New inkjet printer?

[Noreen]

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.

[Sebby]

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.

[Rik]

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.

[Noreen]

Any special HP, Rik?

[john]

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.

[Sebby]

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.

[Rik]

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

[john]

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.

[Rik]

Not to mention use, John. Toner costs can be quite painful, though they are getting better.

[john]

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 was published.

[Rik]

They have a bit.

[Den]

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. 

[LesD]

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  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! 

[Inactive]

Like Sebby, I swear by Brother , 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.

[psp83]

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

[talos2]

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.

[Rik]

I have a Canon iP6700D which is great to print direct off a photocard or from the computer. 

Snap. 

[Inactive]

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.

I get 8 full size cartridges for my Brother for £17.99 delivered, they are compatibles, but work just fine.

[Sebby]

And even the genuine brother cartridges are very cheap (certainly under £30 for 3 colours and a black, possibly even £25).

[Baz]

Yeah I use compatibles too from here 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

[Simon]

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.

[Sebby]

Thanks for the link, I may give them a try next time.

[Baz]

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.

[Simon]

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. 

[Sebby]

Bargain!