Printer/Scanner all in one advice?

Inactive

phil11 wrote: »

Check out this months PC mags, there's usually one running a story on 'Top 10 printers' this month.

And the winner is the company that spends the most on advertising with them.

:rolleyes:

isofa

Inactive wrote: »

I don't trust any biased reviews that rely on advertising products to give an impartial reflection of the facts.

I just don't agree at all. Which reviews are giving an impartial reflection. If you look across the board at on-line reviews, magazine reviews from different publishers, I'm sorry to say Brother and Lexmark get woeful scores in the reviews. Either everyone is getting paid to give them a poor review, or, their printers are anything like the quality of the competition...

As an IT pro, I've used owned and tested hundreds of printers, and in the main I've agreed with the majority of reviews. HP from my perspective have been the best. I've spent thousands over the years on various printers, for myself, my offices and on behalf of clients, so I've seen the good, bad and the ugly.

Reviews from good magazines are unbiased, they have full discussions about bias on their forums where you can chat to the editor. If there was any significant bias in a quality journo (and mags like PC Pro are good quality and have highly respected writers, who give every company from HP through to MS a kicking when the don't like something), then their readership (mostly of a professional level) would diminish rapidly.

I'd rather listen to the opinions and lab tests, than one against another on a forum, where anyone could be working for HP, Brother or anyone else.

In my experience the best printers by far, based on print and build quality are HP (inkjet, mono and colour laser) and the worst are Lexmark. I've had mixed results with Epsons (and personally would never buy another), but I'd go back to Canon if I needed a good new home printer/scanner. QMS Minolta I like price vs performance, but the drivers under Windows are a shambles, they are much better under OS X.

Also to the OP it's worth checking out the performance and print quality on plain paper, again here I've found HP to be better than others, some of the cheap brand's ink just wicks into cheap paper and looks awful. Don't buy a cheap printer and find you have to run it for normal documents on expensive paper.

Inactive

The OP was looking for a cheap ( under £30 ) printer, didn't want it for photo's.

I have owned HP, Lexmark and Canon Printers in the past.

Verdict:

Lexmark, rubbish printer with expensive cartridges.

HP, good print quality, but paper jamming was a constant problem, as well as very expensive cartridges.

Canon, 3 died on me within warranty period.

Brother, I own 3, never had a problem, print quality average, but very cheap to run.

So in my opinion, Brother would be best for OP's requirements, and no I don't work for Brother.

I just do not trust the so called independant testing of the likes of Which etc.

Money_Grabber13579

Inactive wrote: »

Did you not read the OP?

" and not for photo's at all "

:rolleyes:

But maybe you haven't read about HP Ink then. It's photo quality anyway, but they do also have dedicated photo cartridges, which I haven't recommended. It just shows that HP Inks are good quality. So I happen to realise that the OP doesn't require it for photos, and don't need it pointing out to me.:rolleyes:

Inactive

Money_Grabber13579 wrote: »

But maybe you haven't read about HP Ink then. It's photo quality anyway, but they do also have dedicated photo cartridges, which I haven't recommended. It just shows that HP Inks are good quality. So I happen to realise that the OP doesn't require it for photos, and don't need it pointing out to me.:rolleyes:

You mentioned " photo quality " at post Number 7 .. :rolleyes:

Money_Grabber13579

Inactive wrote: »

You mentioned " photo quality " at post Number 7 .. :rolleyes:

That's because all HP Inks that are Vivera are photo quality as standard. You can't do anything about it, that's all you get.

andy2004

epson sx200. comets £45 if you buy online and use the 10% off on their website and collect instore.
cartridges, compatibles 4 FULL SETS double capacity 19ml per cartridge
currently £19.99, http://www.inkredible.co.uk/Default.aspx?View=Offers&OffersView=OfferView&OfferID=4139&CategoryID=2500
here, usually i buy my ink via ebay but this is a good offer.

Freebyman

Thanks for all your replies, it certainly has given me some ideas. I seem to be leaning towards the epson sx200 as I have know found out I can get a set of ink for around £7, which is cheap and seems to be a cheap and cheerful printer/scanner.

SALOPMAN

I have just bought a Epson SX100 and for the 39 quid I paid for it im impressed - its very easy to use,printing is very clear and i can actually use the scanner its easy,copying is a doddle too. Im converted !:j

Inactive

Be careful buying compatible cartridges for it, they may not work:

A report from an actual owner of one;

" You may well find yourself lumbered, as Epson are so keen to lock you down to ONLY their cartridges, that they keep changing the chip design - so you may buy "compatible cartridges" for your printer model, only to find that they are NOT compatible at all... And, of course, Epson have also chipped their own cartridges so that they CANNOT be refilled. Which, in this 'green' day and age, is pretty unforgiveable.

I think you should reward Epson for their greed, and for their disregard for the value of recycling... by avoiding their products. I bought an Epson printer recently, but will never do so again. When you are buying a printer check that you can get compatibles that really work - and which can be refilled. It's just a little thing, but it may even help the planet... "