[kpne1home]

I have an epson CSX5400 that just doesn't print at all. It tries to print but nothing gets printed on the page, like its out of ink. I changed the cartridges but that still doesn't work so I am looking for a new all in one printer. I would like to get some ideas of some all-in-one printers that are a good bang for the buck. I have gone through many printers but none have been as simply and easy to me as my Epson's. They have always given me no trouble till now. I would like to keep it Epson because of my experiences with them, HP has given me trouble with my Mac before, but maybe they have gotten better. If you could please tell me how you like your printer and what model it is please do.

[Scandalous Ion Cannon]

Canon Canon Canon.

[fisherKing]

i just got a canon pixma ip4200...really nice.
so, also a vote for canons...

[Scandalous Ion Cannon]

P.S Canon.

[mduell]

Canon: great looking, quick prints, and cheap factory ink

[itguy05]

The CX5400 is an All In One, so in that relam, I'd reccomend the Brother MFC5440cn. Color, networkable. It's a little on the slow side if that matters to you. But the Mac support is first class and I wouldn't hesitate to reccomend it to anyone. It's cheap ($99 at Staples) and has low ink costs. I liked mine so much when it was damaged in a fire, I replaced it with the same model.

If you want just a printer, Canon makes great printers, as does Epson.

[tooki]

Yeah, Epson's great if you like having to clean the heads every week with ink that costs three times as much, unless you want to risk the print head permanently clogging as it seems to do for everyone who doesn't use their Epson printer constantly...

tooki

[ghporter]

Not that tooki has any strong feelings about Epson printers...

Same here. My first inkjet was an Epson, and as long as I was doing just about everything with it, and printing at least daily, it was fine. Then, when my classload started slowing a little, the printer started streaking and banding. Then one whole color (blue) clogged completely. So I "cleaned" the print heads and cleared that-and had to buy new cartridges almost immediately. As far as I'm concerned, if I buy another Epson, it will be for use as a disposable printer.

My HP DeskJet 830C has been a trooper, even if I don't use it very often, but its ink is kind of dear. I imagine that when this printer starts giving me problems, I'm going to switch to a new Canon.

[itguy05]

Originally Posted by tooki

Yeah, Epson's great if you like having to clean the heads every week with ink that costs three times as much, unless you want to risk the print head permanently clogging as it seems to do for everyone who doesn't use their Epson printer constantly...

I've had numerous printers over the years (get tired of them after about 1-2 years of heavy printing) and the Epsons and Canons have been great. Maybe it's the weather here in the Northeast USA or the fact that I'm a frequent printer (even my photo Epsons didn't clog that frequently), but Epson works for me. Epson ink is no more or less expensive than Canon or HP. Epson is the middle WRT costs with Canon being cheapest and HP and Lexmark being the most expensive.

The Brother is a new printer, but it seems to be doing great as the other did after 1k sheets over a moth ahd a half. The nice thing about the Brother is you can get a high capacity black that lasts 900 pages and is only about $5 more than the regular cartridge that lasts 500.


Either way, I'd reccomend Brother, Canon, and Epson. In no particular order othet than alphabetical.

[tooki]

It's widely known that people who print very frequently don't have clogging troubles. That's why you haven't had problems.

But saying that Epson ink is no more expensive than Canon?!? That's patently false. A 27ml Canon black ink tank is $13. A 29ml Epson tank is over $30. On top of it, you're using less of it on cleaning, so the Canon tank will print more pages -- at less than half the cost.

Brother's high capacity tank is rated for the same number of pages as the aforementioned Canon tank. But the Brother is $31 while the Canon is $13. Again, over twice the cost of Canon tank.

tooki

[bbales]

I've always used Epsons -- but I'm now on an Epson 86, which Epson replaced for me as a replacement for my C82 -- which stopped working inexplicably, which in turn was a replacement for a C80 which had ink leakage problems. Each one has been cheaper and flimsier than the one before and I echo Tooki's remarks that the ink is expensive. More than a year ago I bought myself a treat -- a Canon Pixma i4000 (at the time, the top of the Pixma line). Makes GREAT prints. I don't use it much for text, to be honest with you, b/c I still have the Epson, but I think I might start. I love Canons. I do not foresee ever buying another Epson.

