Recommend printer for very low-volume user?

[Scott Mitchell]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a replacement for our old DeskJet 610, which has served us
well for many years, but obviously can't match newer models for speed or
quality...

As the subject says, we don't print a lot - mostly CD labels, bits of
documentation I want to keep on paper, drafts of documents to be marked up,
the (very) occasional letter or envelope. Really no more than a couple of
hundred pages a year. The printer probably gets turned on once a week at
most - I've had ink cartridges clog up and die a couple of times after not
being used for months on end.

We have no particular need for high-quality photo output - we can get as
good or better results, probably cheaper, from Ofoto or any number of local
labs. In fact, probably the only thing we really need colour for at all is
CD labels. And the occasional T-shirt transfer Of course if we had a
better printer we'd no doubt use it a lot more, but never to the thousands
of pages a month level.

So I'm looking for something that's reasonably economical to run, produces
good quality text and 'line art' output, can handle labels and envelopes,
and won't die an expensive death if left idle for weeks at a time. It
needs to work well with my FreeBSD UNIX machines, which for inkjets at
least seems to mean Epson or HP (see
http://www.linuxprinting.org/suggested.html). Upfront purchase cost is
less important than running costs - I don't really want to upgrade again
for another 5 years if I can avoid it.

As far as inkjets go, I've narrowed our possible choices down to the Epson
C86 or one of the mid-range HPs - 5150, 5740, maybe the 6540. We have a HP
5850 at work that seems to do a good job. The 5150 appears to be the baby
brother of this, without the Ethernet/WiFi. On the face of it the Epson
looks as if it would be cheaper to run, but they do seem prone to clogging
up. I appreciate that I can probably unclog it myself without much effort,
but I wouldn't want to do that every time I turned the thing on...

An alternative plan would be to pick up a mono laser - with cheap
consumables - on ebay and either keep the 610 or replace it with something
really cheap for those things that do need colour. Or just print those at
work

Any advice or (anti-) recommendations will be gratefully received!

I'm in the UK if that makes any difference to anyone's replies...

Cheers,

Scott

 

[Bill]

So I'm looking for something that's reasonably economical to run, produces
good quality text and 'line art' output, can handle labels and envelopes,
and won't die an expensive death if left idle for weeks at a time. It
needs to work well with my FreeBSD UNIX machines, which for inkjets at
least seems to mean Epson or HP (see
http://www.linuxprinting.org/suggested.html). Upfront purchase cost is
less important than running costs - I don't really want to upgrade again
for another 5 years if I can avoid it.

As far as inkjets go, I've narrowed our possible choices down to the Epson
C86 or one of the mid-range HPs - 5150, 5740, maybe the 6540. We have a HP
5850 at work that seems to do a good job. The 5150 appears to be the baby
brother of this, without the Ethernet/WiFi.

I can heartily recommend the HP 6540 as I have one here. I've been an HP
fan for years, using various models of inkjet and laser. I switched to
Canon last year for my inkjet needs, but after 16 months and only 4000
pages, the printhead died. A new head was 95% of the cost of a new
printer, so I trashed it and went back to HP.

Operating costs are decent, with similar costs per page as the Canon
using original cartridges (check page yields for comparisons, not ink
volumes). And of course, if the head ever clogs or fails on the HP, I
just toss in a new cartridge.

To be honest, I haven't had the HP 6540 all that long nor has it sat
idle for more than a week. But if my previous inkjet printers from HP
are any indication, I expect the 6540 could sit idle for months, turn it
on and print without any issues.

 

[Bob Headrick]

I'm looking for a replacement for our old DeskJet 610, which has served us
well for many years, but obviously can't match newer models for speed or
quality...

[snip]

Given your requirements the DeskJet 5150 is probably a good choice, low end
(inexpensive) and reliable. Be aware that the 5150 is USB only, and also that
is does not have the automatic paper type sensor found in the 5850. For your
needs this will probably not matter. Any of these will print much faster than
your current 610 and will provide much much better color graphics or photo
printing. The DeskJet 5150 and 6540 have more expandability than the 5740 and
may be better in the future if your needs change.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP

 

[Stapleton]

I'd stay away from Epson and Canon. They are too prone to clogging. I use
an old HP LaserJet 4L for non color printing. For color, I have an HP DJ
5550. My old DJ 720 is still going strong. My mother uses it when she's
here (snowbird) 6 months of the year. The rest of the time is sits idle.
Never clogs.

