Anyone bought a printer recently? - Page 2

Buck-i-Nana · ‎09-28-2010

On 1/12/2015 glb613 said:
I have a Canon and it won't print if one of the cartridges is empty. I think all brands are that way.

I know Kodak is the same way.

I had a Lexmark printer that lasted only a year.

I've had good luck with my HP printer, thankfully.

Honestly though, I think the manufacturers have started viewing these printers as throw away items (sad, very sad) in that you can honestly pick up a replacement printer with full cartridges for about the same price as replacing the ink cartridges!

Jordan2 · ‎03-16-2010

I have an HP Envy 5530 and love it. My previous printer was also an HP that served me for many years. I like that I can now print wirelessly an not have to be tethered to my laptop. I also can print from my iPad and Kindles. I bought it from Best Buy for around $90- $100.

sfnative · ‎03-10-2010

My husband is in charge of this department at home. (At work I had a humongous HP Color Laser printer which I absolutely loved.)

We have 2 printers at home:

1. Brother Laser Jet: Very reasonably priced. Black and white only. Catridges last for a decent period of time. Because I had that great HP at work, I'm picky about laser printers. This one does just fine. I'd recommend it, if all you need is black and white.

2. Canon Ink Jet - Color: The reason we have 2 printers is that we found that the ink jet color cartridges were kind of drying out due to little use. The black cartridge was getting used and replaced it seemed every 3 weeks, which I found frustrating, because my husband would wait until it was absolutely out. If I was working from home on a weekend, invariably the cartridge would run out. The discussions about this became very loud. Back to the Canon, this ink jet printer is great. The photos reproduced using this printer look as though they came out of a professional reproduction service or better.

I know that not everyone is able to afford 2 printers, let alone a color laser jet, when you're on a budget. So...when cost is a factor, I'd go with the Canon Ink Jet Color printer. If you don't need color at all, then go with the Brother. My picky, picky engineer husband swears by this printer.

Good luck!

jackthebear · ‎03-11-2010

On 1/12/2015 sfnative said:
My husband is in charge of this department at home. (At work I had a humongous HP Color Laser printer which I absolutely loved.)

We have 2 printers at home:

1. Brother Laser Jet: Very reasonably priced. Black and white only. Catridges last for a decent period of time. Because I had that great HP at work, I'm picky about laser printers. This one does just fine. I'd recommend it, if all you need is black and white.

2. Canon Ink Jet - Color: The reason we have 2 printers is that we found that the ink jet color cartridges were kind of drying out due to little use. The black cartridge was getting used and replaced it seemed every 3 weeks, which I found frustrating, because my husband would wait until it was absolutely out. If I was working from home on a weekend, invariably the cartridge would run out. The discussions about this became very loud. Back to the Canon, this ink jet printer is great. The photos reproduced using this printer look as though they came out of a professional reproduction service or better.

I know that not everyone is able to afford 2 printers, let alone a color laser jet, when you're on a budget. So...when cost is a factor, I'd go with the Canon Ink Jet Color printer. If you don't need color at all, then go with the Brother. My picky, picky engineer husband swears by this printer.

Good luck!

Thanks

The idea of the Laser printer sounds good but I do like color occasionally, so a Laserjet is the best idea. will look at either Canon or Brother this week, I think I can get what I for $100 or under

Annabellethecat66 · ‎03-12-2010

I have so many it's stupid. All brands. Why? Because over on HSN they often offer HP, Cannon for as little as $70-$100 free shipping, that does everything except put the paper in.

It's easier to just order a new one. I've used the refill ink cartridges from everywhere (on line and COSTCO), I just don't think they last as long.

I have to say I've never had any difficulty from the HP printers. That said, my son-in-law who is a computer genius (really he is) says Cannon printers are the best.

During Christmas dinner his sister-in-law asked the same question you did. My son-in-law chimed in and gave the report that Cannon is the best.

I can only speak from my experience.

