Inexpensive Printer Recommendations

[deja]

Looking to replace a very old HP820cse. I already have a descent
printer for photos but ink is too expensive for general family use.
Looking for a printer that is fairly priced and ink cost will not
break the bank. I'm willing to pay a *little* more up front for a
printer with low printing costs. Looking to pay under $100 for the
printer.

Printer will not be used for photo printing. Will mostly print text,
an occational map and should print color.

Thanks in advance

 

[measekite]

Since you already have a printer for photos I think you should look into
a laser printer. The ink for all inkjets is very expensive. The Canon
IP4300 does get the best ink mileage.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

You are asking for a somewhat tall order.

Where do you expect the printer company to make their money?

You are willing to "pay a bit more" for a printer that has cheaper ink,
which is to be admired for trying to lessen waste, but that little bit
more is a VERY little bit more, since a reliable printer, within the
typical business model is going to cost you at least $75, (one that the
printer manufacturer is getting their profit from the ink sales).

The reason inkjet printers are as cheap as they are is because the money
is made on the ink, If you wish to have the manufacturer cut the ink
profits considerably, you need to be willing to pay something reasonable
up front.

My first color inkjet printer cost $1000 CAN. The ink was fairly
reasonably prices and came is huge cartridges.

There are a few ways to get around the situation, but recognize you
aren't encouraging better business models by doing so.

You can buy an "under $100" printer, most likely a Canon, and refill
your cartridges. The reason I suggest Canon is that although their
cartridges are now "chipped" they are easy to refill, they will still
work in the printer, although the low ink warnings get turned off which
puts the possibility of burning our the thermal head as a possibility.
The inks a dye and therefore relatively cheap to buy from a 3rd party.
If you go this route, make sure you do not allow the cartridges to run
out of ink while the printer is on.

Or, you could buy an older Canon or Epson model (I would recommend the
Epson, since the heads are permanent which Canon heads, while
replaceable, do fail over time), pre-chipped cartridge, and either buy
3rd party cartridges or 3rd party inks for refill. Some reasonable Epson
models (4 color, which are cheaper to refill) are SC800, 850, SC
740/760, SC 600,640,660. I'd stay away for the photo models (using 6 or
more colors) and the older 400 series just because it isn't very robust
and maybe less reliable with materials.

Or, you could buy a current Epson and also use the software available
(for free) or buy a chip resetter, and some easy to refill cartridges,
and refill them yourself.

If you were willing to pay a bit more (about $150) I would suggest the
recently released Kodak all in one printers, may be a good choice with
there scanners and printer, (and therefore a copier) use pigment inks,
and the ink cartridges are quite reasonably priced for an OEM product at
$10 for black and $15 for color (List price).

Art

 

[DK]

You can buy an "under $100" printer, most likely a Canon, and refill
your cartridges. The reason I suggest Canon is that although their
cartridges are now "chipped" they are easy to refill, they will still
work in the printer, although the low ink warnings get turned off which
puts the possibility of burning our the thermal head as a possibility.

Or you could still buy Canon ip4000 for $150 online. Its cartridges
are not chipped and incredibly easy to refill. High quality bulk inks
are available through several suppliers. With manual refilling,
printing cost becomes negligible - plain paper costs a lot more.

I mostly use this printer precisely for what you need it for - cheap
color printing on plain paper for my family.

DK

 

[deja]

Hey DK,

Where do you see these printers for $150? Also, which refill ink do
you recommend?

I've had good experiences with Canon printers. Can't say the same
about Epson. Epson would have to pay me to take one of their printers
- but I won't get into that here ;-)

Regards

 

[measekite]

DK wrote:

You can buy an "under $100" printer, most likely a Canon, and refill your cartridges. The reason I suggest Canon is that although their cartridges are now "chipped" they are easy to refill, they will still work in the printer, although the low ink warnings get turned off which puts the possibility of burning our the thermal head as a possibility.



Or you could still buy Canon ip4000 for $150 online.


But that requires an idiot.  Notwithstanding that the IP4000 is a great printer (I am still using mine) it is 2 generations old and the ink that it uses is I bought mine for $100 when they first came out.  Now you can get its successor, the IP4300, for $59.95 when on sale and with rebate.  The regular price that can be had all over is $80.00.


Its cartridges are not chipped and incredibly easy to refill. High quality bulk inks are available through several suppliers.

There are no high quality bulk inks that are branded.


With manual refilling, printing cost becomes negligible - plain paper costs a lot more. I mostly use this printer precisely for what you need it for - cheap color printing on plain paper for my family. DK

 

[ray]

Hey DK,

Where do you see these printers for $150? Also, which refill ink do
you recommend?

I've had good experiences with Canon printers. Can't say the same
about Epson. Epson would have to pay me to take one of their printers
- but I won't get into that here ;-)

Regards

On May 4, 10:45 am, (e-mail address removed) (DK) wrote:

You can buy IP4200 from Circuit City for $45 after rebate. This is
less than the cost of the ink.

 

[Dan G]

Canon, Canon, Canon.

