I am looking for a new multi-function home printer

[Tim Murphy]

Dear Board,

I'm not sure if this is being posted in the correct forum. Mod's please feel free to move it to a more appropriate place if necessary.

It appears my beloved Canon TS-9020 is dying and perhaps dead, as it will no longer print anything in color.

Let's assume it's dead. I am looking for a modestly priced, i.e. less than $ 300.00 printer that can also copy, scan, and print photos. I know things have changed tremendously since 2017 when I bought my TS-9020, but I simply do not even know where to look for recommendations?

I don't print a large number of photos, and never really go beyond 8 x10 in size. Mostly I pop out a couple of 4 x6 prints for sharing with family and friends. I'd like something that can do routine home printer duty and also produce reasonable photo quality prints.

Can any of you offer suggestions on a replacement? I'd like to stick with Canon because this printer has done everything I've asked of it for 8 years, but I am definitely open to other brands.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg PA 🙂

 

[pixelated]

When I got fed up with my Epson multi-function 4 or 5 years ago I bought a Canon, but it’s not a multi function, and I rarely use it for printing photos. but it’s been economical with ink, and just works. So, my advice would be get a new Canon.

My bad experience with the Epson was that it wouldn’t recognize one of the ink cartridges, so wouldn’t print at all, though initially it would still scan. Then one day after getting power-cycled it decided it couldn’t do anything at all because of the cartridge error.
That experience has left me with a bit of a bad taste for multi-function devices, but it is convenient to have it all in one footprint.

My only other experience with MF printer/scanners was an HP that I worked with briefly. It did a very good job, and the software was easy to work with, which was a blessing at the time, but I know nothing of its longevity, though HP has a pretty good reputation. For a time they didn’t support Mac hosts well, but I don’t know if that’s still true, or if it’s a factor for you.

 

[chuckroast]

For general office use, I have had years of excellent service from my Epson ET series printers.

These use refillable tanks not cartridges, so they are much cheaper to keep running and you don't have the cartidge compatibility nightmare to deal with.

This is not a photo printer though. You can print a picture, but it's never going to be the same quality as a printer designed for imaging.

I bought the bottom model and it's still running strong after 4 years or so.


The current basic model is around $200 and includes a scanner/copier

 

[JeffS7444]

IMO, Canon inkjet reliability is #1. But nevertheless, one day none of the colors of my Pixma Pro-10 were working, despite repeated attempts at cleaning. So I found DIY methods for manually cleaning the print head, and was ultimately able to get it back to 100%. Think I used a warm solution of dish soap, and let it soak for a number of hours, but other folks have devised similar fixes:

 

[Godfrey]

I've had Epsons for years and been happy with their reliability and printing quality.

- My photo printer is a P600, now about 8 or 10 years old, that's printed upwards of 20,000 11x17 inch equivalent prints. Ink tanks are large, and expensive because of that, but by and large the printer is reasonably economical on ink.

- My daily use printer is an XP7100 which does multi service for me as a document/utility printer, occasional small photo printer, flatbed scanner, and copy machine (I never use fax so while it can do that, I've never used it for that). The image quality of the small photos I print is virtually identical to what comes out of the P600; it depends more on the quality of the paper I use than on the printer or its inks. The ink tanks are pretty small, so if I'm going to do a lot of small prints with it, I stock up on a couple of extra ink tank sets. It is a pretty cheap printer for the amount of duty it has done for me, at the local office supply I think it cost me $120 or some such, and it's lasted about 8 years of daily use so far.

The only minor annoyance with the XP7100 is that it has an internal 'waste ink trap' or printer-potty. It's firmware has a counter ... Once a certain number of cycles has gone by, the printer tells you that the printer-potty is full and it stops being able to print until you "take it to your Epson dealer to have it serviced" ... at which point they'll either try to sell you a replacement printer or will charge you half the cost of the printer to take out three/four screws, empty the printer-potty, put fresh absorbent material in there, put it back together, and reset the counter. I found that OctoInkjet - Printer modifications, refill kits & tools to make your printer work longer sells the absorbent material and keys to do the counter reset yourself for $25 or so, and that's what I've done. 😉

Despite the printer potty nonsense, I'm completely happy with the XP7100 as my daily use machine.

G

 

[Tim Murphy]

I've had Epsons for years and been happy with their reliability and printing quality.

- My photo printer is a P600, now about 8 or 10 years old, that's printed upwards of 20,000 11x17 inch equivalent prints. Ink tanks are large, and expensive because of that, but by and large the printer is reasonably economical on ink.

