Should I Buy That Cheap Inkjet Printer? - Comments Page 1

What about just buying the $29 printing INSTEAD of buying a $40 ink cartridge? As long as it prints at least 3/4 the number of pages that the $40 replacement cartridge does, the $29 printer costs the same or less.

Just remember to get a wireless printer (or one with the cable included--not likely at the $29) or one that will use your existing printer cable.

The only other cost is setup, both the physical setup and the software driver installation. For home use, where the cost of home labor is free, buying and tossing printers can work.

Something to consider.

I owned an original HP Photosmart which faithfully performed for 11 years. When it could no longer be repaired, I settled on a Canon Pixma IP4820 as I had no need for a multifunction printer. I have been very favorably impressed by this printer for the year plus that I have owned it and use it daily. Photos (on photo paper) are fabulous and I appreciate the 5 ink cartridges which I purchase from 4Ink and have found their quality to be outstanding. Although my printer usage is daily, I would rate my overall usage as
low. This inexpensive printer ($79 when I bought it) has perfored very well.

I find that a small brother laser printer, with automatic duplex ability, is by far the least expensive printer for the home. Homework, recipes, reports, letters - you name it. One can keep an inkjet for the occasional photograph, but on a cost per sheet basis an inkjet can not come near an inexpensive laser printer.

I find that for home use (and sometimes for business use,) many of the documents I need to save don't actually need to be saved as hard copies. Therefore, I find myself using a virtual printer that prints my documents to pdf format that can be saved on my hard drive or on any other electronic storage device. The pdf format doesn't take up much disk space, and I really cut down on my use of ink and paper.

I agree inktjet printer are expensive on the long run, the initial investment is lower than a laserjet but they get you with the ink (New set of ink $40 low usage last 2 months)
For that reason I bought a B/W Laserjet Brother HL-2270DW Laser Printer $99,-- at Amazon.com. This is a network printer that means everyone at my home can hook up to the network and print. It is way cheaper in use than a Inkjet. I have to buy maybe one toner cartridge ($45,-) a year and that's it. Documents printed on a laserprinter are also more crisp than printed on a deskjet.
The need for color these days is low as photoprints are dirth cheap these days and everyhing is on the web anyways.

I think there needs to be more info in the article. :-) For instance, it appears you were referring primarily to printers for an office. What about personal printing? You mentioned how many pages of HP black and white could be printed from one of their cartridges, but what about color (and that was an Officejet.

I'm looking for suggestions on a really good printer that will handle producing lab quality photos as well as sharp documents. It would also be good to have it as an all in one printer with fax.

So am I better off buying as an example a highly rated $300 Canon or a highly rated $99 Canon? Aren't the ink cartridges about the same cost for the Epsons, Canon's and HP for the various lines of printers?

Thx,
Dave

I've had very good luck with refurbished printers. You can usually get a $150 model for $99. And they often come with better warrantys than new.

At least one cheapo printer I got came with some slightly outdated software that I've been using ever since. I think one came with Photoshop Elements, and I also have the ability to convert my documents to .pdf files, courtesy of a cheap printer. However, I don't need to print anything very often anyway.

If you don't print frequently you may find the ink cartridge has dried out. After years of frustration with ink jets -- both cheap and expensive -- I switched to a reasonably priced laser printer (Brother HL-1440)2 years ago and I've never regretted it.

I gave up on inkjet printers a couple of years ago. I found a laser printer on sale and have been really happy with it. No more clogged ink, no more replacing cartridges just because I haven't used the printer for a few days and the ink dried up. I don't miss the color prints at all.

