My old Epson printer is playing up and I'm thinking of getting a new one. I've always had Epson but will consider others if you have any recommendations. I don't want any of those multi jobs, just want a good reliable inkjet printer that's not too big. I want to able to use it for letters, genealogical data and occasional colour photographs.
Rik's the man to answer this one. ;)
I use a cheapish Brother all-in-one, which I like because the supplies are cheap, they're economical, and the print quality is fine. I think as far as "good" inkjets go, you can't go wrong with an HP these days.
What Sebby said, Noreen. If you wanted to do more photos I'd have suggested Canon, but otherwise HP's are great workhorses and don't use masses of ink cleaning the nozzles.
Any special HP, Rik?
I got a 'free' Dell all in one printer when I bought my laptop. I understand that it's actually made by Lexmark and although it performs well enough and the scanner is useful it's not as good as the Canon I used before and the tri-colour ink cartridges are much more expensive. My daughters got an Epson which is also okay but it did develop a fault within the guarantee period but I would recommend Canon's or HP's over them. Lexmark do seem to be making some affordable wireless all in ones but I'm not sure if they also do just printers with wireless too.
Indeed. The cheaper brands (Lexmark and Brother) make some very good value units. Sure, they won't be good enough for those that require high quality, but for every day use, I think they're great.
Quote from: Noreen on Jun 12, 2008, 18:37:25
Any special HP, Rik?
I haven't checked around for prices, but this one should do all you want:
http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=268926&CatId=0
Ebuyer has it for a bit more, but with free delivery:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127906
Although I've got photo quality printers I rarely use them to print photos as it's much cheaper to take them to Boots or CostCo etc to have several printed and you can always crop or otherwise modify them beforehand.
What would be more useful would be a lower quality one that's good enough just for documents with some colour on plain paper and used higher capacity and more economical ink cartridges. Anyone who's seriously into photography and needs to print their own would probably be better of with a dedicated photo-printer anyway.
A colour laser printer would be okay for most non-photo prints but they are still a bit prohibitive to buy compared to an inkjet.
Not to mention use, John. Toner costs can be quite painful, though they are getting better.
Quote from: Rik on Jun 12, 2008, 18:48:59
Not to mention use, John. Toner costs can be quite painful, though they are getting better.
Very true Rik, although they do tend to last a bit longer than inket catridges.
With some of the cheaper printers it's almost, if not cheaper to replace the printer than buy new cartridges for them.
I think things have improved a bit though since this story (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3626373.stm) was published.
They have a bit. :)
After using HP for years and then changing to Canon I would not go back. Ink seems to last longer due to the fact that the Canon has six ink tanks. Photo quality is much better but you should use real Canon ink.
I have a Canon iP6700D which is great to print direct off a photocard or from the computer. :D
The first colour printer I had was an Epson 500 and all those years ago the quality of the printing was faultless.
The crunch came when I was unfortunate enough to have the colour printing head clog up. First one then more colour nozzles/jets stopped working. I tried cleaning processes ad nausea to no avail and by then a year or three down the line the cost of having the heads replaced was prohibitive. I turned to HP for no other reason than each time you replace the ink cartridge you replace the head.
My bother parted with a quality Epson Printer/scanner to my son to take to University with him when he fancied a new one and it served my son well. When he finished University and came back to live at home :eek4: and for a few months it was not used for a while as of course it was a no cost option to use my ink! There will be those that know exactly what I mean. ;)
Well you have probably guess by now that when it was eventually called upon to print once more, sadly the ink in the heads had dried up and it could not be persuaded to print again. Once more the cost of having the heads replaced was prohibitive. My eldest daughter, knowing Dad's philosophy of get a new head with your ink, albeit that the ink is more expensive, went and bought an Epson and hey the quality was exceptional no arguments about that but... nuff said! :fingers:
Like Sebby, I swear by Brother :thumb:, I have 2 of the all-in-ones, they are very cheap to buy and run, not much bigger than a standalone printer, and have proved to be very reliable, I have had HP and Canon in the past, the HP cost a fortune in cartridges, the Canon was unreliable.
Oh I also had a Lexmark, no comment, it went in the bin within 6 months.
I use a HP DeskJet F380 all in one.
Does what i need and can print pictures at very high quality.
You can get one for new around £30ish now.
http://www.google.co.uk/products?btnG=Search+Products&q=hp+deskjet+f380+all+in+one&scoring=r
Look for one with the best replacement cartridge cost, some of the cheapo ones cost a fortune to run. Another point when you buy a new printer, check what ink is included in the package, I've noticed the manufacturers are now only including sufficient ink for you to try it out, not a full set of cart's, so you need to add the price of a new set to your final purchase price.
