What is the best printer for around $100

[shah456]

Exactly as the topic says, I'm looking to get a new printer for college. These days it seems that "all-in-one" printers are the big thing. I have a printer and a scanner at home and the scanner rarely gets any use. I'm not sure if I will need an "all-in-one" in college. Well leave your opinions here and I will check back. Thanks a lot.

 

[beer]

In my opinion, $100 printers don't really exist. Sure, you can get Lexmark's and various rebadged ones (Dells, for example) for <$100, but what they lose to you in up-front cost they make back in ink costs. Lexmarks, HP have very high upkeep costs. When you purchase a printer, look not only at the up-front cost but the per-mL ink costs as well, and certain printers (i.e Lexmark) do not let you use third-party ink catridges.

The exceptions, of course, are the lower-end laser printers, such as those by Samsung. Toner > Ink when it comes to per-page affordability. But, of course, you lose the ability to print color.

 

[zainali]

get a canon all in one or as the guy said above a laser printer.

if u monitor the hot deals there should be a couple of printers (such as minolta 1350W) that are free after rebate.

the best thing about canons is that generic inks are extremely cheap. i got about 40 ink cartridges for my i350 for about $30.

 

[LED]

Canon i560 and you'll still have change for extra ink...forget about the all in one and if you already have a scanner.

 

[shah456]

I have a scanner from like 5 years ago, I would like to know the real advantages of an "all-in-one". I was looking at some Epson printers. Are they high maintanence?

 

[LED]

There is no real advantage for the all-in one's IMO other then them being compact/portatable with the smaller footprint. I am opposed to them because if 1 function goes down then all functions must go to the repair shop and with a seperate Scanner/Printer you won't need a copier as software can handle that. Another thing to consider is upgrading...if you get the best Printer you can for the Money then shop for a Scanner that'll last another 4-5yrs by then you'll most likely have a newer/better Printer as well...Either Epson or Canon will most likely serve you well, although I prefer Canon. (i860 ican be found for less then $100 US too)

 

[Lyfer]

Get a Samsung Laser Printer. Its only $50 more and you'll get a hecka lot of papers out of it than the inkjet.

 

[DGath]

Going cheap with a printer is like going cheap with a new car, it isn't worth it because you'll end up spending the same amount in the end if not more. If you absolutely have to spend no more than $100, get an HP. I can't believe some people are recommending Epson's, Canon's, and Lexmark's, their low end printers are horrible. HP is the only company that includes the print heads in the print cartridge versus the other manufacturers build them into the carriages. Meaning... once ink clogs up the print head or it goes bad, time to replace the printer. That's the reason why low end HPs will actually last more than a year when compoared to the other compoanies. The HPs tend to be the only company that doesn't use gravilty loading either. (Gravity loading being rolling the paper in from the top) They work fine for the first few months, but when those rollers get dirt or break, it gets really annoying having the printer pull in 10 pages and print out 1 page on three seperate pages. There goes the printer as well.

I've had every kind of cheap printer you can think of, Epson, Canon, Lexmark, and they all suck. I never bought the same manufacturer twice cause of my experience with the last model I had, and finally ended up getting a hand me down OfficeJet all-in-one from my parents company that is about 6 years old. It works great and I wish I'd had it throughout college (I just graduated). There is nothing more annoying than crappy prints for a paper you have to turn in or a printer that just flat out won't work anymore. Roomates get really annoyed when you have to print out term papers on their computer all the time.

The HP 5150 should be right in your range.

Edit: And yeah, in college, most of your prints are going to be black and white papers, so a laser printer would be money. Just get one of those.

 

[JBT]

My Canon i475D is great it cost around 75 with out a rebate and you have find the 470D that doesn't have the memory card reader for even cheaper. Generic ink carts cost next to nothing. 83 cents for black and about 1.30 for color. I have a ton in my drawer. The printer does good text and great pictures.