Go over to HSN and see what they have with free shipping, etc. You can try the thing out for 3 weeks, if it doesn't work, send it back.

jackthebear · ‎03-11-2010

Thanks everyone

I will check the ads and reviews tomorrow, it can wait for a few days now.

GCR18 · ‎07-03-2013

I bought a new HP printer at Wal-Mart about six months ago. It was $50 and refill cartridges are $35 for the pair. My criteria was inexpensive printer and ink. I print around ten pages a week. It works great.

chickenbutt · ‎03-09-2010

Currently, both of mine are Canon. It's a really good brand. They have printers for every price-point and every feature-point. The one upstairs in my office is a 4-in-one because I need one that does fax. The one I have downstairs is just a 3-in-one (copy, scan, print). They are both from Canon's PIXMA line (I believe one is the 495 and the other one is 522).

I've had Lexmarks and I liked them. But I might not be in the majority there. The ones I had were great and the only reason I moved on from each one was to get something more current - none of them died on me.

I'm not a fan of the HP brand, so I've only had one of those. It was back when I had an HP computer and it seemed like HP didn't play well with others so, as long as all my peripherals were of that same brand things were ok. But I left the brand after that computer, and the printer and the scanner (they were all separate back then), and the pretty crummy HP digital camera I had (my first - I made a bad choice there, as it was not ideal for my type of use...i.e. extremely poor macro abilities).

kittymomNC · ‎08-09-2012

On 1/12/2015 chickenbutt said:
Currently, both of mine are Canon. It's a really good brand. They have printers for every price-point and every feature-point. The one upstairs in my office is a 4-in-one because I need one that does fax. The one I have downstairs is just a 3-in-one (copy, scan, print). They are both from Canon's PIXMA line (I believe one is the 495 and the other one is 522).

I've had Lexmarks and I liked them. But I might not be in the majority there. The ones I had were great and the only reason I moved on from each one was to get something more current - none of them died on me.

I'm not a fan of the HP brand, so I've only had one of those. It was back when I had an HP computer and it seemed like HP didn't play well with others so, as long as all my peripherals were of that same brand things were ok. But I left the brand after that computer, and the printer and the scanner (they were all separate back then), and the pretty crummy HP digital camera I had (my first - I made a bad choice there, as it was not ideal for my type of use...i.e. extremely poor macro abilities).

CB, I think I may also be in the market for a new printer. I've had a Lexmark Prospect Pro205 for about 3-1/2 years. It had a problem early on with the printhead, but they sent me a new one and it's been fine since. It is a 4 in 1, but I seldom use the scan and never used the fax. I've had a couple of problems in the last six months with it not printing with all the colors, and I kept fiddling around with different things including cleaning the printhead, aligning, etc. Finally got it to work. The last time it was only the yellow that wouldn't work, but finally got that resolved also - that was just within the last week.

I just went today to get ink since it's completely out now, and the black cartridge (not high-yield) was $25.00, while the three color cartridges (they come as a set) were $45.00 - they've gone up yet again since I last bought them. One guy in Staples told me some time ago that I should look at an HP printer, but from reading the posts here, it looks like that's not a good idea. He also told me that Lexmark no longer makes printers, which is one of the reasons the ink is so expensive. I don't know about that.

I'm afraid now that if I open the boxes and put these cartridges in, the printer is just going to die (or get really "sick") since I've had these problems more recently. So I need some opinions, and may just take the ink cartridges back and get a new printer instead. Several people here have had good things to say about Canons -- is that what you would recommend? I do need at least a 3-in-1 so I can copy and scan - don't really need a fax. Do some printers still use just one color cartridge for all the colors? Mine has separate color cartridges - is that better? Any suggestions? Thanks!

Lynnj · ‎03-21-2010

KittymomNC, I am not sure what to tell you. But, you spent $70 on ink, and frankly you can get a new printer with full cartridges for about that same amount. If you have the feeling that this one is on its way out, maybe be best to just return the ink, then put the money towards a new printer? On the other hand. If you think it will last as long as the cartridges you just bought, then you break even.