Good ink-jet printer?

[agathodaimon]

I'm looking to spend maybe $60, $70, $80 on a decent Ink-Jet printer.

First off, I was looking at these two:

Epson C120
Canon MX300

It doesn't have to be a "photo" printer, I already have a Pixma IP3000 which does a nice job on photos, but gobbles up ink in a hurry... So we don't use it for regular printing.

Are there any other recommendations? This is just for basic home-usage and school work...

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

HP LaserJet P1006
Go for a laser. The added cost of purchase is more than made up by the savings in ink costs. I run an old HP LaserJet 1100 that uses one toner cartridge a year! Even if you buy HP toner, $50 to $60 a year in ink costs is dirt cheap compared to inkjet.

 

[agathodaimon]

I would love to have a laser, but would like to have color printouts on a regular basis too.

 

[nerp]

Save yourself a few hundred dollars in ink costs and get a budget personal laser for $69, like the LaserJet 1018 I have and get a decent photo inkjet for rare color prints. You'll thank me later. Using an inkjet for basic day to day printing will cost more in ink than a personal laser in less than a year if you do more than the occasional grocery list.

 

[Zepper]

On the iP3000, you should get pretty long life out of an ink tank, besides which it still uses the unchipped tanks so clones are available cheaply - when I had my iP3000, I generally bought my clone tanks from SwiftInk.com who occasionally puts a good deal on them in the HotDeals section (and almost always has a semi-decent deal going on Heatware.com). Also they don't need to be changed the first time the warning comes up - just press the continue button and go on until it says the tank is "really empty" and usually even then you can continue on some. Those warnings are just to get you buying OEM tanks as often as possible as that's where the money is. The clone tanks also come with more ink to begin with than the OEM tanks. A big win all around.
. I'm pretty sorry that I sold my iP3000, even though I got more than original retail price for it on eBay - much more than I payed for it.

Low end printers like the ones you mentioned usually have multicolor tanks (and even Canons at the low end are coming with integrated head cartridges instead of tanks) and are hugely expensive on replacement ink. So just print more with the iP3000 with clone ink tanks. Careful shopping for clone tanks can get the page cost down to under 2 cents for color and 1 cent for b/w..

.bh.

 

[agathodaimon]

Yes... I definitely use after-market ink tanks for the IP3000.
It's a good printer... I love the PQ it gives on photo prints.

My wife is very particular about the quality of the pictures when she wants to "scrapbook" or something... So I didn't want to use it for daily prints, then end up wearing it out... If that is possible.

 

[Zepper]

Well, the Egg had the iP4500 for $80. shipped a couple of weeks ago - keep an eye out for a similar deal (right now it is $90 w/ free shipping at the Egg so check this week's member deals newsletter. And the recent iP3500 also puts out a good photo for the money I haven't checked for prices on it but the MSRP is under $100.

.bh.

 

[Sandan]

Brother MFC-240c I paid 99 at Staples but got a 30 dollar rebate. It can be found on the internet for $69 without rebate. It is multi function copier, printer, fax, scan, pic bridge, and memory card slots. I also found dirt cheap aftermarket cartridges on the internet $25 for 5 black, and 4 each of the colors. It works very well.