The Letterville BullBoard: Desktop Inkjet

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Posted by Chuck Peterson (Member # 70) on :

My 5 year old Epson Stylus Color II is about shot. I need a new desktop printer just for general all around desktop printing. Super photo quality is not really a concern, although whatever I buy will be a lot better than my old one. Does anyone have any suggestions on what's a good printer for around $300? I'm not sure if I need it to print larger than letter size.

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Chuck Peterson Graphics
1860 Playa Riviera Dr.
Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif. 92007

Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :

i see new hp's for $149.00 and some epsons for same price....$300 will get you the bestest fastest thing out there today..

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joe pribish-A SIGN MINT
2811 longleaf Dr.
pensacola, fl 32526
850-944-5060
BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND

Posted by Checkers (Member # 63) on :

Hiya Chuck,
Consumer reports just did a story on this in their latest issue & HP came out to be one of the highest rated for all around use.
I haven't looked but, the article may be on line at thir web site. http://www.consumerreports.org
Havin' fun,
Checkers

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a.k.a. Brian Born
Harrisburg, Pa
717.652.9073
members.home.net/sign-it/
This isn't Burger King, you can't have it your way.

Posted by Sarah Clark (Member # 413) on :

I like HP for reliability and I also think they do good photo quality as well as very good text printing. The HP932,952 and next one up are all the same, just each one a little faster. I am planning on getting a 932 one of these days at 199. I still use a 13x19 HP1120 and will continue too also. HP has the printhead in the cartridge and can be refilled. If you mess up yuo just get a new cartridge unlike epson with printhead built in. Also I have PressReady Postscript drivers for those models and Adobe is no longer supporting PressReady with new drivers.

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Posted by Kathy Joiner (Member # 1814) on :

I too would go with an HP. Used them for years. With an ink jet you will find that in 2 yrs. time you will pay for it in money saved on print cartridges.

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Kathy Joiner
River Road Graphics
41628 River Road
Ponchatoula, La.70454
PH. (504)386-3313
casey@i-55.com

Old enough to know better...Too young to resist.

Posted by Rick Cooper (Member # 375) on :

I was thinking about posting on this subject too.

My problem is reliability. I've had two Canons, two Epsons and now 2 HP's. Only the HP's have worked good for more than a couple of months and now they are getting balky. Colors dropping out, they seem confused when I change a print cartridge, paper feeding problems, ink problems, software freaks out.

Guess I'm spoiled as my HP laser printer is still good as new 10 years later.

Maybe I don't do enough color printing so the ink and print heads dry out?

Am I just jinxed with these or is my experience typical?

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Rick Cooper
Sierra Sign & Award
Lake Tahoe, USA
www.engrave.pctrader.com
$$$Letterheads Website Supporter$$$

"The early bird gets the worm but the second
mouse gets the cheese."

Posted by Mayo Pardo (Member # 138) on :

Before ya buy a printer check out how much the new cartridges cost for that printer.

Printer manufacturers have changed their marketing tactics. Now instead of trying to sell you an expensive printer, they are selling better quality printers for less money, knowing they will get you on the cost of the ink cartridges.

What really gets me, since I refill cartridges for people, I know how much the ink inside those expensive cartridges really costs. The old HP 51626A for example, bought new will cost about $25 to $30 depending if it's on sale. If I buy bulk ink in gallon quantities, I can refill that cartridge for 50 cents (my cost not including labor). Imagine how little it costs someone like Hewlett Packard who probably gets their ink in tanker trucks.

My suggestion is to get a printer which has cartridges that can easily be refilled, and which gives you the quality of prints you desire, along with the speed and durability you need.

I find the Hewlett Packard, Lexmark, and Compaq cartridges to be the easiest to refill. Speaking of Lexmark, some printers labeled as IBM, Xerox, Compaq, & Sharp, use cartridges that are actually Lexmark cartridges. That tells me Lexmark makes a very good print head on their cartridges.

I have seen 1200 DPI printers on sale for as low as $79 - some even lower with rebates. The printers are becoming disposable equipment. Two or three new cartridges and you have spent more on ink than the printer has cost you!

When deciding on what features are important, look into how many pages per minute they are capable of, for both black and color. Do you need your prints super fast or can you wait a minute or two?

If you can also find out how many pages per month the printer was intended to print, that will give you an idea of it's durability. Obviously a printer designed for home use and a hundred pages a month will not stand up to requiring it to print a thousand pages per month in a business setting.

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EmpY® is also known as Mayo Pardo. Seen wandering through Australia, currently in Elgin IL. 847 931-4171

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Posted by Felix Marcano (Member # 1833) on :

whenever my HP 722 dies (& boy have I given it a beating), I'll be getting another...

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Marcano-Welch Signs Luquillo, Puerto Rico
787-889-6608

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