Small, cheap color printer?

[alabaster]

I have a big laser printer (HP 4mv) for printing large music scores. I also
use this as my system printer.

I would like to buy a small, cheap color printer for the occasions that I
need to print in color. I have a digital camera, so a photo printer would
be nice, but it should also print on normal paper (and CD-labels) up to
8.5x11.

I'd like to keep it under $50 if possible.

If this isn't possible, what's the cheapest way I can get:

-light and compact
-photo printing
-normal color printing up to 8.5x11

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
chris.

 

[Eddie]

I have a big laser printer (HP 4mv) for printing large music scores. I also
use this as my system printer.

I would like to buy a small, cheap color printer for the occasions that I
need to print in color. I have a digital camera, so a photo printer would
be nice, but it should also print on normal paper (and CD-labels) up to
8.5x11.

I'd like to keep it under $50 if possible.

If this isn't possible, what's the cheapest way I can get:

-light and compact
-photo printing
-normal color printing up to 8.5x11

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
chris.

I think at that price the ink is likely to end up costing far more than the
printer!

Eddie

 

[Fred McKenzie]

<< I'd like to keep it under $50 if possible. >>

Chris-

Personally, I wouldn't go for the cheapest, but would look at something
slightly better, maybe $80 to $100 price range. If it turns out that you use
it more than you expect, a better printer will be worthwhile.

Look at Walmart or the office supply stores like Staples or OfficeMax. Epson
and Lexmark both have low-end printers that may appear to meet your needs. I'm
not sure if HP or Canon has such a cheap printer.

As Eddie mentioned, it will cost more to replace the ink cartridges than to buy
the printer. (I've heard that the original cartridges are less than full.)

For color photos, Epson glossy photo paper has a good reputation. However,
I've had good luck with the store-brand paper from Office Depot. Even if the
printer claims to work with plain paper, photos look better on the glossy
inkjet paper.

Is "small" important? If so, you can pay more for the Canon BJC-50 (or the
latest version of it). This printer uses the same ink tanks and cartridges as
the slightly larger BJC-85 portable printer. Ink tanks don't cost as much as
for some other models, but they are quite small.

Fred

 

[JustMe]

Cannon I560, small relative to what? A laser printer? The 560 has individual
replaceable cartages and prints pretty decent photos. I use mine for
everything and have no complaints. Several places have them for $88 shipped.