Printers

[strange_complex]

I really need to buy a printer. Quite urgently, actually. Please convey your printer-related advice to me via the poll below:

[Poll #757065]

I am also interested in views on the relative merits of straightforward inkjets, straightforward laser printers and 'all-in-ones' which copy and scan as well as printing. Do comment if you have thoughts on any of them!

Comments

[avaritia.livejournal.com]

I've got a Hewlett Packard all in one & I've been happy with it. Very handy for making emergency photocopies.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that could come in really handy while I'm doing this summer school (which is basically what I want the printer for in the first place).

[smogo.livejournal.com]

NB: I believe Dell printers are just Lexmarks with different branding.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Ah, didn't know that - thanks!

[leucopternis.livejournal.com]

Also Compaq is a part of HP, everything inside Compaq is HP, just slightly lower priced branding.

[stainsteelrat.livejournal.com]

I've used both a Canon ip3000 (I think that's the model name) and an Epson Stylus Photo R220 recently, and both are great although I prefer the Canon.

If using it for photos it's worth looking at the relative merits of these printers vs. traditional prints, as there's a bit of a backlash against inkjet photo printers what with ink cost and fading.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

I think photos would be a secondary use, so it's not one of the main criteria I'm using. Still interesting to hear, though.

[blob.livejournal.com]

We always had HP printers and never had any trouble at all with them. Our current printer is an Epson, as we bought it on special offer, and it's constantly going wrong. It's already been into the repair centre once, and frequently ends up printing out a load of streaky text.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Yep, I have an Epson now - hence the need for a new printer! :/

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

I have a lovely big solid HP printer here at work. I've never had the slightest problem with it. The old one was awful, but I can't recall what make that was.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Yes, HP are leading the recommendations table by quite a way at the moment!

[ex-lark-asc.livejournal.com]

crazyscot has an all-in-one scanner/copier/printer - it's a HP PSC 1400 series one, colour or b/w, and we have no problem with it. It takes a separate black cartridge to the all-in-one colour cartridge, which is a massive advantage as it's always the black ink that runs out first!

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

HPs seem to be getting a pretty big vote of confidence so far. I may well go that way.

[kkjxx.livejournal.com]

OK, my info is a few years old (like three) but when I was an IT desk guy, the HP printers were the only ones I didn't want to chuck out of the window...

Also we had Kyocera printers, that, while good, were hugely expensive as a whole and probably beyond the bounds of what you're looking for.

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

HP lasers used to be very solid and reliable workhorses. Not sure these days.

Samsung lasers are very cheap but the supplied toner is only half-filled - they make the money back when you need to replace the toner cartridge.

I'd only go for inkjet if I wanted colour or A3, otherwise laser is best (and less hassle).

Avoid combination devices, as it's just more to go wrong, and more expensive to replace when it does. Drivers can be an issue to.

[timsmith.livejournal.com]

Iv got a HP 1220c iv had it for for 2 years and its amazing. It prints a3 and colour.

[thebiomechanoid.livejournal.com]

Hewlett packard all in one does the job for me too!

[kaz-pixie.livejournal.com]

Just to clarify on my poll entry. I have a lexmark. It is brilliant. BUT the ink cartridges are at cheapest £16 each for a black one - and it doesn't last all that long. But the printer itself is fab.

[qatsi.livejournal.com]

I replaced my 6-year-old HP all-in-one (sheet feed scanner) with a new HP PSC1500 all-in-one (flat bed scanner) at Christmas. So far, so good. If you aren't a frequent user, it's worth printing off a colour page every few months just to make sure the print heads aren't drying out - I lost a couple of colour cartridges that way.

No real gripes from me about any of the manufacturers listed, but I'd prefer to pick one where I know there will be no difficulty in getting cartridges (whether original, "compatible" or "recycled"). It's not much help if they aren't stocked in Tescos or PC World if you're in a hurry.

[purple-peril.livejournal.com]

I have an Epson Stylus Photo RX500 sitting on my desk here. It does scanning and photocopying and printing, and allegedly prints photos although I haven't tried that. It has little slots in the front where you can print your photos directly from the memory card.
I'm not hugely impressed with it to be honest. It makes a right song and dance about doing anything and the scanning software it came with is crap. Also, although all the ink colours are in separate cartridges, it will sometimes refuse to print something black and white because the yellow is empty, or some other excuse. And the ink is fiendishly expensive.
I end up emailing stuff to myself at work to print instead of using my printer at home. It's not that is doesn't do what I want, it just makes it difficult!

[ticktockman.livejournal.com]

I'm a big fan of Okidata black and white laser printers. They hold up very well and the ones I have used had very inexpensive toner because the toner cartridge isn't filled with operating parts, just toner.

g'luck

*daha*

[edling.livejournal.com]

Seeing as I'm in a verbose mood I'll throw my 2p in:
I'm not that up on the merits of individual manufacturers, so I can't comment much on them other than we use a fair amount of HP kit here (printers and other stuff), and they're usually pretty good. I'd avoid Compaq or Dell cos I'd suspect them of being cheap rebage jobs for the home market.
Having said that- lots of people get free printers they don't want with new PCs and dump them straight on e-bay- you could pick one of those up for a few quid and even if it only lasts 6 months you've got your money's worth.
If you don't fancy that and want to buy one, my thoughts would be that an inkjet'd be cheaper and'd do colour should you need it, but one with a seperate black cartridge'd be a good idea because you'll be bound to burn through that faster- it might not last longer than a couple of years though. On the other hand, a decent b&w laserjet could keep going quite happily for lots longer.
Re- all in ones: The extra facilities could be handy sometimes, depending on how much you might use them, but as with all these things more complication = more stuff to go wrong...

[edling.livejournal.com]

More babbling: Might we worth having a wander through PC Plus's Peripheral Reviews (http://www.pcplus.co.uk/reviews/peripherals) to see if there's any useful information in there. I've not read the mag for ages but they used to be pretty good...

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the advice, but kind of too late - I've just finished installing my sexy new HP Photosmart 2575 All-in-One (http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF05a/5043-5527-7369133-7369133-7369155-12209612.html)! (I wasn't joking when I said I needed one urgently!) It's ace, though, and pretty much fits with your advice - it does have a separate black cartridge, and I think the risk of the extra bits going wrong is worth how much use I'll get out of them - especially the copier.

I got five years out of my last printer, and that was a crummy old Epson, so I'm reasonably hopeful about getting a decent amount of service out of this one.