What's the right printer for moderately heavy use?

[kranky]

My friend (84 years old and isn't scared of technology!) asked me to recommend a new printer. She does a good bit of printing and since she has a cheap HP printer now, the ink only comes in the tiny carts and she's spending a lot on ink. I understand that a more expensive printer uses larger ink carts, and over time that could prove to be the most practical solution.

She doesn't print many photos so quality isn't an issue - any current printer will be of high enough quality if it can do color. Doesn't need multifunction.

Any recommendations on a printer that isn't loaded with bells and whistles but uses a larger ink cart than the low-end printers? Thanks in advance.

(She also wants a new laptop, but that's a different story... )

[edited to point out she needs color]

 

[Macro2]

Canon i560. $79 at Sams or Costco including USB cable.
She can get generic BCI-3 and BCI-6 cartridges at
[L=http://www.megatoners.com]http://www.megatoners.com[/L]
[L=http://www.monsterinkjets.com/ProductList.asp?ID=205&name=Canon%20i560[/L]
[L=http://www.tylermartin.com]http://www.tylermartin.com[/L]
(Necton probably better than rainbow)


can get continuous feed here: [L=http://www.theinkplace.com]http://www.theinkplace.com[/L]

for $1-$2 dollars...shipping varies with the number bought.

 

[videobruce]

How about a Laser printer if color isn't important?

A higher price doesn't make it a 'better' printer! Just more bells and whistles.................

 

[imported_FishTaco]

I've got a continuous feed system on an Epson Photo 875DC, its been running for over 2-3 years now printing lots of photos. Ink is cheap when you buy it in a bottle. But since you said she doesn't print photos, which consume alot of ink, sounds like she might be better off with a laser printer if color isn't important. If you have to have inkjet, there are third party carts, they are usually cheap, and there are ink cart refill kits. I never tried refill kits, so I can't offer any advice there.

 

[0roo0roo]

laser = low cost per page + crispness on even sh*t paper, higher intial costs, but tend to be less trouble.
inkjet = low initial cost. sh*t print quality for text. requires nice paper for less sh*t result. good color photo inkjets cost as much as low end laser.

get her a laser, tell her to print color at kinkos and photos at walmart or ofoto.com etc etc

 

[kranky]

Thanks for the suggestions. Turns out she isn't interested in a laser and although she's not scared by technology, she is intimidated by the thought of refilling and said she couldn't handle that (hands are kind of shaky). She only wants "one simple printer that can do color", and wants to print at home. So it looks like it's down to a conventional inkjet. She's happy with the old HP she has now and wants something like that but knows a new one will be much faster.

Also, she's pretty amazed that there are hundreds if not thousands of people reading this thread and giving her advice!

 

[RyanM]

Epson C84. Large black ink tank, pigmented inks so every print is nearly waterproof, seperate color ink tanks.

$99 - $20 MIR.

Faster than a Canon 560, too.

 

[Macro2]

I reiterate...Canon i560. Best all around inkjet...
$79 at Sams or Costco.

 

[Mem]

I would say Canon i560 or i860, if you are in Europe then the Canon i865 model.

Don`t think you can beat Canon ink for price(Canon and third party inks ).

 

[Cawchy87]

get your cartriges refilled, i know at local malls they do them for about 10 bucks for each cartrige.

 

[MDE]

Canon- cheapest first party ink out there on top of solid printers.

 

[Macro2]

RE:"get your cartriges refilled, i know at local malls they do them for about 10 bucks for each cartrige. "

Holy moley, you can buy original Canon Cartridges for close to that, If someone would pay me $10 to refill a Canon cartridge I'd quit my job and refill cartridges all day. Where was it they were doing this?

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: Macro2
RE:"get your cartriges refilled, i know at local malls they do them for about 10 bucks for each cartrige. "

Holy moley, you can buy original Canon Cartridges for close to that, If someone would pay me $10 to refill a Canon cartridge I'd quit my job and refill cartridges all day. Where was it they were doing this?

Yep, I saw Canon originals for my S630 at Fry's for about $11, $45 for a 4 pack (3 colors, 1 black, bonus 3x5 photo paper).

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

paid $50 for my Canon i470D printer, takes $5 black ink that you can buy everyday at your local bestbuy.

 

[Venomous]

Originally posted by: MachFive
Epson C84. Large black ink tank, pigmented inks so every print is nearly waterproof, seperate color ink tanks.

$99 - $20 MIR.

Faster than a Canon 560, too.

C84 is the biggest waste of money, not to mention, a total ink clogger. Heres what i did to mine with that last clog... Since then replaced with a Canon i860 and theres no lookin back!

[l]http://www.venomousmofo.com/mofo04/P1010047.JPG[/l]
[l]http://www.venomousmofo.com/mofo04/P1010048.JPG[/l]
[l]http://www.venomousmofo.com/mofo04/P1010049.JPG[/l]
[l]http://www.venomousmofo.com/mofo04/P1010050.JPG[/l]
[l]http://www.venomousmofo.com/mofo04/P1010051.JPG[/l]
[l]http://www.venomousmofo.com/mofo04/P1010052.JPG[/l]
[l]http://www.venomousmofo.com/mofo04/P1010053.JPG[/l]

Whats up with the code on the site?

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: Venomous

Originally posted by: MachFive
Epson C84. Large black ink tank, pigmented inks so every print is nearly waterproof, seperate color ink tanks.

