3-in-1 Printer?

SinDinero

Holaaaaaaaaaaaa. Belated Happy New Year..............and an early Chinese New Year to everyone here!!!

Just a quick one. I need to get a printer/scanner (photocopier not so necessary - but I guess it will probably be able to do that to 3 in 1).

High street sales only (Argos, Curry's etc.) as I don't have time to wait for internet deliveries.

Main use: printing black and white (flight and concert tickets and a few other text documents) - not heavy use. Would only use it now and again. So could probably get away with a cheap one.
Though...........

Sometime in the not too distant future I'll have to scan literally loads of old pre digital camera day photos in order to preserve them in digital format. So a decent scanner would be a must.

So options are - just get a cheapo printer for printing and buy one for the scanning in a few months time. Or just get one that will do both jobs.

Are there any brands people would advise to stay well away from - for example ones with very high printer cartridge costs - bad scanning etc.

Thanks....

bengalknights

I would recommend HP as the reliable brand for printing

For scanning any scanner cant really go wrong

DigForVictory

Your local library usually has either a subscription to, or back numbers of, Which? Use this to steer on the real cost of printing. Keep a very sharp eye on price per page - the cheap colour printer bought from the supermarket could turn out to be scandalously expensive. (Ours did...)


As for scanners, the real standalone devices with the extra software do (in my opinion) a better job than the multipurpose things, but this is the sort of gadget you may find you can buy, use & resell (check all manuals, installation disks, cables etc are kept along with the original box & possibly even receipt). However, they are your family photos, to be scanned at a time and up to a quality that suits you.

I know one lass who calmly digitised three huge family albums using her smartphone - if you have the patience & the quality is acceptable, it might be a gadget you already have?! Always MS!
Best of luck!

onzey

Your local library probably has a printer, scanner and copier too if you're in a hurry for something (and they're open ).

10p for a black and white copy at mine, although £1 for colour.

Might give you more time to look around for your own one.

psychic_teabag

SinDinero wrote: »

Main use: printing black and white (flight and concert tickets and a few other text documents) - not heavy use. Would only use it now and again. So could probably get away with a cheap one.

I find that inkjets don't work well with occassional use. The ink tends to dry up and it can take ages (and lots of wasted ink) to get it flowing again.

And cheap printers are subsidised by high ink costs, so the manufacturers are quite happy to use lots of ink in the self-cleaning process.

I have seen a suggestion of removing cartridge from printer and storing in a air-tight bag, but then someone else says that the printer nozzles will just clog up instead.

Others will need to advise on which designs or which models fare better in this regard.

SinDinero

onzey wrote: »

Your local library probably has a printer, scanner and copier too if you're in a hurry for something (and they're open ).

They're not now.

SinDinero

Some of the things mentioned in the posts here are also things I've seen on some review sites.

Cheap printers yet extortionate cartridge costs - and some said the black ink was much more than the colour. Also that thing about the ink drying out after a short time..........it doesn't bode well for my Friday town visit.

It looks like a printer with the cheapest black and white printing costs and a decent stand-alone scanner at a later date is the best option. If I could just find that printer (without the help of Which?).

SinDinero

DigForVictory wrote: »

Your local library usually has either a subscription to, or back numbers of, Which?

http://www.savethestudent.org/shopping/the-ultimate-guide-to-cheap-printing.html

This mini guide says the Epson Expression Home XP102 works out at 1.5p per page.

andygb

I have had an Epson XP422 for the last year and it is fine - print, scan and copy.
I used it for Christmas cards this year, loads of B&W printing, and a fair bit of colour portrait shots up to A4.
You should be able to pick one up for about £60 off Aamzon.

SinDinero

andygb wrote: »

I have had an Epson XP422 for the last year and it is fine - print, scan and copy.
I used it for Christmas cards this year, loads of B&W printing, and a fair bit of colour portrait shots up to A4.
You should be able to pick one up for about £60 off Aamzon.

Unfortunately there aren't any in stock on the high street

So I'm going to have to go for a random printer from Argos.