Suggestions for color printer?

[brainsmile]

I want something that will be low hassle and photo quality.

I don't want to spend too much but it seems like my problem is that I don't print enough with one. Maybe the ink just gets goopy in there.

I currently have a Canon S520 and the black ink stopped coming out even with a new cartridge. Anyone know if that's fixable? I tried to unclog it but I don't have much success with that.

[zippyjuan]

I had the not-using- it- enough problem with my Epson after two years and was unsuccessful in unclogging it. I decided to go with a laser printer and just got the Dell 3000cn this week with a deal from the Deal's Page here that made it $315 plus tax (free shipping). I print my photos at a local drugstore, but the laser does a nice (but not quite photo quality) job. There is a post here about it. http://www.gotapex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87778

[seqiro]

Your print head needs to be replaced, which would probably end up costing more than the printer. That does tend to happen when you don't use it for a while. I just discovered yesterday that my S9000 needs a new print head. :(

[bachviet]

I just got a Canon PIXMA I3000 and it prints good quality photos. I got it for free with a $70 MIR (printer & laptop purchases).

[DarkFury]

Well.. my old HP 940c finally died on me this weekend...

So now I'm replacing it with a HP 1200d "High Speed" Color Inkjet... Faster, with separate inks for each individual color (Black, cyan, magenta, yellow) and separate printheads as well (so you don't have to replace a good printhead when you run out of ink.

CompUSA has it on sale (delivery only) for $157.25 + penny shipping... however you have to pay tax.
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=50714698&pfp=srch1

So I bought it from TechonWeb for $156.99 ($139.75 + shipping) with no tax...
http://www.techonweb.com/products/productdetail.aspx?id=B27014&src=PG

Pretty much... I just trust HP when it comes to printing. That's their strong suit. :D

EDIT: BTW... it even has a built in "duplexer" so you can do front and back page prints. I think I'm gonna love this new printer. :D

[seqiro]

Hopefully you have better luck with your 1200D than we do here at work. ;)

[PiPhiAngel]

just purchased the hp color laserjet 2550L and it has been working rather well. while the price is at $399, the ink supply will last you a lot longer than most inkjet printers. before that i was using the hp psc 2110v all-in-one which allows the use of the hp photo ink cartridge and i've gotten good quality photo prints from that as well. the printer was also fairly inexpensive...around $100.

i have tried numerous epson printers in the past and haven't had much luck with any of them. hp printers seem to give me fewer problems.

[DarkFury]

Hopefully you have better luck with your 1200D than we do here at work. ;)
So what problems did you have with it?

[seqiro]

Actually most of our problems are with the 1200DN. The build quality is... questionable. It just doesn't seem solid, which is completely the opposite of how I would usually think of HP printers. When it has to initialize the new heads/ink, it takes at least 10 minutes and uses three pieces of paper. The built-in NIC sporadically can't get a DHCP address from our network and uses a 169 address, and it's a real pain getting it to give it up. Also make sure it's on a steady surface, because we have one sitting on a table along with a computer in our patient simulation room and it shakes so much when it's printing that you can't really use the computer.

We've been trying to convince our manager to stop buying them.

eta: I should mention that the output is perfectly fine, although we haven't tried to print photos on it per se so I can't really comment on the quality of photo reproduction. I'm a strong believer of Canon for this purpose, partially because I like the output better but also I prefer a straight paper path which makes printing on stiff media or labels easier.

[DarkFury]

Honestly, I'm buying it mostly for document printing... I have a separate "photo printer" so that isn't that big a deal with me.

Pretty much the "separate ink carts" were the seller for me on top of it being an HP... cause I'm tired of buying "tri color" carts that are half full but empty on one color... THEY COST TOO DAYUUM MUCH!!!! :angry:

But overall I've always been pretty happy with HP.... Hopefully that will continue with this one as well. :D

[seqiro]

Totally with you on the separate ink cartridges. My Canon has that as well. Instead of having four separate cartridges for the heads, it has one user replaceable head unit.