- My daily use printer is an XP7100 which does multi service for me as a document/utility printer, occasional small photo printer, flatbed scanner, and copy machine (I never use fax so while it can do that, I've never used it for that). The image quality of the small photos I print is virtually identical to what comes out of the P600; it depends more on the quality of the paper I use than on the printer or its inks. The ink tanks are pretty small, so if I'm going to do a lot of small prints with it, I stock up on a couple of extra ink tank sets. It is a pretty cheap printer for the amount of duty it has done for me, at the local office supply I think it cost me $120 or some such, and it's lasted about 8 years of daily use so far.

The only minor annoyance with the XP7100 is that it has an internal 'waste ink trap' or printer-potty. It's firmware has a counter ... Once a certain number of cycles has gone by, the printer tells you that the printer-potty is full and it stops being able to print until you "take it to your Epson dealer to have it serviced" ... at which point they'll either try to sell you a replacement printer or will charge you half the cost of the printer to take out three/four screws, empty the printer-potty, put fresh absorbent material in there, put it back together, and reset the counter. I found that OctoInkjet - Printer modifications, refill kits & tools to make your printer work longer sells the absorbent material and keys to do the counter reset yourself for $25 or so, and that's what I've done. 😉

Despite the printer potty nonsense, I'm completely happy with the XP7100 as my daily use machine.

G

Dear Godfrey,

I really appreciate your detailed response about the Epson XP7100. It was a printer I was considering, but I don't want to fiddle-fart around with clearing the printer-potty no matter how well the printer actually performs.

I'm probably going to stick with Canon once again. I just don't know what model at this point, but I am leaning towards the TS-8820, as that has been suggested as the closest to a direct replacement for my TS-9020.

Thanks again for the detailed response!

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg PA 🙂

 

[Godfrey]

Dear Godfrey,

I really appreciate your detailed response about the Epson XP7100. It was a printer I was considering, but I don't want to fiddle-fart around with clearing the printer-potty no matter how well the printer actually performs.

I'm probably going to stick with Canon once again. I just don't know what model at this point, but I am leaning towards the TS-8820, as that has been suggested as the closest to a direct replacement for my TS-9020.

Thanks again for the detailed response!

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg PA 🙂

Just a data point or two:

- The XP7100 printer potty business just surfaced this Spring, after 7-8 years of heavy operation. Cleaning it out and resetting the counter is about 10 minutes work at most (plus the $25 or so for the pads and key).
- The waste ink problem is not unique to Epson ... Canon has waste ink pads and tanks in most of their printers too, and they all need about the same level of service.
- Many many users who do not print a lot never run into the waste ink problem. I never ran into it with my Epson R2400, my HP printer, etc. Other parts of the printer age out or wear out before the waste ink problem surfaces...

So, don't make a decision based on that alone.

Canon makes very good printers, so does Epson. One of my reasons for sticking with Epson is that their drivers seem very compatible with macOS and, at least for the higher end printers, more manufacturers seem to provide paper profiles for Epson printing engines and inks than any other brand.

On the other hand, if you've been happy with Canon performance and longevity with your computer system and needs, there's no reason not to buy another Canon printer.

G

 

[Tim Murphy]

Just a data point or two:

- The XP7100 printer potty business just surfaced this Spring, after 7-8 years of heavy operation. Cleaning it out and resetting the counter is about 10 minutes work at most (plus the $25 or so for the pads and key).
- The waste ink problem is not unique to Epson ... Canon has waste ink pads and tanks in most of their printers too, and they all need about the same level of service.
- Many many users who do not print a lot never run into the waste ink problem. I never ran into it with my Epson R2400, my HP printer, etc. Other parts of the printer age out or wear out before the waste ink problem surfaces...

So, don't make a decision based on that alone.

Canon makes very good printers, so does Epson. One of my reasons for sticking with Epson is that their drivers seem very compatible with macOS and, at least for the higher end printers, more manufacturers seem to provide paper profiles for Epson printing engines and inks than any other brand.

On the other hand, if you've been happy with Canon performance and longevity with your computer system and needs, there's no reason not to buy another Canon printer.

G

Dear Godfrey,

There I was congratulating you for your help and now I'm even more confused! 😕

Seriously, the Epson XP7100 is $ 179.00 on Amazon. It is by far the least expensive printer I am looking at now. Based on your latest post I'll probably order one tomorrow and pray I only have the clean the poop tank every 7 or 8 years. The printer has great reviews, yours included. I'll take my chances!

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg PA 🙂