BagOfCrisps 24 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 I hate printers. Always have. They always seem to be tempremental, eat up ink like a hungry ink eating thing, and basically annoy me. So I think I need to buy a decent one. Do people have recommendations for decent printers that actually last a while and don't break down and print very cleanly. Don't need photos printed for the most part but would like to be able to printe high quality documents. Cheers. Link to post Share on other sites
surfarthur 22 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 We have a canon multifunction printer/scanner, which is able to print photos (pretty sure this is more of a gimmick than good quality photos though). We went with Canon because the inks are cheaper than many of the other brands. A family member has an HP printer, and my biggest issue with it is that when the printer thinks the ink has run out, it will no longer print, even though sometimes there is as much as 1/3rd of the cartridge left. With the Canon, it will keep trying to print anyway. Link to post Share on other sites
JellyBelly 1 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 I hate printers too. I just wanted to say that. Link to post Share on other sites
JellyBelly 1 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 What about laser printers? Are they any better? Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 I killed an inkjet recently, replaced it with a laser black and white as I was printing hundreds of pages for work on a work issued laptop. Bought it Mac compatible so I could also install it on that. Then worked out I needed A3 and colour so also bought an inkjet for that...also Mac compatible. Can't get either to install on my Mac. AARRGGHHHH! Hate here also. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Laser is good for large quantity printing and where you need to use a highlighter on the printed pages. Inkjet smudges. But the cost is not justifiable for smaller quantities. The combo of both worked well for me - when I could use them. Link to post Share on other sites
JA2340 16 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Inkjets tend to be "throw-away" items - when the ink runs out it is cheaper to buy a new printer than a new set of ink cartridges. BUT ... a high quality one will be better quality priunts and cheaper to buy cartridges fopr. Lasers tend to be more "long-life" items, the consumables are cheaper related to the cost of the printer, and so it is better to keep them and replace the consumables. The fact that they are also generally waterproof (or highlighter proof - for MB) is sometimes important. I have a Brother networked colour laser, +1 has an A3 Canon inkjet at work which we use to print our photographs for competitions. (Shhhhh, don't tell her boss! she bought the paper and a set of replacement ink carts). The better inkjets have individual ink reservoirs for each colour, cheaper inkjets often have a single colour cartridge, so if one colour is empty, the whole is useless. makes for expensive replacements as you are replacing a cartridge with ink remaining in all reservoirs but one. Link to post Share on other sites
xxx 2 Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 it's that m'throwaway' aspect that really annoys. Been through a fe way self over the years and wouldn't mind spending more to get something that would last. What do laser printers 'eat'? Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 I guess laser printers are still better for documents. You get sharper text, they're faster and less fussy about paper quality. They eat quite big containers of toner. Toner is pigment combined with fine magnetic powder. The laser scans a photosensitive drum to make it magnetic and the magnetic pigment/powder mix sticks to the magnetized bits before being transferred to the paper. Because its all dry, it doesn't matter how absorbent the paper is. With ink jets, you can cut the cost a lot by buying third party ink.For photos, some printers use dye based inks and others pigment based inks.Dyes have the most saturated colours but pigments last longer. It sounds like they are better for b/w photos too. I just bought an A3 printer but I deliberately got an old model second-hand because you can't buy third party ink for new models just yet. I can't afford to print lots using the official little cartridges. The s/h one I bought was from a computer shop and came with a brand new print head and inks, so its almost like a new one. If you've got a Canon printer, watch out for them printing photos with a nasty red hue that spoils photos of people. It happens a lot if you let Photoshop or Lightroom manage the colours, and seems to be a common problem online. Link to post Share on other sites
klingon 10 Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 Last printer I had, had a real problem with some "3rd party" ink. The printer sometimes wouldn't recognise them and it was very on/off. This was ink bought in K's Denki, so not from some seedy back alley. Can't say I'm a fan of printers myself generally. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted April 11, 2013 Author Share Posted April 11, 2013 See, that's it. Printer world just seems to be one big Scam Bonanza. Which I don't like. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 Hate em... and the color matching is always way off when using a Mac. And yes.....I have tried every permutation of settings to try to get it somewhat close. Currently using a Canon all in one inkjet unit. Link to post Share on other sites
JA2340 16 Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 I have had great success with reloaded laser toners. There's a local bloke who does a really good job - not suggesting you send your toner cartridges from Japow, mind! He reloads the toner, renews the chip (which counts the pages and will not allow you to use more than the number they say, regardless of whether you use the "standard" 40% coverage or not) and seals it all up. There's likely to be such a service near you ... or at least somewhere in the country. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 Last printer I had, had a real problem with some "3rd party" ink. The printer sometimes wouldn't recognise them and it was very on/off. This was ink bought in K's Denki, so not from some seedy back alley. Can't say I'm a fan of printers myself generally. I use the Japanese ones myself and have had to replace my old refilled cartridges with new ones from time to time because the printer didn't like them any more. It is more dicking about and I always seem to get ink on my fingers when I refill, but its still better that 1000 yen a pop. For the printer I've just got, I'm going to buy a set of inks with a chip resetter from overseas. That way, the ink management thing of the printer can be left on. Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 The third-party inks can be really bad. Last batch I bought (by acccident - didn't notice it wasn't the official brand) dripped all over the place. Best, unfortunately, to stick to the approved brand. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted April 11, 2013 Author Share Posted April 11, 2013 Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 The third-party inks can be really bad. Last batch I bought (by acccident - didn't notice it wasn't the official brand) dripped all over the place. Best, unfortunately, to stick to the approved brand. Quite easily done. The whole thing 'riles'. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted April 15, 2013 Author Share Posted April 15, 2013 Yes. I think I will get a decent laser printer. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 are they expensive Bags? How much more than a regular ink jet type? Link to post Share on other sites
JA2340 16 Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Usually, the base price for a laser is higher than for an inkjet. The cost of consumables for inkjets is lower than for lasers. The upside is that lasers are more reliable, and waterproof (inkjets often run in the rain!) in my experience, once a jet runs out of ink, it's often cheaper to buy a new printer than a set of ink carts. Fer instance ... Officeworks here in Oz has a Canon PIXMA IP2700 for $30, the inks Black will cost $41.92 and the colour (tri-colour cartridge) $45.95 = $88. Buy a new printer! Link to post Share on other sites
Karnidge 2 Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Having a mare with my Epson printer at the moment. I had been using some non official but sold in Yamada cartridges. Problems galore. Not recognised from time to time. Splodges. Bloody awful. So I went to buy some official ones. Worked ok right from the go. But now it's just telling me that one is "not recognised". Feel like throwing the thing out of the window. Link to post Share on other sites
seemore 66 Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 I have 3 Epson printers and they are all ok my A3 is the best/quickest they are all inkjet and work fine Link to post Share on other sites
Karnidge 2 Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Good for you. I want to go to Tokyo Skytree simply to be able to throw if off from a high point. Link to post Share on other sites
Karnidge 2 Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 I might even charter a plane for the satisfaction. What to do? Non official ink doesn't work properly. Official ink not being recognised. Cannot use printer. Pissed off. Link to post Share on other sites
davidnoble 0 Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Printer ink is even more expensive than vintage champagne. Buy one that doesn't go through excessive amounts of ink. If you can do without colour, a mono laser printer is much cheaper than an inkjet. Then go to a print shop to print photos or anything in colour. Link to post Share on other sites
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