.

That's what I meant by cleaning them... I have to use alcohol to clean them... water doesn't cut it. THEN have to use the printer's nozzle cleaning function. The result is about 20 good pages from a single black ink cart.
 

plonk420

Senior member
Feb 6, 2004
324
16
81
i've gone thru the same thing. i've spent a good $80-120 and gotten maybe 20-40 pages out of that lump of money. as soon as i can put some money into one, i'm thinking of using laser for b&w and just using FedEx/Kinko's internet-linked printer driver to print in color on the rare occasion that i need to (mainly just printing covers for DVDs i'm transferring to thinkpaks)...

Epson is effing lame. man, i thought Canon was bad, but i can't believe how much much i've spent for, now that i think about it, not even 30 pages. the shrink wrap on the ream of paper i bought hasn't even started to sag. spent more than what my parents paid before they got 100% moneyback on a rebate...
 

JimPhelpsMI

Golden Member
Oct 8, 2004
1,261
0
0
Hi, I also don't really like Epson and will not use a chipped one, but I do use an older model. I reload both carts and have never had a head clog permanently. Several cleaning cycles usually gets it going again. One trick I have never had to use is to fill an old empty cart with cleaner fluid and run that. It's said to unclog heads. Other than that you would have to remove the head and soak it in the cleaner probably for sereral days. Good Luck, Jim