Lowest cost printer? advice?

jhknight56072@e · 03-11-2009, 04:32 PM

printer ink is ridiculous. what is the lowest cost printer for good quality home printing of documents and photos?

**bruiser** · 03-11-2009, 08:47 PM

Look at the Kodak models. They might not be as cheap as you want, but the ink is cheap.

**Chode** · 03-12-2009, 03:46 PM

This study was commissioned by Kodak, but I think the results are pretty representative. Click the link that's appropriate for you, and you'll be taken to a pdf file of the results. Kodak printers are definitely cheap to run, but...

Yeah, here's where the "gotcha" comes in. My experience with Kodak inkjets is very limited, but it hasn't been good. One of my customers bought 3 ESP5s and none worked correctly. They printed OK, but scans and copies, whether done through Kodak's software, the Windows Scanner & Camera Wizard, or the buttons on the printer just produced totally black pages.

When I called Kodak support, I was told that the problem was with the firmware. I insisted that I couldn't believe Kodak would ship a product with firmware this bad, but the support guy insisted it was true, and I just needed to update the firmware in the printers, and everything would be fine.

After updating the firmware, the results were just the same, so we packed up the printers, returned them, and replaced them with Canons. Overall, I like Canon better than any other brand, but Brother also makes good hardware.

HP products currently suffer from frequent driver problems and generally overblown and annoying feature bloat. HP's Solution Center software is the perfect example of a program that's so helpful, you can't get anything done. Many HP multifunction devices still have some glitches in Vista, if that matters to you.

csc2000e · 03-12-2009, 05:27 PM

Yeah, don't buy HP, they are horrible. Especially with Vista. Sometimes you hit print and nothing happens. Drivers are buggy too. I will be switching to a Canon soon...

inkinawink · 03-13-2009, 10:19 AM

I highly recommend Canon Printers, but.....try and get the model that takes the PGI5 and CLI8 ink cartridges. These have the best bang for the buck. The newer models have a similar cartridge, you may be talked into buying one, but don't, they are smaller cartridges than the PGI/CLI and noisier printers, plus the chip can not be reset as of yet.

yisgood · 03-17-2009, 09:43 AM

Right now Epson is having a blowout on the 5-color R280 for $60. It even prints on DVDs.
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/c...RID=1013876963

The biggest complaint about all inkjets is the high cost of ink cartridges. http://ccs-digital.com has cartridges for about $4.50 each. They also have a unique product - a two-piece cartridge where the ink is in a separate tank inside the cartridge. When the ink runs out, you replace just the ink tank and the original chip resets itself to full. By keeping the same chip, you save 1.50 per cartridge. Ink tanks are only $3 and hold 50% more ink than disposable cartridges.

As someone who was in the computer hardware business for years (though I rarely sold printers since I couldn't compete with the crazy rebates) I have always recommended Epson. The print quality is excellent, even on plain paper. I have photos I printed on a 640 about ten years ago hanging in my office which still look good, though not as good as the ones from the CX8400 on glossy paper. The warranty is excellent. For a year, Epson will express-ship a replacement and pick up the old one. I had one customer who needed this. He called one afternoon and had the replacement two days later. Another client bought a Canon. It needed two repairs within a few months. Each time it was taken to the repair center, then picked up a few days later. This client runs a specialty printing business and this really hurt. They have since bought an Epson and have had no down time since.

Epson has also made things easier for their customers by standardizing their cartridges. Most of their printers use one of two types. The three-color plus black use T069 (CX5000 CX6000 CX7000 CX7400 CX7450 CX8400 CX9400FAX CX9475Fax NX100 NX105 NX400 Workforce 30/40/500/600 and C120) and the 5-color plus black use T078 (R260 R280 R380 RX580 RX595 and RX680). This means you should be able to find a lot of people who use the same cartridges you do. When it's time to replace the printer, the next model will probably also use the same ones.

**Net Jockey** · 03-17-2009, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by csc2000e

Yeah, don't buy HP, they are horrible. Especially with Vista. Sometimes you hit print and nothing happens. Drivers are buggy too. I will be switching to a Canon soon...

Hitting Print and having nothing happen is not the printers fault. It is the word processors fault. Suddenly...with an update to open office...that happened to me...I installed Jarte...and the problem was solved.
And that occurred on two of my Hp printers. HP printers are the only printers that I will purchase...And I will not refill the ink cartridges.

To those of you who have success with Cannon Printers...God is Blessing You.

