New printer needed

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Satch

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First Law of Sod bites with a vengance: paper transport mechanism of old but up to now trusty printer knackered beyond economic repair.

So now need a new all in one colour printer, nothing volume orientated but capable of:

1. Printing letters docs. etc to a decent standard

2. Scanning/copying letters etc ( I have a dedicated flatbed scanner for pics and also a negative/slide scanner, so really a convenience factor)

3. Odd bit of colour photo printing, but nothing special

4. Network connected, capable of printing from wired or wireless laptops/PC's at the same time (that sounds easy but baffled the "specialist" at a PC World)

5. Coping with a ragbag of laptops and PC's running Vista (32 and 64 bit) & Windows 7 (64 bit) (so did that)

Also I would like it not to fall to bits with a couple of years nor operate from consumables that are priced as if made from pure Unobtainium

Any suggestions?
 
One of the newer colour laser printers---- that's going to be my next one. Havn't done the research yet on what's available but HP will be a contender.
 
Without knowing what is expensive to you - if you are looking for the cheapest, I would consider a Kodak inkjet unit.

Most printers have quite expensive ink or toner replacements but these seem to be the cheapest (£20 to replace the whole lot).

They do the following all in one unit which seems to meet your requirements:

KODAK ESP 7250 All-in-One Printer

...for around £150.
 
Recently had a similar problem when a Canon I had eventually gave up the ghost.......

I got a Kodak printer but it failed to work correctly (some problem with the ink transport mechanism) and I returned it and got my money back.

Eventually got a new canon inkjet through Currys for about £50....prints, scans, copies and has a feed mechanism for copying....think it is a MX320. Cheap and does the job.
 
After numerous HP printers which all seemed to fail one way or another I converted to Canon and bought a Pixma MG5250 which was on offer at PC World.

It got good reviews in Which magazine and was very reasonably priced.

So far it's been faultless, setting up the wireless was really easy and I've no complaints at all.
 
Very pleased with my Canon Pixma MP600R - newer ones now available.

My wireless has given up but works on the cable still. Still prints ok so wont replace it until then. Have heard that Epsom do great picture quality too.

Have had HP in past - always breaking down - I think they are disposable as the inks are more expensive than the printers - but that is getting the case with many.

Neighbour has the Kodak - always going wrong. Replaced twice now.
 
Hmm, interesting feedback about the Kodak...

We have a Canon ink printer which we bought in 2007 - Pixma IP3300 - and it has never had a problem.

Perhaps Canon is the way forward on ink printers then...
 
Yup I also switched from HP to Canon. I wanted to do occasional high quality photo printing so got an 'end of line' Pixma iP4500 for £40 from Jessops, just after the 4600 had come out. I get cartridges from 7dayshop.
 
Epson gets my vote had my R300 photo printer for over 3 years and never let me down plus I use non genuine cartridges off ebay that give great results at a bargain price 4 complete sets and 4 extra blacks for under £20.
Whichever printer you choose make sure you check out the replacement cartridge cost.
 
Had a canon previously and was pleased with results/ink costs (was an A3 machine)
When it failed, I bought an all in 1 brother - MFC6490CW
Again, pleased with reasonable print quality, reasonable ink costs (just bought 4 full sets of compatble ink for £16), connected to network - wired or wireless + usb to main machine. Can print, copy, scan & fax - all I need.
 
If you can collect from london I have a lexmark professional series inket MFD, wireless and wired network that costs circa £300 new(I need to check exact model next week as I am on holiday at the moment).

It's a printer, scanner, copier & fax £60 collected, or if I detail it first, £90 ;)
 
If you can do without the scanning, and use your existing scanner, then the best deal out there is still the DELL 1320CN - Cheaper colour laser with cheap running costs - as most people who know me, I am an HP person - however, I have one of these Dell printers personally.

Best value for money - and good print quality.

I paid £130 delivered from IJT direct, inc printers cartridges. The replacement IJT Toner cartridges costs about £20 per complete set and lasts 2000 prints.

Here's a link: DELL 1320CN from IJT

Alternatively you can buy the printer from eBuyer for about £100 and buy the IJT toners from ebay.
 
Good feedback from Canon inkjet's, but you could also consider a Canon colour laser MFP

Bit bigger and bulkier, but the running costs are way lower than inkjet.

MF8030Cn would do the job
 
Can't offer any good advice but all I will say is I will never buy another HP product EVER.
I bought a wireless all in one which has so much bloatware it slowed my laptop down and the drivers need to be reinstalled vitually everytime I use it.

It is now back in its box!

I will watch this thread with interest as I will need another soon.
 
Good feedback from Canon inkjet's, but you could also consider a Canon colour laser MFP

Bit bigger and bulkier, but the running costs are way lower than inkjet.

MF8030Cn would do the job

I bought one of these for one of our MDs and it has been faultless although I don't know if it is really hammered, let's say.

However, you need to do the maths as the OP said low volume, and lasers are usually more expensive than ink on low volume.
 
Have a nose around Printware's site. Decide what type of printer you want (or just make it up) and tick the relevant boxes. You will be presented with a list that meets your requirements, and the running costs are also shown.
 
Yup I also switched from HP to Canon. I wanted to do occasional high quality photo printing so got an 'end of line' Pixma iP4500 for £40 from Jessops, just after the 4600 had come out. I get cartridges from 7dayshop.

I'm pretty ticked off by the racket that is ink cartridges!

I have an Epson Photo 870 which I purchased many years ago in the mistaken belief that it would be used printing a lot of my photos. I did not realise how slow the process would be and, of course, the costs involved. All this before the upsurge of online printers.

The Epson still turns out great prints but replacement cartridges cost an eye-watering £56. I see that 7dayshop brings this down to around £37 for the real McCoy but compatibles are a measly £4.29 a set. (I tried a guffy set some time ago and they were crap.)

Do you just get what you pay for, or should I bin a perfectly good printer (and scanner) and buy a Kodak?
 
Also I would like it not to fall to bits with a couple of years nor operate from consumables that are priced as if made from pure Unobtainium

Any suggestions?

Canon.

We run MX870s in the office for ad-hoc printing and scanning and there are several of us who run lower end models at home.

Only complaint is the cost of the OEM cartridges (but there are plenty of 3rd party suppliers).

On our printer models the cartidges supplied were proper 'full' cartridges as opposed to 'starter' cartridges.
 
The reason I recommended a laser is because they are so much more tolerant of intermittent use. Injets are fine and the better ones offer superb quality if you are using them all the time but if you envisage not printing for a couple of weeks rather than every other day???
 
If you don't use an Inkjet enough, the cartridges can dry out as well.

I would agree if the printer is really hardly ever going to be used - Laser is better.

I have had that happen to me before but I can't remember how long it took.

However, knowing on what part of that sliding scale will tell.

If you get an ink printer to start with, and you find the cartridges drying out, give it to the British Heart Foundation and buy yourself a laser.

If you are in that league - the cost differences between the two will favour laser...
 

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