Good cheap inkjet printer

[archcommus]

What do you recommend? Mostly black, but occasional color, don't need photo quality or anything, just something that's not crap and that has cheap ink.

 

[Zepper]

What do you mean by "cheap"? If you can find one of last year's Canon models (iP3k, 4k, 5k) that will be the lowest TCO around. But they are scarce now and new ones are going for nearly list or more because of the super-low TCO. I haven't heard that anyone has cloned the new Canon tanks yet, so they will be expensive until that happens unless you are willing to refill the Canon OE tanks. Apparently the new line will let you refill, but they can snitch on you if warranty service becomes necessary.

I don't know what kind of print quality the Brother models give, but you can get their All-in-ones quite cheap. AFAIK, those have the only passive ink tanks left of the current producton InkJet printers (except for some wildly expensive HPs. IDK if they sell just the printer part separately. Check their ink tank prices at http://www.swiftink.com . The MFC-420CN looks like a good choice as it has nice large ink tanks so they'll last a while.

It looks like Epson is cracking down on some of the cloners of their chipped tanks for patent violation, so the ink tank prices may start to rise in that market.

.bh.

 

[Lemon law]

I echo exactly what Zepper says------even though bottom end inkjet printer can be had for as little as $30., the total cost of ownership over a one year, two, year, or longer interval will be far less is you select a more expensive printer that can use cheaper but equally good third party cartridges. Or readily support very easy refilling.

When you consider the very desirable Canon ip3000, in my humble opinion as the best choice for you, can be had for as little as $80. with some creative shopping, I just urge anyone to really investigate the inkjet printer market before they buy. Steves digicams and the nifty stuff forums are good places to find information on good consumer choices. -------------but the bottom line is the more you print the more important making good choices are.

But when you consider that even one set of replacement OEM cartridges can easily exceed $50., its not hard to understadn that old adage---You can pay me now or pay me later---with the later being the really unpleasant option.

 

[shortylickens]

We had a thread not too long ago in which some folks claimed they could purchase bulk ink for their Epsons and get prints for less than a penny per page.
I dont believe it and still stand by my laser.

But you said you wanted to do occasional color so an HP LJ 1000 wont help you much.

 

[Lemon law]

Originally posted by: shortylickens
We had a thread not too long ago in which some folks claimed they could purchase bulk ink for their Epsons and get prints for less than a penny per page.
I dont believe it and still stand by my laser.

But you said you wanted to do occasional color so an HP LJ 1000 wont help you much.

To shortylickens,

Don't know about the Epson folks, but I do KNOW my Canons will print at way less than a penny a page. But lots of jokers in that deck---if you are only needing B/W text, I would still recommend the decent laser any day. But color is where inkjet shine, color lasers though now affordable at $300, still can't compete with a cheap inkjet on photoprinting quality, and can't compete with a decent canon inkjet on even OEM cartridge color consumable costs--even though the inkjet has an initial purchase price a third of the color Laser.

But the reason I posted a follow up post is not to dispute shortylickens who I respect but to echo Zepper that brother inkjets might be worth a look. So I am somewhat solicting those who have brother inkjets to post their experiences. There are just a recent lack of posts on that subject.---lots on HP, Canon. Epson--little or nothing on brother inkjets.

 

[Zepper]

Lately it might be possible to get the cost per page including paper to around a cent a page in black on the passive tank Canons if you were willing to use black refill ink. These paper sales are incredible - I've been buying my 24 lb. all purpose at under $3.00 a ream in singles and could cut that substantially if I wanted to buy in 10-ream cases.

.bh.

 

[MX2]

Looks like I might be replacing my printer soon

 

[archcommus]

Wow this is more confusing than I thought!

I know laser is good for black and white but I can't exclude myself completely from ever being able to print color. So I must get an inkjet. I don't want to do any manual refills and I'm not sure if I want to buy 3rd party ink either as I don't like to void my warranties. Which of the makes has the cheapest OEM ink?

 

[Zepper]

Using 3rd party ink cannot void the warranty per US law. All I use is SwiftInk now in my Canon 3k and it's close enough to the OE stuff as to make no diff - it not only looks as good, but they give you more vol in each tank than Canon does in their OE tanks. The darned things seem to last forever.

I think Canon is still the cheapest even if you stick to OE ink tanks (but I haven't really checked prices on the OE Brother tanks - they may give Canon a run for their money). Canons will eat just about any ink and be quite happy. Most thermal ink-jet printers will. The Epsons are the ones that will clog if you just look at them funny...

.bh.

 

[MX2]

From what I have gathered Canon printers seem to be the best bang for buck