Printer recommendations?

BloodAngel · Post by **BloodAngel** » 2005-08-31 11:29am

I'm gonna need a new printer, since this Lexmark I have just threw in the towel. My main focuses are good quality prints and cheap cartridges (the Lexmark itself was cheap, but the color cartridges were highway robbery...), plus the printer's gonna have to work on Linux since I'll be using that along with Windows. Also, I don't need an all-in-one printer since I have a good scanner.

Thanks in advance. ^^

EDIT: Actually, nevermind, the Linux part isn't that high of a priority. Just want a nice printer that has decently-priced color cartridges, since it just dawned on me that they aren't always cheap.

The Cleric · Post by **The Cleric** » 2005-08-31 11:56am

I've ALWAYS used HP. Never had a problem, expect for the one that was over 5 years old and didn't get cleaned. It got horizontal streaks over everything. But the 3 that I've had since have never done that.

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2005-08-31 12:20pm

Seperate color tanks are a fucking must. The All-in-one versions are fucking highway robbery.

Also the initial tanks/drums sold with printers are 1/4 full on the retail versions!

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2005-08-31 12:35pm

Unless you absolutely must have color and are willing to pay the high prices for ink carts, my recommendation would be a cheap laser printer.

I've had my HP Laserjet 1200 for around 3 years now and I got 4800+ pages out of two $65 toner carts.

That said, if you must have color, Canon and HP are the way to go.
Stay the fuck away from Epson and Lexmark.

The Epson's printheads are built into the printer itself instead of being part of the ink cart or user replaceable, and once they clog you basically wind up throwing the printer away.

Lexmark has just about the most expensive per page costs because they rape you without lube on the cart replacements.
At least HP and Canon give you a reacharound.

Thunderfire · Post by **Thunderfire** » 2005-08-31 01:24pm

What kind of printer do you need. Epson inkjet printers are best if you print alot of photos. Canon inkjet printers are a good if you want a cheap printer for office documents. Get a used office laser printer if you don't need color printing.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2005-08-31 01:57pm

Check http://linuxprinting.org/ for Linux compatibility- HPs and Epsons are supposed to be good.

BloodAngel · Post by **BloodAngel** » 2005-08-31 06:07pm

ggs wrote:Also the initial tanks/drums sold with printers are 1/4 full on the retail versions!

Is that so...damn. Thanks for warning me of this, guess I might just have to buy an extra set of ink anyway.

I might go with the laser printer idea as Glocksman said, as after some review it seems I won't need to print color pictures as much. If I do it's going to cost a pretty penny though.

Then again, that's the price for quality, heh.

Post by **weemadando** » 2005-08-31 07:10pm

I bought an Epson C65 recently. Bloody cheap and good quality. Bought it as a temporary "stop-gap" printer, but may well keep it. It tends to be a bit of a black-ink hog though, but I do a HELLUVA lot of printing and am still more than half full, it might be that the gauge on the desktop is just a bit crazy.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2005-08-31 08:07pm

weemadando wrote:I bought an Epson C65 recently. Bloody cheap and good quality. Bought it as a temporary "stop-gap" printer, but may well keep it. It tends to be a bit of a black-ink hog though, but I do a HELLUVA lot of printing and am still more than half full, it might be that the gauge on the desktop is just a bit crazy.

That may be why you haven't had any problems with the Epson, as you print a lot and that keeps the heads from clogging.

I didn't print all that much, and both my original Epson Stylus Color and the 820 Photo printer that I had clogged up so bad that I couldn't get either printer to print remotely acceptable even after exhausting a new ink cart in cleaning attempts.

With most other printers the head is part of the cartridge and if it clogs, just pop in a new cart.

I might go with the laser printer idea as Glocksman said, as after some review it seems I won't need to print color pictures as much. If I do it's going to cost a pretty penny though

Not as much as you might think.
I paid $400 for my printer a few years ago.
However, you can get this HP laserjet from Newegg for about $135 or so.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2005-08-31 08:12pm

Glocksman wrote:Unless you absolutely must have color and are willing to pay the high prices for ink carts, my recommendation would be a cheap laser printer.

I've had my HP Laserjet 1200 for around 3 years now and I got 4800+ pages out of two $65 toner carts.

I agree that laser is the way to go for black and white, although for cheap excellence I would personally try and find one of the old Laserjet 2, 3, or 4 series printers. Those things are fucking tanks, I have heard many stories of them still running magnificently after nearly (or, in the case of the older ones, over) two decades of service and tens of thousands of pages printed.

They're not fast, but they're fucking reliable.