I Need A New Printer - Suggestions?

[SpyderX]

I currently have a HP DeskJet 612C and it prints REALLY SLOWLY. I don't know how slowly but in black and write probably takes AT LEAST 30mins to print 30 pages... VERY SLOW IMO. Anyways, I'm looking for a new printer, a AT LEAST decent printer with pretty good quality and print speed (color and black) Any suggestions? Thanks a lot!!!

 

[woodie1]

If you do a search you'll find several threads on printers. I just got a Canon i320 for $25.00 today and it looks like a good deal so far.

 

[Doh!]

What's your budget? The new canon "i" series is very good.

As said above, if you're really tight on budget (less than $50), i320 is a steal. Check the hot deal forum.

i550 is the next one at around $100~$120 and the i850 which is around $150~$170 (the price difference reflects the availability of rebates/discounts). I purchased the i850 and it's absolutley stunning and super-fast. Stay away from HP as the cartridge cost will eat you alive.

 

[SpyderX]

Yeah, I've been hearing a lot about the Canon "i" series... are they at least fast, even the cheapest one ($25 (I would imagine a hot deal of course)) with great quality?

 

[everman]

Be sure to take into account cost of ink! You may get that printer for $25 but I bet the ink alone costs around that for Black and color cartriges. Anyway on a note of reliability, I"ve been using the same HP deskjet 722 for probably 4 years now I think, gone through many ink cartriges (mostly black) and it still works great.

 

[Peter]

The 200 and 300 series Canons have a pretty large Black cartridge and a reasonable 3-color one, with the print head detached from either. The cartridges are just ink, and there's even cheaper 3rd party supplies as well.

The 400 and higher series Canons have all-separate inks, one cartridge per color, the most cost effective solution if you print in color a lot.

Regarding sturdiness, you won't make a Canon fall apart by using it, no matter how intensively. Not even the cheapest ones. I have 15 year old ones out there that are still going.

 

[DurocShark]

I have 15 year old ones out there that are still going.

Heh. I've still got an Epson 9pin FX80 floating around somewhere... hehheheee Talk about old.

I'm a big Epson fan. Being a photographer, I wanted a printer that specialized in printing photos. I ended up with an Epson Stylus PHoto 780. Wow. My pics print awesome. People, scenics, whatever.

But text printing isn't the greatest. Which is fine... That's what my laser is for. If text printing is your bag, check out the Okidata LED printers. Cheep, low consumables costs, and good output. Pretty fast too, and they don't take as long to warm up as most lasers.

For an inkjet solution, the HP's are always good bets. But ink carts are *very* expensive. REFILL!!! (I don't refill my Epson for 2 reasons: My system is color calibrated to the Epson ink, and the %@$%^@ carts have chips that have to be fooled somehow. Grrr..) Don't have any personal experience with the Canons, but I've heard good things...

 

[woodie1]

Originally posted by: everman
Be sure to take into account cost of ink! You may get that printer for $25 but I bet the ink alone costs around that for Black and color cartriges. Anyway on a note of reliability, I"ve been using the same HP deskjet 722 for probably 4 years now I think, gone through many ink cartriges (mostly black) and it still works great.

My i320 black ink cartriges cost $3.95 so the only problem with this $25.00 printer is the print heads will wear out at which time I buy another $25.00 printer.

 

[BCompDude]

With Canon you are only replacing the *ink*, just realize that. Someone mentioned it above but I thought I'd stress the point more. With HP you are getting a brand new *print head* along with the ink. Meaning that print quality never degrades as in a Canon. And yes I have both brands. A new i550 and an all in one 6110.

 

[Doh!]

Canon's printhead is also replaceable. I won't have to do it for another 4~5 years and it will only cost me about buying 2 black cartrideges from HP.

 

[Maki]

Buy canon. My S750 (down to about $110) does passable fotos (Tho I have an HP 7150 for that.) and is pretty fast. The i550 and i850 are both very nice as well.

 

[KK]

I second the Canon printers. I have a S800 which is perfect for me, I also got in on that S820 deal right before New Years Eve, but have yet to hook it up. It ran like 45 dollars after rebate, which is cheaper than buying the 6 cartidges separately. I'm not sure how the 4 ink canons do, but the 6 ink seems to do pretty well.

KK

 

[Maki]

The 4 ink i850 is supposed to produce results in the ballpark of the 6 ink s900. There is a i950 due out in Feb (I think) that should be the s900 replacement. 6 inks and 2 picoliter dots. Should be wonderful. It will probably cost $300-400 tho.

 

[Toxic]

I have an Epson C82. Runs about $150 or so I guess. It's a fast printer. I think Epson claims 22 ppm (black and white).

 

[Maki]

Originally posted by: Toxic
I have an Epson C82. Runs about $150 or so I guess. It's a fast printer. I think Epson claims 22 ppm (black and white).

After my last Epson Clogmaster (Officially called the Epson Stylus Photo 780.) I can't envision buying one again.

 

[Rottie]

I am happy with my Canon BJC6000 with 7 colors system but Canon printer is now discounted.

 

[Lint21]

Originally posted by: Maki

Originally posted by: Toxic I have an Epson C82. Runs about $150 or so I guess. It's a fast printer. I think Epson claims 22 ppm (black and white).

After my last Epson Clogmaster (Officially called the Epson Stylus Photo 780.) I can't envision buying one again.

That's pretty damn funny. I have an Epson Photo 870 sitting in pieces next to me right now. I just punched it and it shattered into a million pieces. It wouldn't print right, no matter how many times I cleaned the heads, realigned the cartridges, changed printer cables, or even swapped cartridges and whole computers. No sh!t, my hand is bleeding while I type this, lol.

I'm never buying another Epson. That thing sucked from the day I got it.

 

[Jojo1971]

With HP you are getting a brand new *print head* along with the ink

that's why i like my hp. i got HP 722c it's almost 5 yrs old..still working well especially under winxp.