good inkjet printer

[systempat]

I was shopping at a local Compusa store last week and went browsing thru the printer section. I have an inkjet that's about 5 years old and is about due for replacement. Knowing a bit about the "true cost" of inkjets, I was trying to get an idea of the cost of the ink cartridges as well as the retial price of the printer. The in-store info was not helpful on this. So I started to look at the replacement cartridges black & color, that were conveniently arranged near the printers that they went with. Was surprised and shocked to see that the carts went from very small to absolutely tiny!!! I think the largest cart was 13 ml and others were 10, 9, 8 and 6 ml. Or was it 5! :eek: Are these guys kidding? I would be buying new ink every couple of months.
What brands or models are not participating in this rip-off? Like having a decent ink capacity, or a reasonable replacement cost.
Our usage is for home use and pretty light. The ink on the Deskjet 832 goes for 6 to 9 months. Less on the color cart if my daughter prints out a batch of color pages....

[clroberts]

What do you use the printer for mainly? One thing I would stick with is look for the printers with the separate inkwells. Your ink should last much longer if you get one that has all the primary colors separated out as well as photo magenta, cyan, etc. I am using a Canon S9000 which will print up to a 13x9 print. I used to have a DeskJet 712 c and gave it away to someone because the thing just used up ink like nobody's business even if I didn't use it for a long time. I actually prefer using laser printers for everday use since you can get a lot more prints out of a laser printer even if the toner is more$. (You also can be assured that you will get the maximum amount of printing on it regardless of how often you use it unlike inkjets)

[Alaron]

All inkjet printers sell small ink cartridges. For the printer manufacturers like HP and Lexmark, they make no money off of the printers themselves. It all comes from the ink. And because you're locked into buying a particular brand and model of cartridge, of course they are going to charge more for less ink. I suggest looking into investing in a Laser printer. Toner cartridges are more expensive, but last longer, so the pages per cartridge is better.

[systempat]

I understand what you're saying about the laser printers. We have 2 printers at home. The other one is a Laserjet 5P that I picked up used for under a hundred. Does text and black just fine.
But I like the convenience of an inkjet that can print almost anything, like a web page or color images or even documents from work where they've highlighted the spreadsheet with color text or fill.
There has to be some line of printers where they are a little more generous on the ink. Even if they have to charge 150 or 200 for the printer.....

[clroberts]

I picked up my Color Laser Printer for 300 bucks. It is a Konica Minolta 2430DL. It does 2400 x 600 and I can print up to 1500 pages per cartridge and it has the three primary plus the black one. The next step up from this one would print 9600 x 600 and is considered a true photo printer. I usually leave the color option off, but the color looks very nice. It is probably one of the most affordable color laserjet printers on the market.

[Stuey]

I like the Canon MP series printers, most notable the MP600 and MP800 (which is about a year older but a few features ahead). The MP600 can be had for about $165 or so on sale. I like the multifunctions because they have two black cartridges - 1 for text and 1 for photos.

Ink is about $43 for complete color set (the price is for a multipack not for each cartridge separately), and $25 for two text cartridges.

If you figure it that way, it's from $55 for a complete set to about $70 if they're all purchased separately. I've been using Office Depot's $10 off $50 coupons to buy my ink which makes them a bit more affordable. A complete 2 cartridge set for my old HP cost me about $55 to $60, so I feel like I'm getting a good deal now especially since I hated replacing tricolor cartridges when only a single color ran out.

[Floppyman]

I like the Canon MP series printers, most notable the MP600 and MP800 (which is about a year older but a few features ahead). The MP600 can be had for about $165 or so on sale. I like the multifunctions because they have two black cartridges - 1 for text and 1 for photos.

Ink is about $43 for complete color set (the price is for a multipack not for each cartridge separately), and $25 for two text cartridges.

If you figure it that way, it's from $55 for a complete set to about $70 if they're all purchased separately. I've been using Office Depot's $10 off $50 coupons to buy my ink which makes them a bit more affordable. A complete 2 cartridge set for my old HP cost me about $55 to $60, so I feel like I'm getting a good deal now especially since I hated replacing tricolor cartridges when only a single color ran out.

Wow, at those prices it would almost be silly not to go with a laser printer if you don't necessarily need color. I think the toner catridge for my HP AIO is actually cheaper than a complete set of cartridges for the Canons, the only drawback being again that I can't print color.

[Stuey]

Well, yea for high volume text, laser is much more economical without question. For very light home use, I suppose a 2-cartridge printer might be all that is needed despite my personal bias against them.

[clroberts]

And for very very very light use, a Laser Printer will be superior to an Inkjet anyday. The problem with the Inkjets is that if you use it just one time and put it away for a year, then you have to buy a whole new set of carts because all that ink has dried up or the printhead is now clogged. Believe me, I barely used the inkjet and I was still spending money on the carts when I didn't use the amount to warrant a replacement set of carts. That is the rip off part of an inkjet is that unless you use them on a regular basis, the ink will eventually dry up. Toner carts don't do that. I have had this Laserjet 6L Printer for almost 10 years now and have replaced the toner in it One Time.

[systempat]

Thanks for the responses :) : .
I'll give some of the Canon models a look. It sounds like they work well and price the cartridges a little more reasonable.

[The_YongGrand]

How about the Minolta and the Samsung laser printers? They are cheap too, and did very well. The Canon is a little bit expensive, but maybe the toners are widely available.

Do these laser printers have scanners built-in? :D

[glc]

The HP 2600n color laser is very affordable and it even has a 10/100 print server built in.

[clroberts]

You can get all in one laser printers, but they are a bit more.
Check this puppy out:
http://printer.konicaminolta.com/products/mfp/mc2490MF/index.asp

This printer is about $776.99 plus shipping on pricewatch.com