Quote from: Den on Jun 12, 2008, 19:47:34
I have a Canon iP6700D which is great to print direct off a photocard or from the computer. :D
Snap. :thumb:
Quote from: talos on Jun 13, 2008, 07:56:21
Look for one with the best replacement cartridge cost, some of the cheapo ones cost a fortune to run.
Indeed, some of the cartridges cost as much as the printer itself. :eek4:
I get 8 full size cartridges for my Brother for £17.99 delivered, they are compatibles, but work just fine. :thumb:
And even the genuine brother cartridges are very cheap (certainly under £30 for 3 colours and a black, possibly even £25). :thumb:
Yeah I use compatibles too from here (http://www.choicestationery.co.uk/special_offer.asp) and never had any complaints. It all depends on what quality you want really.
these have a 20% off at the moment and there is some info on the site about the manufacturers putting up the price next week of OEM's
I use them too, Baz, and have always found the cartridges to be of excellent quality, and not run out after a dozen pages, like some cheap compatibles.
Thanks for the link, I may give them a try next time. :thumb:
No problem Sebby. hope you find them as good as i have
Yeah good quality Simon. I have tried various compatibles and these are good.
Not sure if it's an error, but they appear to be doing Think compats for my Brother DCP-330C for 99p each! Ordered 4 of each colour, and with the 20% discount, the total came to £12.67. :thumb:
Bargain!
I've had good experiences with inkjet printers from Epson and HP. I've not been quite as impressed with Canon (not that they are bad pieces of equipment but they tend to be less cooperative when someone tries to write an open source driver.) I've been happy with lasers from HP and Samsung.
HPs are good because the print head is built into the cartridges so if you don't use your printer for a long time and the heads get irretrievably clogged you just buy a new set of cartridges rather than ending up with a sick printer. The down side of this is that the cartridges cost more. I've also seen a print head taken out because someone bought dodgy paper that was slightly "furry" from a supermarket and the fur blocked the head.
A few years back I bought my Mother an Epson DX480 which has separate colour cartridges (one for each colour.) The cartridges are very cheap (the print head is separate) and you only need to change the colour that has run out rather than having to change all of them because you just ran out of magenta for example.
Hope this helps,
Paul.
Choice....That's where I get mine as well, brilliant service, great cartridges... :thumb:
Often get a discount code as well.
Quote from: Simon on Jun 13, 2008, 22:10:39
Not sure if it's an error, but they appear to be doing Think compats for my Brother DCP-330C for 99p each! Ordered 4 of each colour, and with the 20% discount, the total came to £12.67. :thumb:
That has to be a mis-price Simon, they are cheaper than buying the 8 pack.. :thumb:
I like HP printers too (currently using an old HP PSC1210). Good quality and not too extravagant with ink. I've used Lexmark, Epson and a Dell freebie (absolute rubbish - no wonder it was given away free with a new PC), and HP stands out as the best, followed by Epson.
However, I have found the quality of HP ink to be poor for photos printed at high quality on high grade glossy photo paper. They look great when freshly printed, but 12-18 months on they've faded quite noticeably, even those stored in the dark. Now I only home print snaps, and anything that I think I may want to keep for many years is printed through Bonusprint's online service.
Are you using both HP ink and paper?
Quote from: Simon on Jun 13, 2008, 22:10:39
Not sure if it's an error, but they appear to be doing Think compats for my Brother DCP-330C for 99p each! Ordered 4 of each colour, and with the 20% discount, the total came to £12.67. :thumb:
Placed an order for some myself, not sure if we will get them at this price, but thanks for the heads up Simon.. :thumb: :fingers:
I'm going to have to order some of these today!
Just make sure these are the correct ones Sebby, these are the 1000 series, not the older 900 series.. ;)
Quote from: Inactive on Jun 14, 2008, 00:41:55
That has to be a mis-price Simon, they are cheaper than buying the 8 pack.. :thumb:
Yes, I tried the Pick 'n' Mix option, and it came to over £17. I've had the order confirmation, and the acknowledgement, so :fingers:
Same here Simon.. :fingers: :whistle:
Quote from: Inactive on Jun 14, 2008, 11:13:58
Just make sure these are the correct ones Sebby, these are the 1000 series, not the older 900 series.. ;)
The are indeed. We have an MFC-465CN. :)
Great Sebby.. :thumb:
Quote from: Rik on Jun 14, 2008, 10:17:41
Are you using both HP ink and paper?
