Going to college...need a printer.

[zippy]

I'm heading off to college in two weeks and it dawned on me that I can't share a printer with my mom any more.

Though I have a pack of photo paper, I have never printed a photo. I basically need a simple printer that will print text pretty nicely, the occasional color printing (graphs?), and the rare photo - maybe just a few pictures of my family to put in my room and the odd hilarious photo that I'm sure will be taken at school.

I haven't bought a new printer in 4 years so I'm quite out of touch on the topic.

I'd like to keep the cost at $100 or less and cheap ink is good too. Oh, and I don't have USB 2.0...so USB 1.1 or parallel.

In reading some other threads the Canon i550 got high marks from Peter - so I will keep that in mind. Any other suggestions?

Thank you.

 

[ZippyDan]

gimme my name

~Zippy!

 

[zippy]

Originally posted by: ZippyDan
gimme my name

~Zippy!

I was here 2 years before you so screw that!

-The Original Zippy

...and the one with the handle...so phooey!

 

[HiTek21]

Samsung ML-1710 is a nice laser printer that can be had for under 100 after rebate.

 

[Macro2]

Canon i850. EOM.

 

[beatle]

I second the Canon i850. I'm sure there will be thirds and fourths (fifths?) also.

 

[zippy]

The i850 is about $155. What makes it $60 better than the i550?

HiTek21 - as good a deal as that Samsung is (I checked it out - $100 in Hot Deals) I do need color printing capabilities.

 

[zippy]

Should I get the i850 refurb for ~$96 shipped from Outpost.com or should I get the i550 new from Amazon for $96?

 

[Macro2]

the i850 is $120 at Sams inc. a usb cable. probably my first choice.
you can get a refurbed i850 at outpost for $90. Dunno about the warranty and it's only a deal if they give you a set of cartridges.

I believe there are some other ways to get it cheap to...like Dell or whatever.earch hot deals forum for i850.

i850 vs i550.

1.The i850 is faster.
2. the i850 uses 2 picoliter droplets where the i550 iuses 4. Smaller the better. The i850 will print slightly better photos.

Try searching anandtech for "printer"

 

[zippy]

Originally posted by: Macro2
the i850 is $120 at Sams inc. a usb cable.
you can get a refurbed i850 at outpost for $90. Dunno about the warranty and it's only a deal if they give you a set of cartridges.

search hot deals forum for i850.

1.The i850 is faster.
2. the i850 uses 2 picoliter droplets where the i550 iuses 4. Smaller the better. The i850 will print slightly better photos.

Try searching anandtech for "printer"

Only a 90 day limited warranty on the refurb. No mention of ink - I could call, but I'm not sure if I should bother if a new one at Sam's is only $30 more.

Will there be that noticable of a different in text? I printed a test page with the i550 at Staples today and it was pretty decent. I wouldn't have any problem turning that quality in to a teacher.

The Sam's Club web site makes no mention of the i850...only the i550.

 

[Macro2]

Zip,
Sams has been closing them out because a new model is due.
My Sams is out because some guy that makes them into continuous feed machines cleaned them out of about 40 of them in one day.

Most Sams still have them, though. Do you have a store near you? That's your best bet.

As for text, probably not much difference. As for photos, the i850 is superb. If you get a digital camera you'll really be glad you got an i850.

As for outpost. I'd be shocked if it didn't come with cartridges. If you go that way, don't pay more than a couple bucks for a USB cable or the deal is blown.

 

[zippy]

I already have a spare USB cable that I could use. I'll give my local Sam's a call...if there is one locally...I haven't lived here very long.

 

[Macro2]

if you're not a member of Sams maybe you know someone who is, sneak in and use someones card or get a one day pass if they still give them.

 

[Peter]

i550 is a previous generation model (4-picoliter pixels), being cleared out currently. i560 is just 'round the corner, bringing 2-picoliter pixels and - a first on the market - direct printing capability controlled by cameras, connected through an extra USB port on the printer. It's an open standard, PictBridge is the name of the game.

 

[Macro2]

Peter, have you seen the i560 in stores yet?

 

[Peter]

No, just the press release and (incomplete) product page from Canon Germany ... and the clearout sales of i550 piling up everywhere.

