Decent Printer - any ideas

[Dramaqueen]

i need to purchase a printer, but really don't know where to start
it must not be too expensive
i would like to be able to print good quality photos/images
so needs to be b & w + colour
could possible print direct from camera (but not necessity) if this adds too much to cost

what would be a top ten shopping list of questions to ask when buying a printer?

many thanks
DramaQueen

 

[Quadophile]

If you let us know your budget it would help identify a suitable printer.

 

[KGB-911]

A rule i would reccomend you follow when buying a printer:

The cheaper the printer, The more expensive the ink!

I personally would reccomend the "HP DeskJet 5652"

http://www.dabs.com/uk/Search2/Product+Details.htm?quicklinx=35ZX&searchphrase=hp deskjet 5652

For £100 it is great


Can print some of the highest quality images i have seen, and can send pages out in 7 secconds in dreaft mode!

I would reccomend it

KGB

 

[Dramaqueen]

thanks
i had thought around £100 tops, so the one from dabs sounds ideal (would have liked some change from £100 but if it does what it says on the box it must be worth it)

thanks for the speedy response
Dramaqueen

 

[KGB-911]

It does exactally what it says... it wll evan print double sided!!!

(it will print one side of an entire book and ask you to put all the sheets in the paper draw again)

Well worth it...

KGB

 

[Dramaqueen]

What would i need to purchase with it, or does it come will all necessary bits and pieces?

Also, looking at the Dabs site they have a lower spec for £50.99 - HP 3650c

what's the main difference?

thanks
Dramaqueen

 

[KGB-911]

I don't know the diferance, you may need a USB lead & some paper, but apart from that, it should have everything with it

Ill have a look at the 2 printers for you


KGB

 

[KGB-911]

There ink is about the same price, you may as well go with the cheeper one, i see no reason not to!

 

[Dramaqueen]

Great, thanks - that's saved my £50 squid then! All the better to spend on the '24' (Keifer sutherland) box set of DVD's (hence the name dramaqueen!)

Dramaqueen

 

[ChristopherP]

24 is an awesome series! the one with Jack Bauer right?

 

[KGB-911]

never heared of it!

 

[floppybootstomp]

Through past experience, I always choose HP for inkjet printers, but not for laser. If you want a good mono laser printer, I'd go for Samsung or Brother. I've used all three.

I'm intrigued with the price difference between those two HP printers mentioned here. There really doesn't seem to be any difference in the specs, does there? How odd. Only significant difference I can see is that the colour cartridge for the dearer one costs £30.00 whereas the cheaper version's colour cartridge costs £20.00.

Perhaps the more expensive model is more economical with ink? I'd really love to find out if there is any real difference.

 

[Quadophile]

Through past experience, I always choose HP for inkjet printers, but not for laser. If you want a good mono laser printer, I'd go for Samsung or Brother. I've used all three.

I'm intrigued with the price difference between those two HP printers mentioned here. There really doesn't seem to be any difference in the specs, does there? How odd. Only significant difference I can see is that the colour cartridge for the dearer one costs £30.00 whereas the cheaper version's colour cartridge costs £20.00.

Perhaps the more expensive model is more economical with ink? I'd really love to find out if there is any real difference.

Of course there is a big difference between the two printers! Do you really think at twice the price the specs would be same?

1) 5000 Series printers are more durable with 3000 duty cycles per month, the 3000 series has a duty cycle of just 1000. This means the expensive model is more durable and less likely to breakdown.

2) The expensive model is slightly faster in printer with 21 pages per minute and 3000 is at 19 pages per minutes but this all depends on what you are printing as these figures are based on lab tests and just do not make any sense in real world senario. However the expensive model certainly will print faster.

3) The memory installed in the 3000 series is just 384 kb and the 5000 series has minimum 8 to 16 mb ram built in based on the model in question. This means that most likely the higher series will not put a load on the processor but the lower series model will be relying on the computers processing power since it would be wanting the feed on a regular basis rather than in big chunks.

4) The 5000 series has automatic paper sensor and the 3000 one is manual.

5) The is a difference in paper tray capacity as well, 100 compare to 150 for higher model

6) the higher model has 6 color ink cartridge as option for photo printing but the lower model works only with Tri color carteidge.

Is that good enough or should I continue?

 

[Dramaqueen]

WOW! Quadophile - you certainly like to research a subject!

