After using refils on my Canon Pixma ip4300, it seems to have screwed up the printhead or something so even with genuine ink the colours aren't as strong as they should be etc.
I could do with a printer with good document print quality for CV's etc. Photo quality isn't too important as I'd just get them printed by a print company if that were the case.
I'm looking for something that isn't huge, as likely it'll go to my girlfriends studio apartment so space is an issue, also, I can't afford anything expensive either, so any recommendations are welcomed...
Kodak C310.
I just got this for £39:
http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/hp-photosmart-wireless-all-in-one-inkjet-printer-07374406-pdt.html (http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/hp-photosmart-wireless-all-in-one-inkjet-printer-07374406-pdt.html)
Thought it was quite good for wireless, SD slot and screen.
You can also access the SD slot wirelessly on the laptop and print by sending images to an email address..
You'll need to get some more ink as well I expect as the ones that ship with it wont have a lot in. Seems good from the little I have used it so far..
Just after I go and pay for the Kodak ><
I found myself looking at printers and starting to get suckered into the likes of Canon, with cheap hardware and expensive ink. Thankfully I found a few sites that listed print costs with differences along the lines of the kodak being ~2p a page for something whilst the canon that was half the cost, cost 8p per page!
Current Canon printers are sh*te. All photos printed look dull.
HP's are currently not bad, but they have region locked cartridges.
Epson - I wouldn't touch one with yours...
I currently spec Brothers for Lasers and Kodaks for Inkjets.
Don't forget to buy a CISS System...
No, do forget to buy one.
Unreliable, clunky, poor ink quality and f*cking messy when it all goes horribly wrong.
I've been using them for years without a single problem.
As one of the reasons I'm buying a new printer is that the current printer no longer prints as boldly as it did before I used 3rd party inks, I'll leave 3rd party inks and CISS systems alone :D There's no need really when the ink is so cheap on the Kodak?!
The carpet at my old house tells the tale of CISS systems :D
Quote from: zpyder on September 24, 2011, 09:15:59 AM
As one of the reasons I'm buying a new printer is that the current printer no longer prints as boldly as it did before I used 3rd party inks, I'll leave 3rd party inks and CISS systems alone :D There's no need really when the ink is so cheap on the Kodak?!
The Kodak has a removable ink head, so if you do use compatibles and it f's it up, just change the heads.
Well a while on from getting the Kodak, and I must say I am HIGHLY unimpressed. I doubt we even get 100 pages from a set of cartridges. Sure they may be cheaper than the canons, but page-per pound it's ridiculously worse.
It also jams if you try and do any double sided printing for some stupid reason. Seriously considering chucking the printer and getting a more expensive, but reliable brand.
i just got a hp officejet 6500a plus for about £50 from amazon
me is well impressed so far
If its just documents your doing, get a cheapie HP/Samsung laser, they are always on offer. Mine has been faultless and after what seems like 1000 pages I've not needed a toner replacement.
Yes I'd go with laser and brother, I like brother because they work so well with linux (cannon can be a bitch)
http://www.brother-printers.co.uk/
I have a sammy laser which I use for black and white documents. I've had it since ~2003, and I've refilled the cart which came with it once.
Unless you need colour, you can't go wrong with a cheap desktop laser.
Could do with colour tbh, though photos I'll get done properly.
Quote from: zpyder on March 14, 2012, 12:24:19 PM
Could do with colour tbh, though photos I'll get done properly.
http://www.brother-printers.co.uk/A4-Laser-Printer.html
Ok, looks maybe doable. Out of interest do laser printer toner cartridges "go off" if not used for a long time? In terms of printing we don't do that much, but when we do, it's important.
Quote from: zpyder on March 14, 2012, 16:43:05 PM
Ok, looks maybe doable. Out of interest do laser printer toner cartridges "go off" if not used for a long time? In terms of printing we don't do that much, but when we do, it's important.
nope - its basically a powder. you might need to give them a shake.
my laser printer toner cartridge is at least 5 year old & I got another one I bought the same time still in the box.