If you don't do a lot of printing, the term "inexpensive" can be difficult
to nail down. Cheaper printers always cost more to run, per page. So, you
really should try to set a figure for the number of pages you print in a
month and go from there. If the page count is low, it might make more sense
to go with a printer that's more expensive to run, but cheaper to buy. If
your page count is higher, definitely go with something like a Canon IP4300
because it's cheaper to run. If you buy an IP4300, my hunch is that you will
start using it for photos too.

The chipped Canon tanks are not that difficult to re-fill, you just have to
fiddle a bit to get around the chips. Compatible tanks are $3 or under, $1-2
or less if you re-fill. I use and recommend ProColor tanks for my IP4000 and
IP3000, they are a breeze to fill.

Did I mention Canon?

 

[DK]

Hey DK,

Where do you see these printers for $150?

I did Froogle search and several came up. Now I realize
they all refer to out-of-stock items.

There is, however, one right now on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-Pixma-IP4...5QQihZ018QQcategoryZ99272QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

99% likely that the worst thing that may happen (since it is used)
is that you'll need to buy a printhead. For $55, they are online aplenty.

Also, which refill ink do you recommend?

I started with two Hobbicolors (search it on ebay) refill kits that come with
great empty cartridges and 2 oz each dye ink and 4 oz pigment black,
and since the cartidges last very long time, now only buy 4 oz bottles as
needed.

Like others say, ip4200 is a lot cheaper right now (precisely because
it uses chipped tanks!). If you are comfortable with keeping an eye
on ink level and messing around with transferring chips, it might be
a better deal for you.

DK

 

[measekite]

ray wrote:

On 4 May 2007 08:41:24 -0700, [email protected] wrote:



Hey DK, Where do you see these printers for $150? Also, which refill ink do you recommend? I've had good experiences with Canon printers. Can't say the same about Epson. Epson would have to pay me to take one of their printers - but I won't get into that here ;-) Regards On May 4, 10:45 am, [email protected] (DK) wrote:



You can buy IP4200 from Circuit City for $45 after rebate. This is less than the cost of the ink.


While a good printer it is much slower than the IP4300, worth the extra money.  The ink is the same so I expect the result are also the same.

 

[measekite]

Dan G wrote:

Canon, Canon, Canon. If you don't do a lot of printing, the term "inexpensive" can be difficult to nail down. Cheaper printers always cost more to run, per page. So, you really should try to set a figure for the number of pages you print in a month and go from there. If the page count is low, it might make more sense to go with a printer that's more expensive to run, but cheaper to buy. If your page count is higher, definitely go with something like a Canon IP4300 because it's cheaper to run. If you buy an IP4300, my hunch is that you will start using it for photos too. The chipped Canon tanks are not that difficult to re-fill, you just have to fiddle a bit to get around the chips. Compatible tanks are $3 or under, $1-2 or less if you re-fill. I use and recommend ProColor tanks for my IP4000 and IP3000, they are a breeze to fill. Did I mention Canon?


If you buy a Canon printer for all of the reasons that you should then you must use Canon OEM ink in order to get the results that the factory engineers designed the printer to obtain.  If you use the generic junk then you really do not have a Canon.


<[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...



Looking to replace a very old HP820cse. I already have a descent printer for photos but ink is too expensive for general family use. Looking for a printer that is fairly priced and ink cost will not break the bank. I'm willing to pay a *little* more up front for a printer with low printing costs. Looking to pay under $100 for the printer. Printer will not be used for photo printing. Will mostly print text, an occational map and should print color. Thanks in advance

 

[Arthur Entlich]

But then what does one do after the cartridges run out?

This, sadly, is exactly the problem with the business model being used
by Canon, et al.

These printers are obviously designed for many cartridge replacements
over several years of service. If you do not refill, it becomes cheaper
to replace the printer than to buy ink, which is just awful in terms of
environmental stewardship.

I suppose one way around it is to could buy this printer, and then use
refillable cartridges, or refill the originals. At $45, you could spend
$50 on bulk inks and maybe easy refill cartridges with transparent
bodies so you can see the ink levels.

Art

 

[Burt]

But then what does one do after the cartridges run out?

This, sadly, is exactly the problem with the business model being used by
Canon, et al.

These printers are obviously designed for many cartridge replacements over
several years of service. If you do not refill, it becomes cheaper to
replace the printer than to buy ink, which is just awful in terms of
environmental stewardship.

I suppose one way around it is to could buy this printer, and then use
refillable cartridges, or refill the originals. At $45, you could spend
$50 on bulk inks and maybe easy refill cartridges with transparent bodies
so you can see the ink levels.

Art

Art has the right answer - Canon cartridges are transparent, and visually
checking the ink levels takes less than a minute. Most of us who refill the
previous generation of Canon carts without chips do this anyway so that the
ink level in the reservoir side of the cart doesn't go below 75-80% empty.
Using the cart until it shows empty on the ink monitor permits it to dry out
more in the sponge area and limits the number of refills you can do before
you have enough ink drying in the sponge to restrict ink flow. Still no
problem as you can purge these carts and restore them to excellent function
again for another round of refills. The purge technique is on the
Nifty-stuff forum.(snip)