Recommend an inkjet printer
June 4, 2010 6:21 AM Subscribe
I need a new inkjet printer for a PC. Any recommendations?
The three regular (not all-in-one) printers top-rated by Consumer Reports -- HP Photosmart D7560, HP Officejet Pro 8000 Wireless, and Canon Pixma iP4700 -- are all difficult or impossible to find in Toronto. If you can help me find one of these in Toronto, please do.
Otherwise, any recommendations for printers? Preferably printers that are economical on ink (the HP Officejet prints an 8x10 color photo for $1.05). Thanks.
The three regular (not all-in-one) printers top-rated by Consumer Reports -- HP Photosmart D7560, HP Officejet Pro 8000 Wireless, and Canon Pixma iP4700 -- are all difficult or impossible to find in Toronto. If you can help me find one of these in Toronto, please do.
Otherwise, any recommendations for printers? Preferably printers that are economical on ink (the HP Officejet prints an 8x10 color photo for $1.05). Thanks.
Best answer: I am a huge proponent of Brother printers. They're cheaper, they last a long time, and the cheap Chinese ink from ebay works great in them. YMMV, etc.
posted by nosila at 6:49 AM on June 4, 2010
posted by nosila at 6:49 AM on June 4, 2010
Response by poster: My printing needs - mostly text, but when I do print a photo I wnat it to look great.
posted by feelinggood at 8:04 AM on June 4, 2010
posted by feelinggood at 8:04 AM on June 4, 2010
My 2ยข - I am in love with my Epson Artisan 700. It's wireless and prints amazing quality, quickly, for pretty cheap in terms of ink. You can also do things without it being connected to a PC (pictures, etc). It can also scan to and print from a USB memory stick. It runs on 6 individual color cartridges instead of the usual 'tricolor' type, meaning you can just replace cyan when its out instead of tossing the entire tricolor. The pack of all 6 is $60. It is an All In One (no faxing) but its the same size as a non AIO.
If you're looking for dirt cheap ink, try out the Kodak EasyShare printers. They sell those specifically to combat the Gillette style pricing. The printer is more expensive but their ink is dirt cheap (around $10 on Amazon).
posted by msbutah at 8:16 AM on June 4, 2010
If you're looking for dirt cheap ink, try out the Kodak EasyShare printers. They sell those specifically to combat the Gillette style pricing. The printer is more expensive but their ink is dirt cheap (around $10 on Amazon).
posted by msbutah at 8:16 AM on June 4, 2010
I'm seconding a laser printer.
It is far more economical when it comes to cost/page. For photos; you could either get a B&W printer, and the go to a store to print your color photos. Or you could get a color printer and pay a lot more for the printer/cartridges, but possibly save money vs going to the store.
I own a color Lexmark c520 laser printer and I would never ever go back to inkjet.
posted by Sonic_Molson at 9:06 AM on June 4, 2010
It is far more economical when it comes to cost/page. For photos; you could either get a B&W printer, and the go to a store to print your color photos. Or you could get a color printer and pay a lot more for the printer/cartridges, but possibly save money vs going to the store.
I own a color Lexmark c520 laser printer and I would never ever go back to inkjet.
posted by Sonic_Molson at 9:06 AM on June 4, 2010
I sell printers. For inkjets at home, I'd go Brother or Epsoninks tend to be cheaper and smaller (so they dont dry up before you use it all).
posted by WeekendJen at 9:24 AM on June 4, 2010
posted by WeekendJen at 9:24 AM on June 4, 2010
If you are able to find it, I highly recommend the HP Officejet 8000. The automatic two sided printing saves on paper, which is obviously the other cost of printing.
The one thing that I find very annoying with home lasers is the warm-up time. If you're printing with the officejet in draft mode, I'm not convinced any laser would be faster for short jobs, considering warm up time.
posted by fontophilic at 9:55 AM on June 4, 2010
The one thing that I find very annoying with home lasers is the warm-up time. If you're printing with the officejet in draft mode, I'm not convinced any laser would be faster for short jobs, considering warm up time.
posted by fontophilic at 9:55 AM on June 4, 2010
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I switched to laser printing at home, and I would recommend it if you're not printing photos all the time. The toner cartridges for laser printers seem more expensive, but they last a long time and are more consistent than ink jet. I buy toner refill kits on ebay for about $10, and have been using the same cartridge since I bought my printer in 2004.
I have a small pixma ink jet photo printer that I use for printing my digital pictures, but the ink cartridge is really small and runs out fast and just dries up if I don't use it a lot... so I only put a cartridge in when I want to print a bunch of photos.
It looks like TigerDirect has the Officejet Pro, but sometimes the physical stores have different stock from the website, so it's good to call ahead.
posted by kaudio at 6:40 AM on June 4, 2010