$99 - $20 MIR.

Faster than a Canon 560, too.

C84 is the biggest waste of money, not to mention, a total ink clogger. Heres what i did to mine with that last clog... Since then replaced with a Canon i860 and theres no lookin back!

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Fixed your links . No video?

 

[Macro2]

Venemous...

ROTFLMAO, that's a classic inkjet post.

Saved a few of them for posterity.

 

[suklee]

Originally posted by: Venomous

Originally posted by: MachFive
Epson C84. Large black ink tank, pigmented inks so every print is nearly waterproof, seperate color ink tanks.

$99 - $20 MIR.

Faster than a Canon 560, too.

C84 is the biggest waste of money, not to mention, a total ink clogger. Heres what i did to mine with that last clog... Since then replaced with a Canon i860 and theres no lookin back!

[l]http://www.venomousmofo.com/mofo04/P1010047.JPG[/l]
[l]http://www.venomousmofo.com/mofo04/P1010048.JPG[/l]
[l]http://www.venomousmofo.com/mofo04/P1010049.JPG[/l]
[l]http://www.venomousmofo.com/mofo04/P1010050.JPG[/l]
[l]http://www.venomousmofo.com/mofo04/P1010051.JPG[/l]
[l]http://www.venomousmofo.com/mofo04/P1010052.JPG[/l]
[l]http://www.venomousmofo.com/mofo04/P1010053.JPG[/l]

Whats up with the code on the site?

LOL!! :beer:

Edit - thanks to the OP and this thread, I'm going to get our workplace a I560 to replace the I320 we've had

 

[Venomous]

Did i mention i sent it back to Epson with a dear john letter and received a " Sorry for the delay with your RMA, it appears your printer may have been damage during shipping ".

I swear, i will laugh my ass off if they send me a new one.

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

Originally posted by: Venomous
Did i mention i sent it back to Epson with a dear john letter and received a " Sorry for the delay with your RMA, it appears your printer may have been damage during shipping ".

I swear, i will laugh my ass off if they send me a new one.

LOL. keep us posted if they do send you a printer!

 

[batmanuel]

I'm personally partial to the HP printers for every day printing. I've had two Epsons give me a lot of grief with clogging, ink usage and paper jamming (Stylus 880 and C60). The PSC 2210 I bought back in 2002 hasn't given me any issues at all despite having printed 2,829 pages since then. I'm also pretty fond of the #56 black cartridges in terms of text quality. The cost for new carts isn't bad ($20 for one, $36 for a twin pack most places and you can even get a three pack for $50 if you shop at Costco), considering I ususally get around a ream of paper's printing out of each black cart.

I haven't used Canon for a while, as I still haven't quite forgiven them for the old BubbleJets that used those horrible skinny little BCI-21 carts that cost $12 and never lasted that long. I'm also not all that impressed by the text quality of the Canons either, although they do print wonderful pictures.

For around $90 the 5150 is a good, solid, inexpensive printer that uses the 56/57 cartridges. Make sure you avoid the 3650, though. It is about $10 cheaper than the 5150, but uses the 27/28 carts that, while marginally cheaper, only hold around half the ink of the 56/57 carts and thus have a lot higher cost per page.

I personally wish that HP had shown a bit of humor with this model and had the printer pictured on the 5150 box printing out a picture of a bodybuilder holding up the HP logo. I'm sure there are enough of us 80's kids out there to get the joke...

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

" I still haven't quite forgiven them for the old BubbleJets that used those horrible skinny little BCI-21 carts that cost $12"

i still use one of those
BJC-6000. bought it in 2000, still goin strong!

 

[Zepper]

kranky,
. I add my vote to those suggesting Canon. Either the i560 or i860 should be great for her. The i860 has two types of black ink. One is the normal dye based for graphics and the other is pigmented for text. Canon printers have been at the top of PC World's lists for some time. The July issue had the i455 as the World Class winner for general purpose ink jets and another Canon model, perhaps the i9900 for the photo printer. And the August issue that just arrived has the i860 as top gen purp , the i455 second (the 455 has small ink tanks and the color tank is tri-color instead of separate tanks - the 560 up has separate tanks for each color and the volume of ink in each tank is much greater). The i455 has no right to print photos as well as it does when you can get it for less than $60. plus SH.
. As others have said, consumables costs are also among the lowest for Canon. I get my 3rd party ink tanks from Tyler-Martin on eBay (their prices are higher direct from their web site for some reason). I'm about to try some of their new USA brand. I get sets of their Rainbow brand color and black for my i450 for less than $3. per set!

Venomous,
. That's how I feel about my C-82 after its clogging fits. You should have showed what you were hitting it with (or were you just kicking it down the driveway?) - a couple of contact shots would have been interesting...
. And have pity on us modemers. Please reduce the size of your pics for this kind of use to less than 640 pixels wide - keeping the size under 20k would also be nice.
. IrfanView could trim those down to size in a few seconds apiece. It's a free download.

.bh.

Time for :beer: :beer: !

 

[Algere]

Not to mention the MP730 All-In-One for best of '04.

 

[DJFuji]

i have an Epson 740 that i bought for $35 at Staples in '99 (retail $200 at the time). I buy generic ink cartridges for $2 bucks a piece ($3 for color), and sometimes cheaper if i buy in bulk. 5 years later the photo output isn't as slick as newer printers, but that machine is a workhorse. VERY inexpensive to run.