Looking for a reliable printer

[imported_cinder]

I'm not printer expert to say the least. I honestly don't have a big need to print anything big, or with extreme detail. I just would like something reliable. I print documents with and without color. Don't really print photos but may if I had the chance. I would like to have a scanner and the resolution is not that important. I don't have a large budget. The main thing I must emphasize is that the printer is reliable. I had a bad experience with my last canon it was the cheapest in their lineup at the time had no scanner, it looked great printed very fast, but it did not last but a few months. School is about to start up again and I don't want to have to go to campus every time I need to print a single document.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

 

[tenax]

i has to be a color, he? i have 4 of the samsung laser printers (oldest about 4 years old) easy to refill the cartridge (7 bucks for a kit that will refill the cartridge twice) and for 40 or 50 bucks when you see them on sale, they are frankly dandy value. samsung ml2010 is 2 of mine, then i have a 2510 i believe it is. slightly faster, cheaper per page then brother and more reliable. i find the initial cartridge which is a half cartridge, lasts forever and ever. it has a toner saver mode in the software control panel that works well.

http://www.samsung.com/us/supp...oad/supportDownMain.do

scroll down the page.

 

[imported_cinder]

Yeah thanks for the reply but I am definitely in need of a color printer. I print charts and projects for college and I need them to show some pizazz sometimes.

 

[Rottie]

Sorry you had bad experience with Canon but give another chance for newest Canon printer. I am sure Canon understand your bad, painful, frustrated experience. You won't go wrong with PIXMA line of printers.

If not maybe you can find cheap deal from HP or Epson printer.

 

[nerp]

It might be a good idea to get a cheap laser and a decent inkjet and just save the ink for when you need color and use the laser for everything else. You can get a decent sub $100 laser from HP, Samsung or Brother and a decent color printer from Canon or something and have the best of both worlds.

I do a lot of black and white printing and I'd never want to use an inkjet for it ever again. I'm using a LaserJet 1018 and it's been terrific for my needs. Just make sure to get an inkjet that won't clog with infrequent use -- I had a couple Epsons that were nightmares with this and I'd go through 1/2 a cartridge just cleaning out clogs before printing. Nothing as fun as watching money go down the drain.

 

[jackschmittusa]

Color lasers can sometimes be had for as little as $150. Wife bought a K/M for home maybe a year and a half ago, liked it enough that she had them get one at her office. Huge savings over buying ink cartridges. She bought a closeout Agfa flatbed scanner 4 or 5 years ago for $40, and it is still going strong.

 

[Zepper]

Yes, the low cost Canons are back to using integrated head cartridges w/o much ink in them. Generally wise to avoid really bottom end printers or AIOs - cheap up front, but cost you big over the long term. Take a look at the Brother line of inkjet AIOs (the ones with three numerical digits in the model number are the newer designs and are supposed to be more reliable) - their photo output isn't as good as Canon for example, but other should be OK. They are the only ones I know of that still use fully passive separate ink tanks and clones are available.
. Or the Canon MX700 or MP530 . HP may also have a reasonably priced MFP (multi function printer, MFP means the same as AIO) with separate ink tanks (most are still integrated head) but I'm not very familiar with their line having just bought my first HP after 25+ years of PC wrangling. And it's definitely not an MFP. I prefer separates. You might like a Canon iP3500 with an Epson refurbed scanner from the Epson clearance center on their site - nice refurb scanner there for $62. shipped (free ship). Plenty of low cost scanners on eBay too.

Also you can check around for deals on factory refurbs (with Canon warranty) - Pricegrabber.com often lists companies selling refurbs and Outpost.com almost always has some. I recently bought a Canon refurb iP4200 from Outpost for way less than the value of the included ink cartridges - made out well on eBay with it... Amazon is another site to check for Canon refurbs.

Note that I don't mention Epson printers - that's because of their clog-o-matic, Piezo head and pigmented ink combo.

.bh.