Recommendations for Inkjet Printer...

[cubzworld]

Our inkjet printer has packed up and we need a new one quick. We have just purchased the Epson D92 but it is noisy and slow.

We mostly use it for printing text but need colour for printing internal forms.

We like Epson because of the separate colour cartridges but I think we have got what we paid for.....

Any recommendations for a more suitable printer.

Many thanks

Tracy

 

[deniser]

I get through a lot of printers and have to say that the two I had from HP were the most reliable and lasted the longest. I now have a C4180 Photosmart which is great and was very cheap - £60 or so. although the scanner is not very good

The worst ones I have had were from Lexmark. They were continously breaking down and despite being under warranty it was an enormous nuisance.

A mid performing one was a Canon all in one similar to the HP.

 

[Page]

I may be a bit out of date but ..

HP - the cartridges cost more but contain new heads.

Epsom - the heads were always clogging up on me. Costs a fortune in wasted ink.

Canon - Nice but the scanner side on the all in one that I have (not a basic model) for photocopying is not as good as the HP that we have.

HP have cheaper models with network printing built in.

 

[abogajob]

Hewlett Packard are the best Printers!

 

[Julian C]

I always recommend HP for my customers, basically due to reliability!

 

[dink78]

the way i see it, it all boils down to what you need it for. do you need to print photos? or just text documents? color? monochrome? do you really need a scanner? photocopier? for me, the best way is to have a separate device and avoid all those all-in-one machines.

 

[Mister B]

I'm with dink78 on this one in that dependent on your business, you more often than not now require different printers for different uses.

I use an HP inkjet for labels, an HP laser for general printing and a whacking big Epson R1800 with a bulk feed system for the big boys stuff.

In terms of reliability, the HP inkjet is the worst, HP laser munches its way through a lot of toner but thr R1800 is by far the most temperemental. That being said though, cannot fault the quality of the R1800 for phot quality.

Mister B

 

[dink78]

for me, i have a rather old HP laserjet 1320n for my text documents - it's not that fast, but it serves its purpose. for photos, i rely on no consumer printer and go to professional developers. other than that, i also have a canon pixma ip3000 for all around. for a scanner, i have a canon lidescan, or something like that (i rarely use it) and for photocopies, the company i work in has a fridge-sized copier that i can use anytime - i think it was a ricoh or something.

 

I like HP, but by far my best selling budget inkjet is the Epson DX4450 All-in-one. It is quite quiet, you can get remanufactured cartridges easily, it is decent quality, and I have never had a problem with one yet.

They are very inexpensive for what you get - but don't believe them when you are told that you can only use Epson cartridges in there - you can use remanufactured, providing you are sure they are for the DX4450 (version 4 or something I think they are) - I have used them from an ebay supplier for about £2 each.

 

[websnail]

Bit late to join this (been working hard lately).. but a few corrections on the below and a few additional details.

HP - the cartridges cost more but contain new heads.

Not all HP inkjets are like this... K5400, K8600 (if you want A3) or L7X80 (for multifunctions) are all cartridges seperate from the printheads. The L7680 is definitely worth a look with the L7780 giving extra features such as wireless/bluetooth and an additional paper tray.

Epsom - the heads were always clogging up on me. Costs a fortune in wasted ink.

That'd be Epson ... This is very true of the durabrite but especially true of printer using poor quality 3rd party ink or being placed next to radiators, in rooms with lots of air-con, etc... Speed wise there's some new models coming out (no idea on release date) that are said to be HP officejet busters (similar to the K5400) but it's anyones guess as to price, etc... Look out for the B300 and B500DN.

You also need to be aware that Epsons waste a lot of ink so getting some form of external waste ink tank/bag is an absolute must.

Canon - Nice but the scanner side on the all in one that I have (not a basic model) for photocopying is not as good as the HP that we have.

Watch out for the consumables on these... the MX850 is a good option if you want multifunctionals and the chip issue has been resolved so you can now get 3rd party cartridges from resellers but do your homework on suppliers as many will have cheap, cr*p, clog your head and make you cry ink.


Granted I'm biased but based on your remit I'd say go with the HP L7680.. it has a reasonable input tray, you can buy cheap OEM (ie: branded) consumables if you get the XL high capacity carts or you could go one better and get a decent CIS (which I happen to sell) . The printheads are seperate, you get a network connection and the speed is really very good indeed... It won't do photos too well but for a basic office printer you could do much worse...

Hope that helps.

 

[davidshaw89]

HP have been doing a lot of advertising recently of their new range of colour inkjets - which are just as economical as their laser printers!

They are aimed at small businesses so you can get one from between £60-£170 depending on the model and where you get it from.

The model is the K5400, and can be bought as A4, A3 and either simplex or duplex!

They seem to be good in technical specifications, but I haven't read any reviews yet so maybe you could look into that.

Good luck finding a new printer!

 

[websnail]

The model is the K5400, and can be bought as A4, A3 and either simplex or duplex!

Think you're thinking of the K5400 and the K8600... the K5400 is A4.. the K8600 can handle A3 and up to 330x483mm media... both have network and duplexer versions while the K8600 doesn't have the extra paper tray.

They seem to be good in technical specifications, but I haven't read any reviews yet so maybe you could look into that.

The common ones relate to drivers and paper handling.. Drivers are best handled by using 7zip to extract the drivers and doing a manual install to avoid the bloatware... Paper handling issues are resolved by learning how to fan-apart paper for which I produced a nice little Youtube video
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5432083835630346039&hl=en

 

[DRM - Insite IT]

I too will recommend the Business inkjet printers from HP. The K5400 offers fantastic value for money in terms of quality vs speed vs cost of running. Having worked in the past for a company selling a huge amount of printers a day i can tell you that i would never have a Lexmark printer even if i was given one for free. Epson are ok but for heavy use the ink cartridges are just too small. Canon's tend to give excellent quality prints but cost the earth to run. The standard consumer HP's are also very average. So as i said stick with the k5400 range if it has the features you want or alternatively go for the L7680 if you want a more robust machine with scanner, copy and fax facilities

 

[websnail]

Just as a note... Epson are bringing out a new couple of models that will be competing directly with the Officejet printers... Look out for the B300 and B500DN over the next few months.

No idea what they'll be like as they're still a ways off in terms of pricing and any reviews but should be interesting to see what they're like.

 

[ezeg]

Canon ip4500, or 4300
Reliable, fast, duplex cheap compatibles ,award winning, prints all day all week no problems