Printer recommendation?

[Phrederick]

Hey all!

Just looking for a printer recommendation...

Currently, we have an Epson Photo 700 connected to the HP JetDirect
printserver. We never shut the printer off and it still runs fine. At it's
age, this printer needs to have the slide rail cleaned occasionally, and
requires printhead clean cycles more often though. I don't see it being
economical to keep much longer.

We also have a LaserJet IIID that I was sharing from my PC, but we only use
it once a month, if that. It's a big beast and eats lots of power, so we
can't just leave this on the print server turned on 24/7. We do like the
fact that this prints doublesided without any intervention.

We print less than 5 pages per week. 95% of the printing could be handled by
a black & white printer. With our network, we'd want a printer that would be
happy to be left turned on 24/7, connected to the JetDirect server (parallel
connection only) - or if it had an ethernet port itself.

We do some occasionaly colour printing (cards, diagrams, etc.) and have a
5megapixel camera, so photo quality does count.

We don't refill cartridges, but I'm hearing a lot of horror stories about
how much ink costs these days.

Print speed and warmup time is not really an issue, as long as it does
eventually print.

....any suggestions?

 

[Zermut]

Hey all!

Just looking for a printer recommendation...

Currently, we have an Epson Photo 700 connected to the HP JetDirect
printserver. We never shut the printer off and it still runs fine. At it's
age, this printer needs to have the slide rail cleaned occasionally, and
requires printhead clean cycles more often though. I don't see it being
economical to keep much longer.

We also have a LaserJet IIID that I was sharing from my PC, but we only use
it once a month, if that. It's a big beast and eats lots of power, so we
can't just leave this on the print server turned on 24/7. We do like the
fact that this prints doublesided without any intervention.

We print less than 5 pages per week. 95% of the printing could be handled by
a black & white printer. With our network, we'd want a printer that would be
happy to be left turned on 24/7, connected to the JetDirect server (parallel
connection only) - or if it had an ethernet port itself.

We do some occasionaly colour printing (cards, diagrams, etc.) and have a
5megapixel camera, so photo quality does count.

We don't refill cartridges, but I'm hearing a lot of horror stories about
how much ink costs these days.

Print speed and warmup time is not really an issue, as long as it does
eventually print.

...any suggestions?

You would get a better response if you posted this in the
comp.sys.hp.hardware newsgroup.

 

[Larry]

5 pages per week?

You certainly do not want a printer with a fixed print head. Your printing
habits are generally deadly to InkJets.

I can't believe I'm saying this (being a Canon sort of guy), but I think you
are the rare case I have to recommend an HP to.

The main reason is if a print head develops, you can just toss away the
cartridge and put a new one in. Problem solved.

At your low print volumes, I don't think Ink costs are much of an issue, but
be aware that next to Lexmark, HP is the most expensive.

-Larry

 

[Phrederick]

5 pages per week?

You certainly do not want a printer with a fixed print head. Your printing
habits are generally deadly to InkJets.

I've had my Epson for 5 years and other than running a cleaning cycle once
or twice a year, it's been fine.

I can't believe I'm saying this (being a Canon sort of guy), but I think you
are the rare case I have to recommend an HP to.

Had much to much bad luck with HP's. Never had one last more than six
months. Won't touch Lexmark based on ink prices. I owned a Canon BJC4000 a
long time ago and it was OK.

I'd really just get a laser printer, but then I'm stuck if I need colour.

Thanks for the info!

 

[PJx]

I've had my Epson for 5 years and other than running a cleaning cycle once
or twice a year, it's been fine.


Had much to much bad luck with HP's. Never had one last more than six
months. Won't touch Lexmark based on ink prices. I owned a Canon BJC4000 a
long time ago and it was OK.

Your experience is not normal. The new HP printers should last for
years and you can get a nice printer that accepts your camera memory
cards for less than $150. Leave it on all the time as it draws
minimal power.

Spend a minute reading the reviews here and you will see that the
canon is the preferred one, so give them a try if you refuse to use an
HP.

 

[LAH]

Your experience is not normal. The new HP printers should last for
years and you can get a nice printer that accepts your camera memory
cards for less than $150. Leave it on all the time as it draws
minimal power.

I'd have to agree here. I'm still successfully using my HP 712C, going on 6
years now. It's left on 24/7. I tend to print sporadically - go weeks with
only and occasional page or two and then turn around and do a pretty big
job. Never had any trouble with the printer. I've never tried refilling
the ink cartridges. Considering the way I use the printer it just never
seemed worth the effort.

 

[Noozer]

BJC4000

I'd have to agree here. I'm still successfully using my HP 712C, going on 6
years now. It's left on 24/7. I tend to print sporadically - go weeks with
only and occasional page or two and then turn around and do a pretty big
job. Never had any trouble with the printer. I've never tried refilling
the ink cartridges. Considering the way I use the printer it just never
seemed worth the effort.
so like

With the amount of printing I'll be doing I've decided that something like
the Canon i860 would do the job. I like the individual ink tanks. I'd prefer
the i960 with it having six colours but it only has USB and I require a
parallel interface.

Also, the tanks on the i860 seem to be reasonably priced and don't appear to
be chipped (are they?) I'll do whatever I can to avoid a company that tries
to monopolize their ink sales.

I still haven't done any REAL investigation, but the Canons do seem like
good printers with a reasonable cost per page.

 

[Buddy B]

I still haven't done any REAL investigation, but the Canons do seem like
good printers with a reasonable cost per page.

The big drawback with Canon seems to be the adverse comments I`ve seen
about picture fading.

 

[Buddy B]

With the amount of printing I'll be doing I've decided that something like
the Canon i860 would do the job. I like the individual ink tanks. I'd prefer
the i960 with it having six colours but it only has USB and I require a
parallel interface.

the text printed by the 860 is blacker than that printed by the 960.
The 860 has 2 black ink carts, I believe.

 

[Faolan]

In the writings of Buddy B, the <g215uvc49330l273rqmu6flkpgmp75g3i8@
4ax.com> scrolls contained these prophetic words:

The big drawback with Canon seems to be the adverse comments I`ve seen
about picture fading.

Personal observations it seem to be more the environment that the
photo's are kept in, I have now had 3 photo's printed (Ilford Classic
Gloss, Classic Satin and Canons own PPP paper), in direct sunlight in my
patio with no protection for month plus I keep a reference shot in a
folder to protect it, so far after a month and a half there has been no
discernable fading with the i965 prints.

This is the with the Canon inks that came with the printer. I think
treat the prints as they was photographs and not expose them to harsh
environments then they will be fine. Most of my photographs have been
framed, and my calenders that I printed off laminated.