Mom needs a printer

[nahiku7]

My mom needs a printer to do some color instead of her old laser that is only black and white. So I was wondering what would be a good printer that use's inexpensive ink cartidge's. Her computer is a few years old has usb, an intel running at about 500. I've allways been partill to epson. Price is the major concern but she doesnt see to good anymore so a fair quality comes into play as well. Thanks to any and all Ideas. scott.

[Kov-Ice]

I believe Lexmark sells ink in larger cartridges for less money than most brands, tho I cannot speak to their quality of product or printing. They are sold new with two full size cartridges in them, as opposed to most brands who only give you starter ink cartridges upon purchase.
Something to look into...

[lil Jimmie]

I have been very happy with the quality of HP printers. Lexmark have not served me to well and I have found them to be very loud.

[glc]

Overall, I feel that a HP is the best way to go, but not the brand new ones that use the new dinky cartridges. If you can find a model that uses either a #23 or a #78 color cartridge and a #15 or a #45 black, that's the best way to go and print quality is very competitive.

A 3820 at $80 will fit this bill.

[Mr N8]

I've been extremely happy with Canon lately. I've sold a few i850 printers, and they are amazing.

The pros to Canon is that it uses individual ink tanks for the colors, so you don't have to replace the whole cartridge if you run out of red. To replace the tanks is cheaper than replacing 1 HP #78. The print quality is great. I've seen 5x7 photos printed off of the i850, and I was very impressed.

The downside is that the print heads are built into the printer, rather than the cartridge, which explains the low cartridge cost.

[ssahl]

I may be bias, but hp prints photo quality and you can get a photosmart printer for less then $150, most of them use a 3 color and a black cartridge, with the option to use another 3 color cartridge where the black goes (56, 57, 58) for what they call photoret IV, which is 4800dpi color, if used with hp paper I've been told that it is fade resistent for 40 years, 70 if put under uv protective glass. the price for cartridges is about $20 for the 56 (black) and around $35 for the 57 & 58 color cartridges. the printing also blends the colors before they hit the paper and uses less ink. The yield for these cartridge's are:

56 450 pages text
57 391 pages text, photo 125
58 125 pages of photo quality at the highest printing quality.
the yield can be much more if you use normal quality, and even more if you use draft quality for text, and it is still very good quality.
the capacity for these cartridges are 19ml for the 56 and 17ml for the 57 & 58.

[glc]

The 56/57/58 cartridges are the ones I don't like. The quality is outstanding, but the yield is too low per $$.

[RayH]

Depending upon how much is being printed, Canons can be very cost effective. I've been using a cheap Canon for years. I have no issues with the print head on the printer.

Don't underestimate the cost of cartridges. Because Canon tanks have no chips or printer head, third party cartridges can easily be found. With single color tanks, it can save money!

[Rick Hall]

I have been an Epson user for a long time.
I have gotten fed up with the print headhead clogging problems.
I decided to get the Canon i850 and have been very happy with it.
It is extremely quiet, very efficient on ink, prints super quality photos, has no problems (so far) with head clogs, and uses individual (large) ink tanks. The black ink tank is twice the size of the color tanks and the color tanks are large. I have had the printer for about 8 months now and have printed a lot of Hi-Res photos and I am still on the first set of tanks.
Third party ink tanks are easy to find if you want to go that route.
I highly recommend this printer, and to think I used to avoid Canon printers like the plaque.

[azscary]

I recently purchased an Epson CX5200 color printer/scanner/copier. What I was looking for at the time was an inexpensive color printer that had individual ink cartridges so I would not have to replace a 3 color $54 cartridge because the yellow ran out!!!

My local Staples store had this printer on sale for $149. Recently CompUSA had a one day sale where with rebate the same printer ws $129.

This printer uses the new pigment inks that are smear resistant and water resistant. Immediately after it comes out of the printer I can drag my finger across the print and NO smudges. If I wait 30 seconds I can wet my finger and get very little smudging.

The black cartridge costs around $35 and the individual color runs around $11.

It is a USB printer and here is a link to the specs.
http://www.epinions.com/pr-Printers_Epson_Stylus_CX5200_Multifunction_Printer_Printer_C11C496001/display_~full_specs

[raftero]

i have a lexmark z32 usb,it is really quiet,my wife has a z22,par.port which is much louder,both work well,have had them for about 3 years with no problems.

[azscary]

nahiku7

Did you make a decision yet??