Have only ever used genuine HP ink, but a variety of papers: Kodak 285g, MX2 272g, and another that has no markings on the back so I can't remember what it was. The fading is the same across all papers. To someone who had not seen the vibrancy of the original print the degradation may not be obvious, but print a new print with the same printer using the original image and the difference is very noticeable.
Had never considered that ink may not be compatible with certain papers, and would hope that that is not the case as I've never seen HP advertise their inks as only suitable for their own paper.
All inkjet manufacturers will recommend you only use their ink and paper. Having experimented, I have found that for well-matched, reproducible colour, it's good advice. The durability on HP paper/ink is quoted as >80 years.
I have recently used www.mx2.co.uk for compatible inks for my hp printers having been recommended to try them by a colleague at work. I believe MX2 operate from Jersey and that gives their prices the edge due to a zero VAT Value.
I have had a compatible C6625A stated at 39ml for £8.99 inc. delivery from MX2 that was delivered during last week. I have just compared this with the one Choice do at £11.99 delivered that is described as Replacement C6625A colour cartridge 30ml.
I have noticed before that you have to keep an eye on capacity as well as the price! ;)
It is reported that some printer makers are to increase the price of their cartridges by up to 14%, this includes HP.. :)
Quote from: Inactive on Jun 15, 2008, 01:31:24
It is reported that some printer makers are to increase the price of their cartridges by up to 14%, this includes HP.. :)
As if they aren't expensive enough already! :eek4:
I know we've mentioned this company before on here but they have another offer on at the moment for inkjet cartridges.
you can choose any combo you want in a six pack and then you get two free
choice stationery (http://www.choicestationery.co.uk/special_offer.asp)
sorry all....its just for Epson printers
I've used this site (http://www.diskdepot.co.uk/) before ordering ink for my Epson R300. Prompt delivery and the price of £4.85 for a set of 6 cartridges appeals.
I've just received my order of 4 sets of cartridges for my Brother multi function at 99p per cartridge. Good quality cartridges, and great service. Only drawback is they now keep spamming me, despite unsubscribing.
Hi Noreen
I'm currently using an HP Photosmart D7360. For general everyday printing it is fast and economical.
It also produces absolutely great photo prints (that's what I bought it for).
The only problem, one that I failed to consider when buying, is the paper path through the machine. Paper feeds in through the front, goes around a tiny roller at the back and comes out the front again after passing the printheads. This makes the machine useless for envelopes and labels.
Fortunately, her downstairs has an Epson attached to her laptop. The paper path on that one slants in at the back and emerges at the front without too much of a bend. (And thank heaven for wireless networks!)
Regards - wiltshirejohn
Hi John
Long time no see, how are you?
Canons also have a 'straight' paper path.
I'm still using my HP 750 which was one of the first all in ones to come out.
I buy my cartridges from Ebay but I watch who I buy them from
My pictures which hang on the wall and face the window have never faded over the years.
I use Kodak premium gloss paper.
Only drawback I have is there is no driver for it to use with vista so I have to print everything on other pc which runs XP
I haven't got round to buying a new printer yet as I waiting for a family member to come and take the old one away (haven't really got room for two) hopefully he's coming tomorrow and then I'll have to seriously think about which one to get.
You know we'll give you 100 disparate bits of advice anytime, Noreen. ;)
Yes, I've noticed, Rik. ;D
It's part of our charm, at least that's my story... ;D
Well, my old printer was taken away on Sunday so now I'm free to buy a new one. ;D I've read a lot of reviews online and rather fancied this one Canon PIXMA iP4500. As i said I only want a simple printer although when I print photographs I'd like them to be good. Speed of printing or price aren't really an issue. Any comments? http://www.canon.co.uk/for_home/product_finder/printers/inkjet/pixma_ip4500/index.asp
Should be fine for your needs, Noreen. :thumb:
This is the review that got me interested, Rik. http://www.itreviews.co.uk/hardware/h1504.htm
Based on the 6700 I have, I wouldn't argue with a word of that. :)
Any suggestions about a retailer? A company that is reliable and offers good support.
Misco:
http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=288297&CatId=1269 - £64.61
Scan:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=797340 - £66.80
eBuyer:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132447 - £61.69.
Are they all good companies, Rik?
They're listed in my order of preference, but I've had good service from them all. :)
I have found play.com very good and they have the Canon here:
http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/3473316/-/Product.html?searchstring=Canon+PIXMA+iP4500&searchsource=0
How does their price compare?
On a par, Les, probably a bit more expensive than eBuyer with their free delivery, but cheaper than Misco & Scan with their paid delivery.
Quote from: Rik on Jul 01, 2008, 12:10:11
On a par, Les, probably a bit more expensive than eBuyer with their free delivery, but cheaper than Misco & Scan with their paid delivery.
