Help! I need to buy a new printer that wont cost me a fortune in ink!

doxybite

I've had my old faithful Lexmark for years, but as a student I am printing every single day just now. The ink is absolutely extortionate for my printer so I'm thinking of investing in a new one that has dirt cheap ink cartridges and thus will be better in the long run!

Any recommendations? I need a printer with a scanner. Epson and Canon seem to be the cheapest ink wise. But I'm confused as you seem to have to buy lots of different colours - Argos website lists black, cyan, magenta and yellow for these brands. Does this mean I need to buy FOUR cartridges if I want to print out things in colour?! Lexmark is as simple as a black cartridge and a colour cartridge, so I don't understand this. Can anyone clarify for me? (I've only ever had a Lexmark so I'm confused by this! ) I don't see the point in changing printers if I have to buy double the cartridges that I already do.

Thanks!
Kayleigh

devildog

We have,in the past few years , gone with Epson and also got one of the same for student.
The thing with a black cartridge and a colour one is that if the colour cartridge runs low/out on a particular colour the whole cartridge needs to be replaced, having cartridges in single colours means you only replace the colour that needs replacing.

There is also a reliable online supplier of ink cartridges where you will get them half of the price of the likes of tesco etc and 9 times out of ten next day delivery too. They are not the geniune inks as recommended by the manufacturer but we have had no issues whatsoever with using them.

paulsad

I am an epson fan too - hate hp printers they always seem to break for me. Individual colour cartridges work out cheaper as well - I use inkredible(?) lookilikie cartridges dead cheap - never had a problem.

Indie_Kid

devildog wrote: »

The thing with a black cartridge and a colour one is that if the colour cartridge runs low/out on a particular colour the whole cartridge needs to be replaced, having cartridges in single colours means you only replace the colour that needs replacing.

I agree. With my Canon ip4600, I have 2 blacks, 1 cyan, 1 magenta and 1 yellow.

Owain_Moneysaver

How much colour do you have to print? An old B/w laser (HP 4 series or later) will go on for ever and compatible toner cartridges are cheap as chips, with *thousands* of text pages per cartridge.

ThinkingOfLinking

I have a Canon PIXMA MP270 printer, and the reviews say it's a very ink-hungry machine. Time will tell, as I have only just got it.

Mankysteve

Get laser for black and white duties as most of your work will be in B&W and get a cheap laser jet for any colour work or use the uni colour printer.

doxybite

Thanks for all the helpful posts! I'm going to see if I can get a cheapish one out of my work. Any preference out of canon/HP/epson? All are they all the same really?

Stubert

I've got n Epson printer. The thing that's most advantageous with it, it is quite easy to get hold of 'Replacement' cartridges. i.e. they aren't made by Epson so are available at a much cheaper price. I never had any problems using these cartridges rather than the originals.

http://www.choicestationery.co.uk do a really good selection of cartridges, so take a look at see what it will cost you to replace them for certain printers. They have a plethora of replacement cartridges for Epson, not so sure about other brands but worth taking a look.

universality

I've got an Epson d92 that I bought from Tesco about 3 years ago. I've spent over £300 on an a3 printer in the past but always ended up using this little Epson one. I'd highly recommend Epson and Inkrite inks are excellent value for money, I've found that they're 100% reliable, you can buy them off amazon directly and you couldn't spot the difference between their ink and Epsons!

devildog

If you go with an Epson, I would recommend EPS Club, last order for a full set of cartridges(incl 2 black)was under £20 delivered!