Do i understand that the more expensive printer will give me better quality printed photographs/images (as it has 6 not 3 thingies of colour)

I only need the printer for home use so it does not need to print a massive amount per second. but i do like to have good quality images.

What's the difference between Laser and Inkjet re quality for photo images. Is there a VAST price difference?

Christopherpostill - 24 - great show - Jack Bauer is THE man. New series next year, can't wait, will be glued to the TV (it will probably be the last series, so may just wait to see if they produce box set of all 4 series)
KGB-911, you've missed a great show. Every hour of the series is an hour of Jack Bauers life - and what a life

thanks for info so far guys!

 

[floppybootstomp]

Is that good enough or should I continue?

*flops gently lowers himself from halfway up the wall after being blasted backwards at 100mph*

Um, no, that will do

Actually, I'm quite pleased to hear that, I was kinda losing faith in manufacturers pricing things correctly.

Recently got an HP printer from Dabs for my Mum, can't remember the model number but it was reduced from something like £160.00 to £90.00. Discontinued model, but a bargain. It looks good, has a card reader in it and print quality is excellent.

Thinking about upgrading my HP 843C printer right now, but funds is a bit low

 

[Quadophile]

Do i understand that the more expensive printer will give me better quality printed photographs/images (as it has 6 not 3 thingies of colour)

I only need the printer for home use so it does not need to print a massive amount per second. but i do like to have good quality images.

Yes it will make a difference for sure. You will get better satuarted colours and the contrast will be good with 6 colour cartridge.

What's the difference between Laser and Inkjet re quality for photo images. Is there a VAST price difference?

In the same budget you will only get a choice of Black and White Laser printer and that is not good for either graphics nor photos. It is however the best for printing text. Good colour Laser Printers are prohibitively expensive for home use. This is not an option you should go for. Some use Inkjet colour printers for photo and graphics and also keep B&W Laser Printers and have best of both worlds so to say. This is not your requirement as I understand it.

However, whichever printer you select you must keep one thing in mind that you color prints on your home printer will be more costly than if you get them printed from the local lab. If you intend to print a large number on a regular basis you are better of getting them printed outside and not at home. If you have DVD or CD writer you can always save them on the disk and get them printed from the photo lab. If at all you decide to do that you can spend half on the 3000 series printer and half on the DVD/CD writer (not sure if you have one or not). But that is another chapter and requires more research into your exact requirements and the facilities you need at home.

I am around so if you need more info or help in making the choice do let us know.

 

[Quadophile]

*flops gently lowers himself from halfway up the wall after being blasted backwards at 100mph*

Sorry about that But I had to say what I already had researched just few days back when I was to help out a friend buy a printer.

Thinking about upgrading my HP 843C printer right now, but funds is a bit low

Take a look at my response just above this post. I am also using same printer as yours at home, I do have the funds but decided not to spend since I also do not print pictures at home. The current pinter is giving very good service and I feel guilty throwing away a perfectly working printer for no reason at all.

I did purchase a few printers though for my staff at the office, including laser ones, so I do have a fairly good idea of the newer technology in real world secnario.

 

[Dramaqueen]

Quadophile, bearing in mind what you said re cost of printing at lab vs printing at home.

I do have a DVD/CD rewriter, so as you say it would be a better option to copy and print at lab. I do have use of an OKICS9200 at work so i can always use that if i'm stuck.

So bearing that in mind it may be just as beneficial for me to go for the lower spec printer as all i would be doing is printing stuff from internet, the odd report and kids stuff.

it also looks more compact and i am short on space (computer screen is actually used in a welsh dresser with holes drilled into it to let cables out!) so it needs to go inside cupboard and not be on show
Is there anything else i should know? Are the ink cartridges separate? i.e. black separate from colour (or is that standard). Do printers come with cartridges already? Recycled cartridges - what are your thoughts on these?

Many thansk
dramaqueen

 

[Quadophile]

Before I post anything else please explain to me the reason for two accounts one being "dramaqeen2" and the other "Dramaqueen"

I do not understand why you have to post on this very thread from two different accounts. Multiple accounts are basically not a very good idea and we stongly discourage it on any forum. If you have a problem let us know and we will try to sort them out for you.

 

[KGB-911]

I was wandering the same thing as Quaddy!

You should get ink cartridges with the printer (i think)

there are 2 cartridges, one black, and one red, green and blue...

Recycled cartridges should be OK for home use, but they are never the exact one of the oriinal, so it may look funny, i would reccomend buying new ones

All you will need is a USB lead to plug it in with!