POLL: Buying a printer: Canon or HP?

[optimistic]

Looking for an affordable entry-level printer for basic printing jobs. (CD Covers, maybe a greeting card with a photo or two) My main concern is how much it costs to own -ink costs.

I've blindly narrowed it down to these two simliar printers

Hewlett Packard Deskjet 3425

or the

Canon i320 Color Bubble Jet Printer


Help me decide! Also I've noticed theirs an OD deal on this for $30AR:Q

 

[Peter]

Canon any day. Particularly when your decision is about ink cost. Unlike HP, Canon allow 3rd party ink cartridge makers (and don't sue their butts off like HP does), and their ink cartridges are just that - ink in a cartridge, while HP has a disposable print head in there that you pay for every time.

If you step up a bit in printer cost, from the 500 series upward, you get "single ink" printers whose ink cartridges are all separate, one for each ink color (and even for those, there's even cheaper 3rd party ink widely available).

 

[optimistic]

Yeah I've noticed Canon cartridges are cheaper but their capacity is way smaller. But I think you still end up saving with Canon. Hmm, but I wonder by how much? 50% per page? 30%?

Any other printer suggestions? Before I make my purchase this week?

Thanks peter for responding.

 

[music]

You can buy the Canon i550 at Staples for $149.99 - $30/150 coupon (I think there's one somewhere) - $30 Canon Rebate = $90. You'll have to add some paper clips or something to get above $150.

If you don't want to spend that much then buy the i320.

Don't buy an epson. They clog all the time, and you waste so much ink cleaning.

 

[Peter]

Smaller ink capacity ... not really. Yes the black cartridge is not very big, but it's also drastically cheaper than HP's.

In color printing, you save lots because you usually don't have a good balance of cyan,magenta,yellow usage - so with those 3-in-1 color cartridges you end up throwing away 30 to 50 percent of what you paid for. Not with Canon 500 series or higher - there you just replace what's empty. And the individual color cartridges are actually quite big.

 

[PCHPlayer]

Maybe someone can answer this question. It used to be that Canons and Epsons took over a minute to "warm up" (clean the heads etc.), HPs you could turn on and print in just a few seconds. Is this till a problem?
If you are only using your printer once in a while the ink costs may not out-weigh the start-up annoyance.

 

[amdskip]

Originally posted by: PCHPlayer
Maybe someone can answer this question. It used to be that Canons and Epsons took over a minute to "warm up" (clean the heads etc.), HPs you could turn on and print in just a few seconds. Is this till a problem?
If you are only using your printer once in a while the ink costs may not out-weigh the start-up annoyance.

I know exactly what you mean but I've only purchased HP's since my first epson because of this.

 

[Peter]

I can only speak for the Canons (old and new), these never took a lot of time from power-on to ready.

 

[AndyHui]

They had the slow warm-up times for the Canons fixed in the 3rd Generation S-series printers, ie S-520, S-750.

I don't believe the new i-series has this problem either.

The older 1st and 2nd Generation S-Series were prone to slow starts, ie S-400/S-450, S-600.

 

[Peter]

Must say the old ones weren't ANNOYINGLY slow either, far from talking about minutes. I have quite a few S400, S450, S500 and even older stuff within reach, none of which ever caused a whatztakinsolong complaint

 

[Macro2]

I do over 1000 copies a week. Refill cartridges. If you don't want to refill I get tell you were to get cartridges for $2. BCI-3e cartridge.


USE canon S750s. Or try the new i850.

not sure what the i320 uses. if it doesn't use BCI-3e cartridges, forget it.


FORGET HPs, they will make you a poor man.

 

[BlueEyedBeezlebub]

I prefer Epson printers to the other 2. I would stay away from HP myself, I've had nothing but bad luck with them. I have a couple HP 600 series and bought a HP 2000C network printer (a $800 printer when I bought it) which has your individual cartridges and all my HPs either got really noisy (lots of clanking and screeching) or simply quit on me within 1 year of ownership. I refuse to buy HP.
I dont have any experience with Canon, I think they are good and probably what you're looking for but I always thought of them as too 'budget' and to good to be true in that respect.