[itguy05]

Originally Posted by tooki

It's widely known that people who print very frequently don't have clogging troubles. That's why you haven't had problems.

True, but there have also been reports of Canon clogging problems too. The only difference is Canon will sell you a new print head as it's user replaceable while the Epson needs a new printer.

But saying that Epson ink is no more expensive than Canon?!? That's patently false. A 27ml Canon black ink tank is $13. A 29ml Epson tank is over $30. On top of it, you're using less of it on cleaning, so the Canon tank will print more pages -- at less than half the cost.

I've cleaned my R1800 all of once since I got it and that was the initial charge. And I don't print all that frequently on it either. I don't remember cleaning my 875DC all that much either.

The ink costs are close - Epson is a tad more expensige, but you get better longevitiy with them.

Let's look at ink costs from Staples:
For my old i960:
Canon BCI6 (any color) - $11.49

From www.atlex.com:
BCI6 - $9.94

For my R1800:
Epson T005 - $13.49 (all colors)

From www.atlex.com:
T005: $10.99

Both print about the same number of pages per cartridge and the R1800's prints will last much longer than the i960.

Let's look at the CX5400 from www.atlex.com:
Black $25.99 (*OUCH* - I hope it's HUGE)
Colors $9.69

The only real difference is the cost of that black, whch is high.

Brother's high capacity tank is rated for the same number of pages as the aforementioned Canon tank. But the Brother is $31 while the Canon is $13. Again, over twice the cost of Canon tank.

Where are you buying ink? The LC41HYBK is a lttle hard to find (Staples doesn't stock, neither does Office Max or Office Depot).

Amazon has them $22.99 ea.

I picked my last one (still in the package) for $25, shipped from NewEgg (although they don't have them now). They are widely available for under $30 on the 'net.

And it's life (900 pages) compared to the BCI3e is about the same, depeiding on what printer you use it in, from 740 pages (ip4000) to 1500 pages (ip3000).

Sure, Canons are the cheapest to run (never disputed that), but they are not the cheapest by a large margin. Either of the printers mentioned probably have under $0.10/page color costs for ink. IOW, not enough to worry about.

[bbales]

With regards to ink -- I look for specials (as I assume everyone else does, too). Every once in a while I luck into good deals at Sam's Club, or I have coupons at Office Depot for a bunch off if you spend X amount of dollars.

[tooki]

Re: clogging: If you think Canons have the same clogging problems as Epson, you're plain and simply wrong. They do not. Canons do have user-replaceable heads, but in practice it's almost never necessary, while permanent clogging problems are pervasive on Epsons.

Re: costs: Black ink makes up a large part of most people's printing, so it is important! Canon's black is far cheaper, even at full retail price. As for color, numerous magazine tests have shown Epson's plain-paper print costs to be appreciably higher than Canon's (ca. 50% higher). On photo paper, where paper costs can exceed ink costs, Epson's prints tend to be cheaper because Epson's own paper is cheap. Canon's photo paper is very overpriced. If you use non-Canon paper (e.g. Ilford or Epson paper) on a Canon printer with Canon ink, print costs are lower than Epson's. I consider 20-50% higher print costs to be "enough to worry about".

As for ink availability, I buy my Canon ink at Target when it's on sale. (Though I stocked up on BCI-3 color inks on clearance at the Apple store.) I haven't bothered buying it online, though it probably would make sense to once I finish my stash!

tooki

[Love Calm Quiet]

Very interesting Epson/Canon comparisons.

I am REALLY liking the sounds of Epson's new R340. It uses sep cartridges for each color - an expense saver.

But I worry about (with new cartridge types) how available (?how reasonably?) they'll be.

Really attractive sounding for PHOTO printing (even direct-onto-CD) which OTHERS in the family would really like: works WITHOUT Mac connection - directly from CD.

Plus: ecost has $50 rebate off the $200 price tag.

:waffle waffle:

Oh: and how about ease, promptness of Epson's driver d/l when a new OS X version comes out?