 

[RockGuitarDude]

find a discontinued one somewhere... u can often get last years $300 printer for 100 now

 

[shah456]

Originally posted by: DGath
Going cheap with a printer is like going cheap with a new car, it isn't worth it because you'll end up spending the same amount in the end if not more. If you absolutely have to spend no more than $100, get an HP. I can't believe some people are recommending Epson's, Canon's, and Lexmark's, their low end printers are horrible. HP is the only company that includes the print heads in the print cartridge versus the other manufacturers build them into the carriages. Meaning... once ink clogs up the print head or it goes bad, time to replace the printer. That's the reason why low end HPs will actually last more than a year when compoared to the other compoanies. The HPs tend to be the only company that doesn't use gravilty loading either. (Gravity loading being rolling the paper in from the top) They work fine for the first few months, but when those rollers get dirt or break, it gets really annoying having the printer pull in 10 pages and print out 1 page on three seperate pages. There goes the printer as well.

I've had every kind of cheap printer you can think of, Epson, Canon, Lexmark, and they all suck. I never bought the same manufacturer twice cause of my experience with the last model I had, and finally ended up getting a hand me down OfficeJet all-in-one from my parents company that is about 6 years old. It works great and I wish I'd had it throughout college (I just graduated). There is nothing more annoying than crappy prints for a paper you have to turn in or a printer that just flat out won't work anymore. Roomates get really annoyed when you have to print out term papers on their computer all the time.

The HP 5150 should be right in your range.

Edit: And yeah, in college, most of your prints are going to be black and white papers, so a laser printer would be money. Just get one of those.

Hows the HP Deskjet 5650?

 

[SigmaB]

i'll break it down for you...

If your going to be living in the dorms.... just mooch off someone else. Because, as soon as your entire floor knows you have a printer - your dorm room will turn into a 24/7 Kinkos ;-)

Think of all the Beer - *ahemmm* extracirucular activites you could participate in with the extra cash ;-)

 

[shah456]

Originally posted by: SigmaB
i'll break it down for you...

If your going to be living in the dorms.... just mooch off someone else. Because, as soon as your entire floor knows you have a printer - your dorm room will turn into a 24/7 Kinkos ;-)

Think of all the Beer - *ahemmm* extracirucular activites you could participate in with the extra cash ;-)

haha, my parents are coughing up the $100 for the printer and basically everything I bought for college (thinkpad t42, 200gb hd for desktop, etc...) I just want a printer that I can use for the next 4 years without major worries.

 

[Kaido]

The Epson C84 for $86.99 shipped or the Epson R200 for $90.99 shipped, both from newegg.

The C84 your basic inkjet photo printer, pretty nice (it'll print 4x6" photos too). I ordered the R200 yesterday...similar to the C84 but you can also print on inkjet-surface CDr and DVDr discs (right on the disc themselves, in addition to 4x6" photo paper and regular 8.5x11" paper). They both have multiple color cartridges so you only have to refill the color you're out of.

I spent about $150 total on my order. I got the R200, a 15' USB 2.0 cable with l33t blue ledz in them, another 10' black USB 2.0 cable (the printer has two usb ports, so I'm going to share it between computers...the front is useful if you have a laptop, then the rear port is for your desktop), a 100-pack of Epson 4x6" photopaper, and a 100-pack of Ritek white inkjet-surface 80min CDr discs.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[SigmaB]

do you want a document printer or a printer that documents and photos well?

if you just want a workhorse - then get an HP, I've had nothing but good luck out of them
if you fancy something more for documents and photos , then epson and canon should suite you.

 

[jcwagers]

Well, Office Depot has the Samsung ML-1740 laser printer for $148.76 plus there is a $50 MIR on it so it comes out to less than $100....minus shipping or tax(if you go and get one locally). That would seem like a great deal. I've been very happy with my Samsung ML-1710.

 

[Quasmo]

I work at Staples and sell "el cheapo" printers all day long. I would suggest either getting the 1325 from HP right now which is an All-in-One for $99 or the r200 from epson which has probably the best ink system for the money. But if you really want good value bite the bullet and either go with a laser printer, either the HP 1210 or the samsung. If you do need color I would DEFINATELY get the 1100D from HP. Its a super bad @$$ printer that has duplexing (double-sided printing) built in, and the ability to change the print heads if they ever wear out. It will run you about $199 but te ink cartridges will last you 3 times as long (19ml for $19 in the hp 56 vs 69ml for 34.99 in the hp10).