 

[Stevelee]

Canon i560 is a good match for your requirement. It is very cheap when it's

 

[Hecate]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a replacement for our old DeskJet 610, which has served us
well for many years, but obviously can't match newer models for speed or
quality...

Given your needs I'd go for a cheap colour laser. It will have low
overheads because of lack of use <g>, will provide all the colour you
need, and you won't have to replace the toner very often. In fact, the
printer will probably die before you need to replace the toner with
only a couple of hundred pages a year. Look at the following:

Samsung CLP-500 at 351.32 inc VAT
HP Color Laserjet 2550n at 435.99 inc VAT
HP Color Laserjet 2550l at 289.99 inc VAT
Epson Aculaser C900 at 269.07 inc VAT

(All prices quoted are from Dabs - www.dabs.com)

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Hi Scott,

You have certainly spelled out your needs very well.

I would suggest against the Epson C86. This printer uses pigmented inks
that have a shorter shelf live once opened than dye inks tend to, and it
uses a resin that is waterproof when dry, but that also means it will be
more likely to clog if left unattended for long periods.

HP, with their head and cartridge together may result in an occasional
tossed cartridge if it gets too old, but in replacing the cartridge you
start out with a fresh inkjet head.

I don't know the HP line well enough to comment on a specific model, but
for very low usage it may make sense to get a cheaper model, although it
may have more costly cartridges as well, but larger cartridges may not
prove a savings for you as they will just get that much older if they
sit unused.

Laser may be a much better choice if you can live without color. They
tend to be more reliable, the consumables have good shelf-life, even
when installed, and even new machines have come way down in cost. They
are usually faster printers as well. The output is pigmented and fade
resistant, and waterproof. Just try to buy one that the toner cartridge
either can easily be refilled locally, or comes with a fully charged one
out of the box. Many now come with so-called "starter cartridges that
have as little as 25% of the full charge of toner within them.

Art

 

[Vic Dura]

Operating costs are decent, with similar costs per page as the Canon
using original cartridges (check page yields for comparisons, not ink
volumes). And of course, if the head ever clogs or fails on the HP, I
just toss in a new cartridge.

Does anyone know of a systematic study/report or page yields from the
cartridges of various manufacturers?

 

[Stratman]

| Hi all,
|
| I'm looking for a replacement for our old DeskJet 610, which has served us
| well for many years, but obviously can't match newer models for speed or
| quality...
|
|

Follow this link http://www.computeractive.co.uk/products/hardware/1138072
for a favourable review of the Canon i320

 

[Bill]

Does anyone know of a systematic study/report or page yields from the
cartridges of various manufacturers?

Page yields are available from HP on their website. Canon doesn't seem
to post the info at their website, but the page yields are posted at
many companies reselling their ink tanks.

From what I can gather, page yields are fairly accurate estimates. But
watch out for differences such as 5% compared to 15% coverage rates.

If you hit Google, you can find all of the above info and more.

 

[Scott Mitchell]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a replacement for our old DeskJet 610, which has served us
well for many years, but obviously can't match newer models for speed or
quality...

Thanks all for the useful replies. I'm now on the lookout for a cheap (to
buy and run) colour laser or failing that, cheap mono laser + HP inkjet.

Scott

 

[Bob Headrick]

Thanks all for the useful replies. I'm now on the lookout for a cheap (to
buy and run) colour laser or failing that, cheap mono laser + HP inkjet.

If you are a low volume user you probably do not need to have two printers to
maintain. A midrange printer such as the DeskJet 5150 would probably meet your
printing needs. I do not know of a cheap color laser for low volume printing -
you could buy a DeskJet 5150 and a half-dozen sets of black and color
cartridges (enough for a few thousand pages of black and a few thousand pages
of color) for what you would pay for the lowest cost color laser printers. If
you are not doing a lot of printing you should look at the total cost of
ownership.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP