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#131404 07/19/03 12:59 AM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 3
Trumpy Offline OP
Member
Guys,
I'm after a new printer.
I've never owned one of these things before and my computer never came with one.
Could you guys please give me some advice on what to look for in a printer.
It will mainly be printing text, but I want a printer that will give good colour rendition, in case I may want to print out the odd picture.
What's available and how do I avoid buying a piece of cheap junk?.
What do you guys use and what do you use it for?.

#131405 07/22/03 11:30 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 2,723
Likes: 1
Broom Pusher and
Member
It's been years since buying a new Printer. Being "Biased" towards HP Printing equipment isn't any better!
[Linked Image]

When we setup my Wife's old(er) machine - it is a P55C MMX (circa 1997), we picked up an HP 720C Deskjet Printer, for her local print jobs.
I'll tell you, that is one Kick-Booty Printer!!! Kind of slow on the "deluxe" color print jobs, average speed for all the rest, but it is a real work Horse!
Also uses ink very efficiently, which results in long cartridge life.
Minimal paper jams and PCL errors.
Drawbacks are using the "Tri-Color" print cartridge, as opposed to stand alone CYM cartridges (Cyan, Yellow, Magenta).

Price was nice at the time, and looking back now, it was a steal for the long term dependability of the machine!

For simple color output with nice black text jobs, look for something that incorporates "REt II" type technology, or something similar.

I dealt with an HP 2000 (pro??) printer once, which has very nice overall output - but a high price tag ($400.00 in 1999!). Maybe price has come down... maybe not.
This machine has separate cartridges for the three colors, plus black - and also allows for print head replacement (print heads separate from cartridge).
Handles media from 5.5" to legal size 8½ × 14". There was a similar model that handled wide format - upto ANSI C (11"×17"), which is nice!.

If you are looking for a text work horse, consider the Laser Printers.
We have an HP 6P "Laserjet" Printer, which was purchased in 1996, and it has been working EXCELLENT since the first day!!!

Good luck!

Scott35


Scott " 35 " Thompson
Just Say NO To Green Eggs And Ham!
#131406 07/23/03 12:33 AM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 4,116
Likes: 4
Member
Trumpy,

I've been using the HP printers too and have been quite happy with them. The newer ones have nice features where you can insert the memory card from your digital camera and print out a contact sheet (or any individual pictures). You can also import the pictures into the computer that way which is great if you have a newer Kodak Camera and don't want to buy the newly required docking station.

Bill


Bill
#131407 07/23/03 01:32 AM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 3
Trumpy Offline OP
Member
Scott, Bill,
Thanks for that.
I've heard that the HP printers are pretty good.
I just wondered what you guys thought of different brands of printers.
The memory card system that you are talking about Bill, also works with some late model Sony TV's too!. [Linked Image]

#131408 07/23/03 09:42 AM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,520
P
Member
I have an HP DeskJet 720C on this system too.

As Scott said, the tri-color cartridge is a downside, as it seems wasteful to have to replace it just because one color is nearly empty when the other two may be only 50% used up. But then you can always go with the top-up method from ink bottles rather than tossing the whole cartridge every time.

For black-&-white use, such as the system I use for most of my day-to-day word processing & accounts, I still have an older HP DeskJet520. That's another good workhorse, with interchangeable font cartridges and the advantage that it doesn't need multi-megabyte drivers installed to run it -- A definite plus for running on an older DOS-based machine with limited disk/memory space.

I actually installed a second-hand HP520 in the taxi office in town when I computerized their operations last year. That printer gets quite heavy use printing out day sheets, weekly accounts etc. and is still running fine.

#131409 07/23/03 10:13 AM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 4,116
Likes: 4
Member
I have an old Laser Printer that I use for B&W. It's an IBM/Lexmark and a real workhorse.

As far as refilling individual colors in the HP ink cartridges, I've tried that with varying degrees of sucess and wouldn't recommend it. It seems like they may be refilled once, but I haven't been able to do it twice. You have to watch the pressure when you put the ink in or else they will leak. Sometimes they get clogged, and following instructions to unclog can make them leak, can be messy, messy, messy.

BTW, they have high capacity cartridges for some of the HP printers that are double the standard capacity and save a little $$$.

Bill


Bill
#131410 07/25/03 02:28 AM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 3
Trumpy Offline OP
Member
Bill,
On average, how long will a printer cartridge last?, with say using it only to print text(Black) and printing say 20-30 full sheets of this text a week?. [Linked Image]

#131411 07/25/03 12:15 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 4,116
Likes: 4
Member
Trumpy,

I don't really know. With the HP inkjet/photo copiers there are different modes too such as Best quality and draft mode (which is probably good enough for most things and may use 1/2 the ink) I couldn't find any specs on page capacities per cartridge, but there are different sizes too depending om the printer model. My (high capacity) Black ink cartridge has been in the printer for many months already.


Bill
#131412 07/25/03 12:30 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 4,116
Likes: 4
Member
Mike,

[Linked Image] [Linked Image] [Linked Image] [Linked Image]

I can start sending some of the umpteen ink refill emails I get each week to you if you want .... [Linked Image]

Just say the word [Linked Image]

Bill


Bill
#131413 07/28/03 06:33 AM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 3
Trumpy Offline OP
Member
Bill,
Thanks but no thanks!. [Linked Image]
I'm having enough problems with screening and deleting up to 40-50 spam emails a day, let alone adding more to the pile!. [Linked Image]

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