recc. home printer that doesn't guzzle ink

[ampguy]

We seem to go through 1 printer a year, and by the end of the printer's lifetime, it's just as cheap to buy a new printer than a new set of inks for the printer.

2 years ago we had the Pixma 3000, then it had problems, so Canon gave us a Pixma 4200 (which left my ink stash useless).

We need something that does full page color and b&w text, color, and the occasional 4x6 that is not an ink guzzler. Don't need high-res photo printing capabilities, just home uses, and the occasional 4x6.

 

[IGMeanwell]

The new HPs are supposed to be sippers

but its all relative ... what are you looking to pay?

I think one of the newer Epsons has actually gone back to only using 3 or 4 cartridges for this reason

 

[ampguy]

under $100 or so, because all of our printers just break after awhile.

 

[IGMeanwell]

If you won't want to spend a lot of money

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16828104523


I personally for my B&W printing only have an Epson C88 ... but its inconsitent with its ink usage and quality ... in other words for a cheap printer its good, but its not great

 

[ampguy]

Thanks Pete, so the D5160 is better with ink usage than the older Photosmarts? I sitll have a 1000 that works good, but went through ink fast like the Canons.

 

[IGMeanwell]

probably not ... but that is ok

The old HP photosmart I have is quite economical with inks

that new HP looks like it uses the same two cartridge concept though with the updated inks

which is good because my current HP color printer fades within minutes of a print unless I turn on the contrast boost

 

[Kin Lau]

You already have one of the better inkjets for home use. The Canon series at least lets you use individual inktanks. The HP 5160 mentioned above uses _one_ cartridge for all three colours, so that if one runs out, you replace the whole thing, so it's actually more thirsty.

My Canon i860 is now almost 4 years old and still running strong.

If you do a lot of regular text printing, get a laser. It's a lot cheaper in the long run. $50 of ink will barely do 1000 pages of text, but $50 of toner will do 5000 pages easily.

If you still need colour, the new colour lasers are only slightly larger than desktop units, and are now in the $300CDN range.

 

[IGMeanwell]

most color lasers won't pass photo paper through their drum unless otherwise stated as its usually too heavy

plus color lasers get real expensive when you have to purchase 3 toner cartridges at 50 bucks a pop

HP sells both the black and photo cartridges together with 150 4x6s for about 34 dollars at staples

edit: sorry not 34 dollars, 40 dollars but you get my point

 

[davidbivins]

I'm partial to the HP Business inkjets - we have one for our business to print color brochures, etc. It uses individual (and quite large) cartridges: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. And it stops printing when it runs out of an ink it's using. Some models just keep printing and waste paper.

 

[kaiyen]

printers that aren't ink guzzlers? not sure there is really such a thing, personally. I do all my color printing at costco as a result.

allan

 

[Kin Lau]

You don't want to pass coated papers thru a laser either. Very quick way of destroying it. But regular bond already looks quite good, not inkjet quality, but they've come a _long_ way.

Even at $50 per toner, colour lasers are still way cheaper on a per page basis. On my i860, CDN$100- of ink (3 colours + black) will less than 100 8x10's. CDN$200- worth of toner will do at least 1000 8x10's. The tradeoff is quality.

Again, it's only an option and certainly not for everyone.

 

[ampguy]

yeah

yeah

Costco, and good walgreens are the way to go for bulk color, but we need the capabilities for the quick one-offs at home.

printers that aren't ink guzzlers? not sure there is really such a thing, personally. I do all my color printing at costco as a result.

allan

 

[Topdog1]

If you just want to print photos I find dye sublimation printers to be the way to go. Much nicer photo prints than anything an ink jet can do.

Kodak has this one that will do up to 8x10 and currently has a $100 rebate:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...s&Q=&sku=354939&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

And i personally use the Olympus P-11 which I can recommend very highly for 4x6 prints:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...h=&cltp=&clsgr=&bl=&sb=ps&sq=desc&fi=all&pn=2

Regards,
Ira

 

[ampguy]

going to try one

going to try one

$80 shipped from buy.com seems like a deal, the printing on cds/dvds is a plus. will let you know how it works. thanks.

Thanks Pete, so the D5160 is better with ink usage than the older Photosmarts? I sitll have a 1000 that works good, but went through ink fast like the Canons.

 

[IGMeanwell]

True Dye subs have great print quality ... in fact probably the best

however the quality wasn't an issue for amp guy; he was looking for economy

Dye subs are the exact opposite, cost per print is way over normal inkjet and you can't get the supplies just anywhere.

Where as Canon, Epson, and HP you can get their Inks anywhere from Target to sometimes even Walgreens.


BTW ampguy ... the new HP papers are great with the Vivera inks, even though typically I prefer Kodak papers with Epson products; I did a small test with a friends paper and the HP Vivera inks, plus the HP papers actually had little to no fading when dry

If you just want to print photos I find dye sublimation printers to be the way to go. Much nicer photo prints than anything an ink jet can do.

Kodak has this one that will do up to 8x10 and currently has a $100 rebate:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...s&Q=&sku=354939&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

And i personally use the Olympus P-11 which I can recommend very highly for 4x6 prints:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...h=&cltp=&clsgr=&bl=&sb=ps&sq=desc&fi=all&pn=2

Regards,
Ira

 

[ampguy]

Thanks Pete

Thanks Pete

You're right, we have no interest in doing volume prints or fancy prints at home, I just did 75 today at Walgreens for 0.19 cents each, plus, if I don't like any, I can have them redone for free.

This is just a backup color printer, mostly used for low volume b/w or mixed color, maybe 20 pages/week, plus a couple 4x6's.

Thanks!

True Dye subs have great print quality ... in fact probably the best

however the quality wasn't an issue for amp guy; he was looking for economy

Dye subs are the exact opposite, cost per print is way over normal inkjet and you can't get the supplies just anywhere.

Where as Canon, Epson, and HP you can get their Inks anywhere from Target to sometimes even Walgreens.


BTW ampguy ... the new HP papers are great with the Vivera inks, even though typically I prefer Kodak papers with Epson products; I did a small test with a friends paper and the HP Vivera inks, plus the HP papers actually had little to no fading when dry