Can anyone recommend a good printer?

Abbafan1972

Hi there. I know there was a thread about printer inks recently, but I decided to start my own thread in the hope of getting a suitable response.

It looks like I am in the market for a new printer. My Epson Stylus SX515W is printing faded text and I have just about had it with the head cleaning cycle, I can't do one now as I don't have enough ink left!

My last Epson printer (R200) lasted a couple of years (this printer was given to us) before refusing to print certain colours and the head cleaning cycle couldn't fix it, so in the end I freecycled the printer. My current one I've had for about 3 years, after 6 months it started screwing paper up, so we go it repaired under warranty, but it's never been the same since and even after the repair it kept printing a black line down the back of every page I printed. I tried running that special blotting paper through many times and it made no difference.

Now, we don't print very often, so could it be blocked print heads due to under use? I decided to only use original Epson cartridges with this one and it hasn't made any difference.

The new printer would have to be Wireless, have a scanning/copying option. I am not too fussed about photo print quality, as with photos you can get them done anywhere these days. I am more concerned about document print quality, as I plan on job hunting soon and want my letters and CV's to look nice and professional. Plus it would be used for printing stuff of the internet, such as pictures for the kids etc.

I haven't ruled out the possibility of having a laser printer over an Inkjet, but it can't be bulky, as space is an issue here. Would a laser one be better for someone who doesn't print that often?

Looking forward to any replies.

Thanks in advance.

Squire_Fulwood

Tesco are doing the HP 3050 at half price which is about £35. It is an all in one that scans copies and prints and is Wi Fi.

Squire_Fulwood

It is becoming obvious to me that a good printer is not what most people should be looking for. They break so often or clog or have other problems that they should be regarded as a disposable comodity.

Buy one that has ink included and since a refill will probably cost the same as a replacement ..........replace it.

grizzly1911

I would suggest Epson but based on experience to date what about Canon MG5350/6250.

Seem to get good reviews plugs on here.

I have an older non wireless Canon multi ink printer that has lasted well (4 years old / medium use) and prints paper/photo fine. I run it on compatible inks only -doubt if these are readily available for the ones mentioned above though.

jackieb

I have a wireless Kodak - the ink is a lot cheaper.

superjaggybunnet

I bought myself an old HP Lasejet 4 from ebay for peanuts.

Works great and has never missed a beat. Doesn't do colour though but that doesn't bother me.

If I want to print photo's I get them done online quite cheaply and with a lot less hassle than doing it myself.

Laser - You know it makes sense.

grizzly1911

jackieb wrote: »

I have a wireless Kodak - the ink is a lot cheaper.

Cheaper than other originals but still way more than compatibles.

callistris

Squire_Fulwood wrote: »

Tesco are doing the HP 3050 at half price which is about £35. It is an all in one that scans copies and prints and is Wi Fi.

I got this one just after xmas, but mine is the the A version which I got from Amazon, for just under £35 free delivery.

I went for this one, because of the "Airprint" function for printing from my iPad and iPhone.

As a wireless printer/scanner its great, was easy to set up and is quick at printing. Plus the set of genuine inks are very reasonably priced at £15:)

Just having a problem with the airprint side of things, but thats due to my router, not the printer;)

bob_a_builder

Inkjets are a nitemare in the home due to low usage causing heads to block
Epson more so because head is built into printer
HP used to have the head built on end of cartridge ( not sure if that still so) so at least you have access to the head to clean or replace with new cart/head
Not sure about others like Canon etc
I gave up on inkets a long time ago - mono printing is what I needed 95% of the time, and as others have said on-line photiong printing is so cheap now

So Laser it is for me, even so you may still want to treat the low cost printer as a consumable rather than replace toner carts (although there are refub carts available which might sway that balance)

I've used £40 ish 16 - 22 ppm Samsungs up to now (had 3 of them) but I think that they have started to reduce even further the limited page count you can do with the supplied starter cartridge, used to be 1500 pages.

Probably go for THIS mono one next time round

But laser colour is an option - not sure how many pages you can print with this one with supplied carts - but againg treating the whole thing as a consumable still might work out

Edit: just seen wireless is an OP requirment : not an option on these lasers,
BUt have seen wireless Samsungs but price then goes to £99 , making it less disposable
Maybe a wirless printer server would be a beter option to still be able to use the cheaper printers

AllTheseUserNamesAreTaken

I have a wireless Kodak - the ink is a lot cheaper.

You have been persuaded by the advertising? Remember Kodak compared costs assuming cartridges were sold at RRP. Most companies sell Kodak ink at or over RRP since there is no margin in their products. Other brands of inks are commonly sold at less than RRP.

In the real world, Kodak are not the cheapest printers to run.

And be careful, Kodak are on the verge of bankruptcy. Make sure you can still buy cartridges. Make sure they take the Kodak number 10's, they are the only ones where compatibles are readily available.

I went to laser a few years ago and would probably never go back. Unless you need to print top quality photos or you can't afford the initial outlay I would definitely recommend laser.