That seem to fit in with the usual run of things. I have never bought from eBuyer myself but I know of those who have and I am not aware of any complaints.
It's worth mentioning that Scan do free delivery for members of the AV Forums, iirc, and you can get an extra 5% off the Misco price through Quidco.
I order quite a bit of stuff from Ebuyer (work releated) and have had no issues with them all.
Play.com are fine for most things, but don't expect too much in the way of unscripted support. Think of them in the same way you would of Argos. ;)
Do you have to register with eBuyer to purchase on their site?
No, it's a straightforward retailer, Noreen.
It looks as if you do have to register with them, Rik. I filled in the form but it won't let me delete the option to receive special offers etc and I'm not having that. >:( So I'll look at the others later.
I don't recall doing that, but I may be wrong. Misco are very straight - it's opt in, not out - I've been using them since the 80s.
I presume that you have to register with Misco?
On the eBuyer site, I kept removing the check mark from the item to receive special offers and other stuff and every time that the page came up to confirm the details it was checked again and stated that I would be registered to receive such stuff. Tried it several times with same result.
TBH, I don't know about registering, Noreen, I've been a customer so long, but you can order by phone: 0800 038 8880
Noreen, just register and then put their email address in your junk email option then nothing will reach you unless you want it to. ;)
I've registered with Misco now, thanks Den. I'll order tomorrow for next day delivery.
I'm sure you'll be delighted with their service, Noreen. :thumb:
all ebuyer send you anyway is offers on new products etc....some of them are quite good.
I have to say, eBuyer is probably my favourite online retailer for computer bits. :thumb:
It is on Amazon too at: "£61.91 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery", here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000UX5UQ6/kelkoocpc-cs-peripherals-21/ref=nosim
That's just the same as with eBuyer.
I guess like play.com, Amazon are in Simon's Argos category but as suppliers they perform OK in my experience. Among other things my Netgear Router came from Amazon circa 2004, my Tagan PSU too earlier this year but my latest Samsung Monitor came from play.com with next day but one delivery.
According to Kelkoo Misco will charge £5.86 for delivery making the total with VAT £70.74.
I would question what it is you get for the extra £8.83 i.e. 14.5% more?
I've ordered loads from both Amazon and Play, and both have always been excellent. In fact, the only online retailer that I won't order from is Scan (and I know many like them).
Quote from: Sebby on Jul 01, 2008, 20:42:21
I've ordered loads from both Amazon and Play, and both have always been excellent. In fact, the only online retailer that I won't order from is Scan (and I know many like them).
I have never bought from Scan so can not offer an opinion on them but having bought from Micro Direct many times after the last time, which will be the last time, because they sold me that "electrically noisy" PSU that caused me grief before I replaced it with the Tagan one and more or less didn't want to know! :thumbd:
Now ordered from Misco. ;D I'm not bothered about the price of delivery which hopefully will be tomorrow. As far as eBuyer are concerned I don't care how trivial what they would send me is, I object to such tactics. When I'm offered a choice and I indicate my choice I'll not tolerate them changing it. :mad:
Misco have always been a first-rate firm in my experience, Noreen. You can even call them to add items to an order which has not yet been packed.
I'll report back, Rik. When I buy new hardware I usually try to download the manual or setup guide beforehand so that I can read up about it. Don't seem to be able to do that with Canon. :(
I know what you mean, Noreen. I've usually got it all sussed before the box is in my hands. If they stick to form, Canon will have a quick start guide, a reference manual, plus one for printing CDs.
I bought my first HP printer from Misco and it is still in use attached to my No.2 machine. :thumb:
I had no problems with Misco at the time or since with the printer.
If I tell you it was an hp710 DeskJet it will give an idea how long ago it was! :)
Maybe a need a piece of wood to touch by now. ;)
My previous Epson lasted for years, Les. I hope the new Canon will be as good.
My longest-lived printer was 13 years, and that went to a new home and is still going strong. :)
Is that the one Noah used for the passenger list, Rik? ;D
The very same - 12pt Helvetica, the many was no typographer!! :)
Just checked on my printer, it was loaded on the van locally at 9.10 am for delivery. No idea when it'll reach me though, I'm staying in all day.
Enjoy, Noreen. :)
They got moving really quickly, Rik. I'd ordered it at 10am on Wednesday.
Quote10:49 Wednesday, July 2, 2008 On route to delivery branch
05:50 Thursday, July 3, 2008 Arrived at Delivery Branch
09:11 Thursday, July 3, 2008 Goods loaded onto a van
I've ordered late afternoon and seen the same pattern, Noreen. Misco are good at what they do, you pay a premium, but you get the service.