I've had many epsons from the dot matrix from the late 80s that I still am using to this day, to the original Epson Stylus Color (720dpi!) from the 90s that is still going to this day (print cartridges have been replaced on average once a year+ on that one) and everyday I use a Epson Stylus Color 740..its a great little printer, fairly new and doesnt have a minute warmup, its very short and only does it when it needs it.. I just turned it off and on and it appeared to do its cleaning on shutdown (15seconds) and instantly turned on with no extra noise or wait.

Good luck!

 

[Macro2]

Text


Thats a link for you. I would not get a i320. the others use bci-3e cartridges. All have rebates.
I'd probably get a i550 if price is an issue. Otherwise I'd get a i850. I have several 750s but they are older now. But I do know they perform mightaly

Good luck. Mac

 

[Macro2]

Some Epsons you can reset (after refill) the cartridges others you can't. With Canons you don't have to worry about it. The level is read via a mirror and the you can see in the cartridge to boot.

I used to use HPs but now have switched to Canon. Probably save a couple hndred a week on ink. I tried filling HPs cartridges but it's hit or miss. Maybe you get 3 refills maybe 0.
OTOH, I've refilled the same BCI-3e cartridge OVER 70 times...!!!! for pennies each time.

 

[Peter]

I would not get a i320. the others use bci-3e cartridges.

The S200, S300, S330photo and i320 do not have separate inks - these use BC-24BK and BC-24C cartridges, black and 3-color respectively. 3rd party ink available - but the higher series, S400 and above, as well as the new i500 and above, use all separate ink tanks, BC-3e black/cyan/magenta/yellow in most models, photo models adding light cyan and light magenta, and the high end models using the bigger BC-5 cartridges.

 

[Macro2]

RE:"The S200, S300, S330photo and i320 do not have separate inks - these use BC-24BK and BC-24C cartridges, black and 3-color respectively. 3rd party ink available - but the higher series, S400 and above, as well as the new i500 and above, use all separate ink tanks, BC-3e black/cyan/magenta/yellow in most models, photo models adding light cyan and light magenta, and the high end models using the bigger BC-5 cartridges.".

My main experience is with BCI-3e ink tanks. Separate is better and I KNOW they can be bought cheap and can be refilled cheaply.

BCI-5s have given way to BCI-6s but are the same tank as the BCI-3. They can be refilled or bought cheaply as well. The printers that take BCI 6s take 6 cartridges and are straight photo type printers. They are exceptional but cost more money so I didn't suggest those printers.

I repeat. Get a printer that takes BCI-3 (or BCI-5 or 6) cartridges if you want to save moola.

 

[sechs]

What kind of volume are we talking about?

To be honest, if you can bare to part with colour, a nice laser would be a better choice. For around $200 you can have a printer with enough toner to last the next three to five years, rather than $200 to $500 over the same period for a printer with ink. This is in addition to laser-quality prints that don't look like you've soaked them in something, or become unreadable after an unexpect downpour.

 

[Natej]

Just bought the canon f30 sweet. Ink's only $11.00. Even cheaper at sam's.

 

[speedlever]

mwave.com has the Canon i850 for $169. Use the $30 coupon and you're down to ~$140 + shipping.

 

[Macro2]

RE:"mwave.com has the Canon i850 for $169. Use the $30 coupon and you're down to ~$140 + shipping"

Great deal.

Thanks

 

[Toxic]

I'm partial to Epsons. I bought a Lexmark about a year ago, and decided it was just too damn expensive with the ink. (That, and it just never really worked right with Linux - simply because lex refused to throw a driver together for it).

I've gone back to Epson. I still have an old lq-570+ here, and it's been a great printer (dot matrix). I saw one for sale at staples the other day, so I guess they still make them. The C82 I have is great.