I'm thinking of picking up a cheap laser for a document printer. So much cheaper per page. And I don't usually print color documents. :)

[DarkFury]

I just got my HP BusinessJet 1200d today... man, TechonWeb don't play when it comes to shipping... I ordered it Sunday night and it was here on Tuesday. SUPER FAST!!!!

So far, I'm impressed by it. Yes, I can see where it kinda vibrates while it prints... however the table it sits on is separate from my computer table so that's not a problem. It's definitely not as quiet as my HP 940c was... but as far as printing, there are no complaints there so far.

I even like the fact that I can use both the USB and the Parallel port on it as well... this way I can monitor the health of my print carts via USB while maintaining my network connectivity through my parallel port print server. The best of both worlds.

I'll have to keep you posted as to how it goes as I use it more. I pretty much don't have the day to day usage of an "office" so pretty much I'm hoping that the print carts can go pretty far (6,250 pages) and the print heads might last dayuum near forever (16,000 pages).

I'm a happy camper now... I hope I can stay happy. :D

[seqiro]

Good luck and enjoy! :)

[thekidrocks]

Hurry and check out today's Woot! New/Old Stock (NOS) HP with a dedicated 4x6 tray that slides into place for photo stock. At $75 to your door with 100 sheets of 8x10 glossy genuine HP photo paper, it's a good deal. Yes you can get a refurb for less, and you can snag one on eBay for less... but figure in the shipping costs ($5 on Woot!) and the photo paper.

Ends TODAY!

[ribitch]

i like the canon printers. the i9000 is a great printer. everyone that i've seen use it, loves it. The epson inkjet line is also pretty good.

[_=DeltaForce=_]

There is a Hp 2550Cl @ staples for $299 and you can get a 12% customer appreciation coupon and bring it even lower..

[kimchicowboy]

my friend goes to an art school. apparently, epson ink has the truest colors. just FYI. :)

[Jeffbx]

i like the canon printers. the i9000 is a great printer. everyone that i've seen use it, loves it. The epson inkjet line is also pretty good.

:stupid:

Canon for photos & inkjet, HP for laser - can't go wrong.

[seqiro]

Yeah, Epson has good printers.

And the lousiest customer service. :(

At least they treated me badly, and when a company does that to me they don't get my business again no matter how good their product is. But I was a firm believer in Epson printers starting with the original Stylus Color Photo.

Switched to Canon and never looked back.

[DarkFury]

Well... as far as Epson goes...

Excellent for photo printing... however because the printheads are a part of the unit, you have to be VERY careful that the ink doesn't get old and clog them up. If they do... you might as well just toss the printer.

I've already had to do this once... which sucked big time. That was one of the things I liked better about the HPs where the printheads were on the print cart and not the machine (even though that makes the carts more expensive).

However now... with the print heads separate from the carts which are both separate from the printer itself... it's like having the best of all worlds.

[seqiro]

Which is pretty much how my Canon s9000 is. There's just one print head module to replace instead of four, but it's completely user serviceable. But I use my ink at pretty even intervals since I mostly just print photos.

[ribitch]

rubbing alcohol is your friend. I have never seen a nozzle that would not clear up from a little alcohol.

i am still partial to canon though. i never liked epsons design, but as stated before, they do haev superior ink. plus some of their higher up printers have different variations of ink depending on the desired output of the photo. I have seen one use 4 different tupes of black ink for B&W photography. pretty cool stuff

[brainsmile]

rubbing alcohol is your friend. I have never seen a nozzle that would not clear up from a little alcohol.


so what's the best way to do it? Dunk it or swab?

[seqiro]

I just tried this method (http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1107#p1107) on my Canon S9000 and it worked, my banding problems are gone! That's sweet too, because I'm really trying to avoid spending money for the time being.

[PrObLy]

I <3 my Canon i560

It was cheap, has cheap ink tanks, and prints crisp text at good speeds and also prints beautiful photos.