Just be careful with newer stuff - HP for example put chips on their ink cartidges that expire if not used by the expiration date.
No idea if they do that for toners.
I am wondering whether the kodak does something similar, seems the cartridges go at about the same rate regardless of how much printing is done. Tempted to keep a log of what a set does and contact kodak. It's false advertising if the "cheapest" printer to run actually costs more when it takes 2x as many cartridges to do 1000 pages...
Quote from: bear on March 14, 2012, 15:51:34 PM
Quote from: zpyder on March 14, 2012, 12:24:19 PM
Could do with colour tbh, though photos I'll get done properly.
http://www.brother-printers.co.uk/A4-Laser-Printer.html
Even their A3 printers are cheap, even if you never after an A3.
I've had trouble with the really low end brothers before, but I think that was more end user abuse with the feeder tray playing up, they were the JCW series. I would probably go for an MFC Series.
I'm personally a big fan of Brother Inkjet and Lasers (when not a serious amount of yearly cylcle), easy to setup, great functionality as standard, duplex, networking etc and the software/drivers are simple and clean. Unlike HP's photosmart suite.
Anything more serious I go OKI, IE 50,000 + Pages a year.
Samsung A4 Lasers are not bad either.
Quote from: bear on March 14, 2012, 10:40:26 AM
Yes I'd go with laser and brother, I like brother because they work so well with linux (cannon can be a bitch)
http://www.brother-printers.co.uk/
I've a Brother 1430 monochrome and a Konica 2400W lazer printer set up, have used the same 2 for quite a while. Would definitely suggest people going laser printer if they have the room available, it's not much more expensive to buy the printer and no blocked jets :ptu:
Many companies supply replacement toner refill services too, so price on that isn't usually expensive.
Bought a Laserjet 1100 from ebay about 6 years ago for £18. Cost more to ship it (£25).
Came with a toner in it, have still yet to change it despite the cartridge being listed as "used, no idea if anything is left".
Have printed a fair few hundred pages on it, black and white lasers are awesome.
Quote from: M3ta7h3ad on March 15, 2012, 20:40:57 PM
Bought a Laserjet 1100 from ebay about 6 years ago for £18. Cost more to ship it (£25).
Came with a toner in it, have still yet to change it despite the cartridge being listed as "used, no idea if anything is left".
Have printed a fair few hundred pages on it, black and white lasers are awesome.
I got given an old Laserjet 2100 from the place I was working while at uni with network card in it, that was about 8 years ago and must have printed well over 1000 pages on it, it only run out recently, and bought a HP all-in-one jobby so I could print some photos, so haven't needed to top-up the old toner yet..
The old LJ series printers do some serious work and are easy to service
Quote from: XEntity on March 15, 2012, 23:20:57 PM
The old LJ series printers do some serious work and are easy to service
yep they are workhorses.
Now on Laser. SAMSUNG £120 job. Prints sharp and clear - first time, every time even after being idle for a month or twenty. I'll never go back to inkjet now. :thumbup:
We got about 25 pages from a set of ink cartridges that were put in about a month ago.
Obviously something is seriously wrong with this printer. Looking on the internet, it seems not that uncommon for poor quality control from kodak regarding their print heads.
As to toner, it's a solid particulate, so should never 'go off' under normal circumstances.
Unlike the inkjet printers there are no nozzles, so no blocking. A lot of the ink ends up as waste in many printers, others are known to report as empty when they still have quite a bit of ink in them.
Kodaks response was to send me to their page on optimising ink usage. I'm sorry, but I suspect no amount of optimising will help increase my pages per cartridge from 25-50 pages to the official reported figures of around 350 pages...
My parents are after a laser printer & scanner combo. So, recommendations? I'm going to use that as a test run for my own printer...