I'm jealous. I want a new toy! :bawl:
Go play with your satnav. :)
Quote from: Simon on Jul 03, 2008, 11:03:12
I'm jealous. I want a new toy! :bawl:
Don't want to upset you, Simon, but I just got myself one of these (http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/539337/index.html?view=&colourVar=DMC-FS5EB-S) arrived yesterday afternoon, very impressed with it so far, and will post some pictures when the gallery is working again.
Good camera, Ray - In and I have other models in the range, excellent results.
Quote from: Rik on Jul 03, 2008, 11:20:14
Good camera, Ray - In and I have other models in the range, excellent results.
Yes, Rik, Panasonics do seem to take some beating at the moment, It's also amazing how the prices have dropped and the quality has increased on digital cameras. I can remember paying the best part of £600 about 9 years ago for a 2 mp Olympus one this new one is a 10.1 mp and cost me £145 plus delivery. :)
My first Canon was 1.3MP, Ray, and cost more than £300. I bought the Panasonic FX100 before Xmas, 12MP for £166. Sometimes I just can't wait though. :)
Printer arrived at about 1.30pm. ;D I've been until now getting it set up, I'm going to have something to eat now. Canon's printed instructions are useless, it's more by luck then anything else that I've got it working. Once I got the software installed the onscreen manual was better.
How's the print quality, or haven't you got that far?
I've only printed the Head Alignment sheets so far. The daft printed instructions tell you to do that before you install the driver or the online manual, the result being that I printed out the two sheets as instructed without having any idea if they were OK or not as they are only explained in the online manual. The printed instructions also say that problems will result in the warning light flashing but of course you don't know which is the warning light until you install the online manual and to press certain buttons but you don't know which they are either. ::)
Typical modern installation. ;)
I've now tried the nozzle check pattern and some basic printing, all seems to be fine. ;D I've yet to try some high quality colour printing.
Go for it, you know you want to. ;D
Do I need to use Canon photo paper, Rik?
I do, Noreen, in my experience the combination of ink/paper from the manufacturer will get the best results, and Canon colour management is based on that. However, you should get reasonable results with other makes, albeit with colour shifts - you'll just have to tweak the driver more.
I always found it best to use Epson photo paper and card with my old Epson printer. So I'll probably wait until I get some Canon paper. I need to learn more about this printer anyway. Of course when I bought my Epson printer THEY supplied some of their paper and card with it. ;D
I think it varies according to the promotions on at the time.
Rik, I haven't yet registered the printer with Canon, should I? Is there any benefit to me?
No real advantage, Noreen, you get the warranty either way. OTOH, they do have quite a good photographic newsletter so I did.
Just printed out a full colour photograph of garden flowers, didn't specify anything except high quality and the use of matt photo paper as I don't really know enough about the settings yet. Anyway I was very pleased with result other than (as stated in some reviews) that there is a very slight yellowish tint. I imagine that the settings could compensate for that in some way. I haven't yet bought any Canon paper, just used one of the sheets supplied for testing. The printer is very quiet in use.
Glad you're happy, Noreen. I use the Canon profiles with their paper and get no casts.
Quote from: Simon on Jun 25, 2008, 12:05:20
I've just received my order of 4 sets of cartridges for my Brother multi function at 99p per cartridge. Good quality cartridges, and great service. Only drawback is they now keep spamming me, despite unsubscribing.
Got mine as well Simon, 9 out of the 12 were actually Inkrite Cartridges, ( brilliant ) they must have been priced incorrectly, I aint complaining... ;)
I'm still using my cannon IP5000 Noreen, works great with the cannon paper and no casts, I was worried when I got the new pc if it would work with vista, it was literally plug the usb in and off you go, installed the correct drivers perfectly :thumb:
I checked that it worked with Vista before I bought it, Gary. ;D Still haven't got round to buying any Canon paper yet.
From the specifications
QuoteSupported Operating System
Windows Vista / Windows XP SP1, SP2 / Windows 2000 Professional SP2, SP3, SP4
Mac OS X v.10.2.8 - v.10.4
Good luck with your new printer Noreen, sadly I have had 2 Canon Printers fail on me, one was replaced under warranty, the other went to the recycling dump.
In fairness, while they were working, they gave good results. ;)
Maybe it's just you, In? :out:
Quote from: Sebby on Jul 12, 2008, 13:11:58
Maybe it's just you, In? :out:
:buttkick:..Who moi?
Just bad luck I suspect, some people have Canon Printers for years without problems.