 

[shah456]

Yea I think I will probably buy either the Epson C86 or the Epson R200. They seem like the best bang for the buck. If anyone has any other inputs, I am open to hear them. Thanks for all the posts already.

 

[Quasmo]

Originally posted by: shah456
Yea I think I will probably buy either the Epson C86 or the Epson R200. They seem like the best bang for the buck. If anyone has any other inputs, I am open to hear them. Thanks for all the posts already.

Definately go with the r200 if those are your two choices. the durabrite ink is not worth it. the 6ink system is awesome ine the epson.

 

[Zepper]

If you can find a Canon i860 for $100. or less (even a bit more as it normally sells for around $150.), that would be the way to go. By far the best output and lowest cost per page (using 3rd party inks - e.g. the usainkjet store on eBay) of anything out there near that price. As others have said, you better hide the thing if you're lilving in a dorm... I would avoid Epson because of their clogging problems - that's the last thing a college student will want to deal with.
. For all intents and purposes, the bottom of the current Canon i series for general printing is already discontinued (350, 455, 560, 860), so good prices should be available on them. The new iP series will be available in a couple of weeks that's supposed to have equally good print quality and the iP3000 is supposed to sell for right at $100. See the review of the iP4000 ($150.) on http://www.stevesdigicams.com . And info about the whole new line at http://usa.canon.com .
. If you decide you need one, I would also go with a separate scanner for the reasons mentioned above. You can find new Epson Perfection 1260 (a discontinued model, but more than enough for any college project) on eBay for low $$$. I got mine (1260 PHOTO - has slide and filmstrip scanning attachment) for under $50 shipped. I imagine it would be convenient not to have to run to the copy shop all the time.

.bh.

:moon:

 

[RaistlinZ]

I work at a local Best Buy shop and I also recommend the Epson R200. It's probably the best $100 printer we sell unless you absolutely need scanning and copying.

The ink system and color quality is better on Epson than HP in that price range.

 

[mbackof]

I've had good luck with Canon's printers for around $100. My wife and sister have the i860 and it prints beautiful pictures and WWW prints. It is very fast and the ink carts are cheap if you go with the Canon carts, and extremely cheap if you go with third party inks. The print heads are not built into the printer, they are on a separate print head which is replacable without throwing out the printer. I've also had good luck with the i560 which my mom has. I've owned HP, Epson, and Canon inkjet printers and have never had any problems with any of them. Right now Canons are my favorite for price/performance.
If you are only going to print b/w papers on this printer, get a cheap Laser printer because you will get better bang for your buck.

Mike

 

[Macro2]

I can't believe all the misinformation I read on printers. People actually recommend a HP, Lexmark inkjet printer. Come on...would you pay $11,000/gal for gasoline much less ink? Epson is ok but the heads clog...maybe I should break out the pics of an ATer smashing his Epson C84 on the sidewalk.
The best inkjets are Canons that take BCI-3 and or BCI-6 cartridges. That includes the i560, i860 and a couple of the new IP3000 and IP4000 series that are replacing them. The i560 and i860 can be found now at good discounts because they are discontinued. Like $50 for the i560 and $100 for the i860.
For more information go to http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&amp;fcategoryid=103

 

[Chad]

By far and away HP. Especially stay away from the cheap Canon's. Complete garbage.

 

[waazzuup]

Originally posted by: Kaido
The Epson C84 for $86.99 shipped or the Epson R200 for $90.99 shipped, both from newegg.

The C84 your basic inkjet photo printer, pretty nice (it'll print 4x6" photos too). I ordered the R200 yesterday...similar to the C84 but you can also print on inkjet-surface CDr and DVDr discs (right on the disc themselves, in addition to 4x6" photo paper and regular 8.5x11" paper). They both have multiple color cartridges so you only have to refill the color you're out of.

I spent about $150 total on my order. I got the R200, a 15' USB 2.0 cable with l33t blue ledz in them, another 10' black USB 2.0 cable (the printer has two usb ports, so I'm going to share it between computers...the front is useful if you have a laptop, then the rear port is for your desktop), a 100-pack of Epson 4x6" photopaper, and a 100-pack of Ritek white inkjet-surface 80min CDr discs.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

I have the C84 and I love it.