I'm in the UK and there are a a couple of linked retail companies here I have dealt with who are now "giving away" printers. Yes - free! Blazes the headline but "all we ask" is that you buy the consumables for it, so that says it all, really. Not being disparaging to the company. I have bought some cracking new and re-furbished stuff from them with excellent service but "free" printers? As an example, see: http://www.ijtdirect.co.uk/dell1350rp/
and the price of the consumables. Not cheap.

re:printer replacement=canon
Just had a failure with a pixma ip3600.Seems that there is a print sheet counter(although they do not admit it)that upon reaching a predetermined count,shuts the printer off.This is supposed to be a waste ink level counter-there is no practical way to "empty" the waste ink storage container.The problem(s) manifest them selves by blinking the "on" lamp.
If you experience any "blink" problems,call canon service and discuss the number of lamp blinks (the blink code=[flashes] is related to whatever your problem is) and the rep will make a suggestion as to repair or replacement.
In my case it was replace-canon has a "loyalty discount".In my pixma ip3600 was $59 with free shipping.
As I had a large number of ink cartridges on hand, using the same printer was an economic decision.
Best regards
Bob Byrne(n4pog@hotmail.co)

While the initial cost might be a bit more purchasing either a B/W or Color Laser printer might be worth considering. The reasons, no heads to replace, ink will not dry out, printing is faster.

Granted the cost of cartridges can set you back a bit but considering the number of pages one can print using a laser printer (depending on your printing needs), they can last for quite a while

How about the best of all worlds, a quality all in one printer with inexpensive ink, at a really good price. The Brother MFC-J430W Inkjet All-in-One fits quite well.

http://www.amazon.com/Brother-MFC-J430W-Inkjet-All-in-One-MFCJ430W/dp/B005PP7SI2/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340737422&sr=1-4&keywords=brother+mfc-j435w

I have a Canon BJ-100 Printer that we have used for at least 15 Years to print all kinds of Documents from mailing lists to Business cards and Letters of course.

I have a container with black printer ink and a syringe. I put a 1/8" hole in the top of the ink cartridge and when it runs low iI give it another OZ or two.

My latest color cost $30. and includes a color scanner. Since it has color and black Cart"s when the black is getting faint: it gets a squirt!

As a relatively low usage home user I've been very happy with a cheap ink jet Epson CX5000 duopurpose (printing & scanning, no fax, no wireless).
Several years ago I bought a set of 4 refillable cartridges with permanently re-set chips and since then have been "rolling my own" refills; an easy 15 or 20-minute job every 3 or 4 months at an approximate cost of about $1.25 a cartridge if I use dye base ink or $2.00 ea. for pigmented ink.

I've always used Epson printers, can be bought quite cheaply and there is always loads of non-Epson ink around that is sooo cheap and just as good.

I bought an Epson Artisan 810 over 2 yrs. ago. MSRP was $299, and Staples had it on sale for $199. I installed a CIS on it, thus voiding the warranty. Never had an issue with this unit, although it is a very good idea not to install any driver updates or else you'll get hooked into using Epson ink cartridges only! I have been disappointed with HP at all price points, but this Epson rocks in all areas.

I bought only one printer (Epson) (and only one computer) in my Internet life of 15 years or so. All the rest were given to me (including 3 computers) when users ran into a printing problem (or upgraded their printers or computers.) If necessary I fix them or give them away, keeping the one I like best. I am down to three printers and three computers. I like the old HP Deskjet (my work horse) printer best (6540) best and the HP computer. I like Epsons least. My printing is so infrequent that the cost of the cartridges is a moot subject. The old Canon Pixma IP1600 is "ok." I keep it because it is a top feeder. (By the way, beside having old computer stuff, my car is 21 years old and I'm 94; my cat is 19. I do buy green bananas but I eat them fast.)

EDITOR'S NOTE: Wow, Frank... I am truly impressed! Big kudos to you for staying on top of tech. I'm afraid that when I reach your age (44 short years from now) there will be no "user-serviceable" parts in my computer.

Last yea r I bought an Epson printer. The cartridges are fairly expensive, but last for a very long time. At first I was concerned but am now satisfied. The print quality is good and BW copies come out almost instantly. I have been using Epson for a fair number of years and have been reasonably happy. The printers last for 2 to 3 years (maybe because of the cut-rate cartridges I used) but overall they were decent.