 

[Corporate Thug]

ML-1710 if you want laser
c40/c60 have bothe served me well

 

[zippy]

Sam's Club didn't have the i850. Should I get it from Outpost.com refurbed for ~$100 shipped 2 day or should I just get a new i550? I don't see much of a reason to spend $150 on the i850. I don't print in color very often at all.

 

[Macro2]

personally i'd get the refurbed i850 but it's your call.

Check Staples I hear they are closing out the i550's for like $79. At least they were last week. If you check a certain fatwallet.com hot deals site you might find a better deal...

 

[PrinceXizor]

Canon has a replacement for the i550 coming out. They just dropped the price on the i850's (nice) but...HP has new updates this month (there's a good article on THG).

Recommended by Tom's i450 (which has better qual. than i550...) and i850.

Edit: He did say if you can find an i550 for cheap on close-out...consider it.
Edit Two: Link

A better summary is this:

i450 costs less than i550 and has better quality. However it is slower and costs more per page.
If you can get the i550 cheaper than the i450 and quality isn't priority #1...go for it.
i850 is a printer that still rocks. Be aware that HP is coming out with some updated product in the very near future.

i450 = $80 shipped at newegg.com
i550 = $96 shipped at newegg.com




P-X

 

[Peter]

i560 has hit the stores already here in Germany.

 

[PrinceXizor]

I am in a similar situation as the original poster. I've got a cheapie Lexmark that I'm tired of screwed up print heads on the cartridge and having the black ink run out WAY too fast. Plus, its slow as molasses. So, I'm looking to get a decent mid-range printer in the i550/i450 range.

When is HP's "new" products coming out. I thought both HP's and Epson's new additions/revisions were due out in August? You seem to be quite knowledgable about printers Peter. Any help? or any good websites to keep an eye on? (The only one I know of is THG, and I'd like to get a second opinion).

P-X

 

[prosaic]

Under the circumstances I suggest trying to be really clear what you want to do and need to do with the printer. If color printing isn't absolutely necessary you should consider buying the best low-cost laser printer (b&w) you can afford. If you get to school and do a lot of printing of research papers and so on the extra up-front cost of the laser printer will be small compared to the cost of replacing the darned inkjet cartridges. The text output from even mediocre laser printers is nicer than what you get from an inkjet printer.

If you do get an inkjet printer be sure to choose one that uses a cartridge implementation that replaces the print head with the ink. That makes the cartridges (theoretically) even more expensive, but it sucks to pay 15 or 30 or 50 cents a page for crappy output because the bloomin' lines are partially clogged.

- prosaic

 

[Peter]

Well, if you don't print much in color, get the i450. If you do, grab the clearout bargains on the i550 or pick up the new i560.
If you don't print much at all, the entry level i250 or i350 might also suit you. i250..450 use the same inkset w/ separate black and a 3-color cartridge. i550 upward use all separate inks.

I'm not giving people anything but Canons - Lexmark disqualifies themselves via their ink cost, HPs tend to act up mechanically quite soon, particularly with paper path issues, Epson uses a too fragile and non-removable print head technology.

 

[zippy]

Originally posted by: Peter
Well, if you don't print much in color, get the i450. If you do, grab the clearout bargains on the i550 or pick up the new i560.
If you don't print much at all, the entry level i250 or i350 might also suit you. i250..450 use the same inkset w/ separate black and a 3-color cartridge. i550 upward use all separate inks.

I'm not giving people anything but Canons - Lexmark disqualifies themselves via their ink cost, HPs tend to act up mechanically quite soon, particularly with paper path issues, Epson uses a too fragile and non-removable print head technology.

Why do you say to get the i450 if I don't print much in color? Though it's a lot slower than the i850 the two produce very similar quality prints according to THG. Wouldn't I get an i450 instead of an i850 if I simply didn't need speed but still wanted the good quality? Also, are the ink carts for the i450 just smaller than for the i550/i850? Otherwise I don't understand how the i450 is more expensive per page considering the actual carts are a lot less - $6.50 for black, $18.50 for color vs $11 for black, $11 x 3 color.

Thanks.