My scanner, and printer, both went down.

[ColKurtz]

My main question here is about a scanner. I had an older (3yrs+, don't recall model offhand) HP scanner that just went out and need a replacement. It's main purpose will be to scan in our personal photos. Don't want a low-end machine but don't want to spend a fortune, either.

My Canon S820 printer has also started showing "lines" in all print jobs. I've replaced the offending (cyan) ink and run all of the standard in-printer diags like clean, thorough clean, align, etc.

I was considering replacing the print-head on the canon, but since the scanner went out I'm wondering if it makes more sense to invest in a printer/scanner/fax combo unit. I know in the past the motto of these units was "they do many things, but none of them very well". Has that changed?

I've been looking for reviews of scanners, printers, and combo units, but haven't found any useful links. Several on Tom's hardware that were 2+ years old, and most of the other comparsison reviews are for professional units.

Can anyone offer some suggestions, and hopefully some review sites? My budget would hopefully be $300-$350 or less for both units, and would rank my prorities as follows:

Scanner
1) Scan quality. What is "good" dpi for current scanner? This is definatetly the most important consideration.
2) Price
3) Speed
4) Interface (usb vs. firewire vs. ethernet)

Printer
1) Multiple ink-wells (6+) for a printer.
2) Price/page (non-photo)
3) Card-reader (primarily CF).
4) Photo Image quality (not so impt. since AFAICT it's cheaper to use online services).
5) Speed.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[jamesbond007]

My first instincts would be to recommend a HP PSC2175 unit. I love mine to death! I use it very often and the quality is astounding. I'm no photo pro, but the copies look super. If you have more than $175 to spare, unlike me, then you could probably get the next higher model. I know the newer units are even smaller than mine, too.

Sorry, I don't know of any reviews off the top of my head.

 

[ColKurtz]

Thanks for the reply, but after owning 2 HP printers before I'll never own another one again. The quality is often fine, but HP really sticks it to you with ink. Having a single color cartridge is a terrible idea, since if you run out of one color you run out of all. I quickly switched over to refilling them myself but HP uses active countermeasures against this, too (the copper contact points on my model were made to wear down over time). HPs are always near the top at cost/page.

That's why I prefaced my top printer requirement at 6+ ink wells (black and 3 primaries, plus at least 2 photo colors).

Rant over. Thanks again for the suggestion.

 

[13Gigatons]

Scanner = Epson

I hate Epson printers but they do make a great scanner.

Printer = Canon IP4000

5 inks: pigment for black text and dye for photos and of course buy your ink at swiftink.com


PS: Do not buy all in one units, when one thing breaks and it has to be RMA your missing a couple things then instead of just one, plus the quality is usually less then stand alone.

 

[jamesbond007]

ColKurtz, sorry about your bad luck! I personally haven't had any problems with mine and I've done quite a bit of printing over the 10 or so months I've had it. I don't do color photos at all, but I do a lot of text printing. I haven't replaced any cartridges yet and I'm almost done with a ream of HP 1000ct paper. I have heard great things about Canon for in-home digital photo labs. 13Gigatons has the right ideas...

13Gigatons, have you used swiftink.com before? How are their cartridges? Any issues? How's the quality of the cartridge?

 

[Macro2]

If you want to pay $12,000 a gallon for ink buy an HP. Otherwise get a Canon ip3000, 4000, 5000 etc. and use generics that use Sencient ink.

 

[imported_rod]

CANON. I love my CANON PIXMA iP5000. They're not that chep to but, but the ink is so much cheaper than everything else, and it has a huge number of awesome feature (auto-duplexing/CD-printing/5-cartridges/fast/quiet). It is honestly the best printer i have ever owned.

If you want a multi-function center (MFC), canon make one which is basically an iP4000 with a scanner on top. Not sure, but i think it might be the canon MP730.

RoD

 

[13Gigatons]

13Gigatons, have you used swiftink.com before? How are their cartridges? Any issues? How's the quality of the cartridge?

No not yet, I will give them a full review when I test them out. From what others have said the ink quality is 100% the same as Canon OEM except that it cost $4 instead $12 per cart.