03-11-2009, 04:32 PM	#1 (permalink)
jhknight56072@e Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 23 OS: Windows Vista home premium	Lowest cost printer? advice? printer ink is ridiculous. what is the lowest cost printer for good quality home printing of documents and photos?

03-11-2009, 08:47 PM	#2 (permalink)
bruiser TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 1,973 OS: xp	Re: Lowest cost printer? advice? Look at the Kodak models. They might not be as cheap as you want, but the ink is cheap.

03-12-2009, 03:46 PM	#3 (permalink)
Chode TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 1,280 OS: Windows XP Pro	Re: Lowest cost printer? advice? This study was commissioned by Kodak, but I think the results are pretty representative. Click the link that's appropriate for you, and you'll be taken to a pdf file of the results. Kodak printers are definitely cheap to run, but... Yeah, here's where the "gotcha" comes in. My experience with Kodak inkjets is very limited, but it hasn't been good. One of my customers bought 3 ESP5s and none worked correctly. They printed OK, but scans and copies, whether done through Kodak's software, the Windows Scanner & Camera Wizard, or the buttons on the printer just produced totally black pages. When I called Kodak support, I was told that the problem was with the firmware. I insisted that I couldn't believe Kodak would ship a product with firmware this bad, but the support guy insisted it was true, and I just needed to update the firmware in the printers, and everything would be fine. After updating the firmware, the results were just the same, so we packed up the printers, returned them, and replaced them with Canons. Overall, I like Canon better than any other brand, but Brother also makes good hardware. HP products currently suffer from frequent driver problems and generally overblown and annoying feature bloat. HP's Solution Center software is the perfect example of a program that's so helpful, you can't get anything done. Many HP multifunction devices still have some glitches in Vista, if that matters to you. __________________ Sweet!

03-12-2009, 05:27 PM	#4 (permalink)
csc2000e Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 340 OS: Vista Home Premium SP1 My System	Re: Lowest cost printer? advice? Yeah, don't buy HP, they are horrible. Especially with Vista. Sometimes you hit print and nothing happens. Drivers are buggy too. I will be switching to a Canon soon...

03-13-2009, 10:19 AM	#5 (permalink)
inkinawink Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: B.C. Canada Posts: 82 OS: vista sp1	Re: Lowest cost printer? advice? I highly recommend Canon Printers, but.....try and get the model that takes the PGI5 and CLI8 ink cartridges. These have the best bang for the buck. The newer models have a similar cartridge, you may be talked into buying one, but don't, they are smaller cartridges than the PGI/CLI and noisier printers, plus the chip can not be reset as of yet.

03-17-2009, 09:43 AM	#6 (permalink)
yisgood Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 34 OS: xp sp2	Re: Lowest cost printer? advice? Right now Epson is having a blowout on the 5-color R280 for $60. It even prints on DVDs. http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/c...RID=1013876963 The biggest complaint about all inkjets is the high cost of ink cartridges. http://ccs-digital.com has cartridges for about $4.50 each. They also have a unique product - a two-piece cartridge where the ink is in a separate tank inside the cartridge. When the ink runs out, you replace just the ink tank and the original chip resets itself to full. By keeping the same chip, you save 1.50 per cartridge. Ink tanks are only $3 and hold 50% more ink than disposable cartridges. As someone who was in the computer hardware business for years (though I rarely sold printers since I couldn't compete with the crazy rebates) I have always recommended Epson. The print quality is excellent, even on plain paper. I have photos I printed on a 640 about ten years ago hanging in my office which still look good, though not as good as the ones from the CX8400 on glossy paper. The warranty is excellent. For a year, Epson will express-ship a replacement and pick up the old one. I had one customer who needed this. He called one afternoon and had the replacement two days later. Another client bought a Canon. It needed two repairs within a few months. Each time it was taken to the repair center, then picked up a few days later. This client runs a specialty printing business and this really hurt. They have since bought an Epson and have had no down time since. Epson has also made things easier for their customers by standardizing their cartridges. Most of their printers use one of two types. The three-color plus black use T069 (CX5000 CX6000 CX7000 CX7400 CX7450 CX8400 CX9400FAX CX9475Fax NX100 NX105 NX400 Workforce 30/40/500/600 and C120) and the 5-color plus black use T078 (R260 R280 R380 RX580 RX595 and RX680). This means you should be able to find a lot of people who use the same cartridges you do. When it's time to replace the printer, the next model will probably also use the same ones.