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Synotic · Sep 2, 2006, 04:07 PM

I'm looking to buy a Canon inkjet in the <$150 range and wanted to know what people preferred. There are a lot of models out there, so I haven't found one that meets all my preferences. I want something that should be able to withstand a lot of text-printing, so a separate a black cartridge is a must. I'd like to be able to print nice photos, but don't want to pay an arm and a leg for ink cartridges. So I don't need high-intensity cyan or magenta. I'm willing to go for less photo quality if the ink is more economical. I don't really need a scanner or any of that, but if it's part of the printer, I'll consider it. Ideally, the printer shouldn't be too large, but I'm flexible. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

mduell · 09:49 PM

I'd go with an HP LaserJet 1022 for your room. Cheap ($179 for the printer, toner is much cheaper than inkjet ink), fast, reliable. HP LaserJet 1022 Laser Personal Monochrome Printer - Retail at Newegg.com

Pay $0.19-0.29 for real photo prints at CVS/Costco/Walmart/ShutterFly/etc. They look so much better than any inkjet and cost about the same (or less) than a good inkjet print.

For final reports that need color and such, use the library/computer lab/print shop printer.

SSharon · Sep 3, 2006, 02:00 AM

I agree with Mark on the laser printer, but I like the Brother models. I got an HL-1450 for college and have been very happy with it. The newer model HL-2140 I think is smaller and is something like $90 at Staples when it's on sale.

goMac · Sep 3, 2006, 02:06 AM

My girlfriend just got a Cannon Inkjet (I forget which one, it's the second tier one at the Apple Store), and it's actually very nice.

That said, unless you need color, get a workhouse laser printer. My inkjet gives me bad memories of grading code and waiting on the inkjet to spit it out, and burning through ink.

tooki · Sep 4, 2006, 01:51 PM

Canon's ink is on par with the cost of toner for low-end laser printers.

The iP4200 is probably perfect. It has separate black tanks for photos and text, plus prints great photos, and has a built-in duplexer to save paper (and space in your binders!).

The iP5200 is the same thing, but prints photos faster.

tooki

im_noahselby · Sep 4, 2006, 02:48 PM

I use a Canon iP90 to print my college papers and it works like a charm. I needed something small and portable and this fits the bill perfectly. Most of the time I can use the printers available at school, but it's nice knowing I have a reliable printer to serve me at home.

Ink costs a little bit more and the printer isn't cheap, but if you need something small and portable, this little machine might just be the one.

Noah

azt33 · Sep 4, 2006, 06:03 PM

I have a HP 1010 (the cheapest model available two years ago) and it has served me very well for the past two years. For the occassional colour-printing/scanning job that needs to be done, I have the Canon MP130 (very cheap when it comes to cartridges). If you look around, I am thinking that a combo like mine can be found for about $160/170 (IIRC).

slpdLoad · Sep 4, 2006, 06:08 PM

I really like the HP all-in-one printers that can work as an inkjet, as well as a color or black and white copy machine. They can be had for <$100 too. Pretty handy.

chabig · Sep 4, 2006, 06:49 PM

I don't like the inkjets because ink cartridges are expensive. I just bought an HP Laserjet 1200N for $50 and love it.

Chris

tooki · Sep 5, 2006, 11:52 AM

The toner for small lasers like that is just as expensive as Canon's black ink, which is VERY cheap for inkjet.

tooki

Gossamer · Sep 5, 2006, 01:01 PM

Originally Posted by slpdLoad

I really like the HP all-in-one printers that can work as an inkjet, as well as a color or black and white copy machine. They can be had for <$100 too. Pretty handy.

Seconded. My family has two of them, a 1209 and a 1210v. Photos aren't too bad and it's pretty fast for B&W pages, and the copier is a LIFESAVER. It comes in handy quite often, more than you'd think.

analogika · Sep 5, 2006, 01:29 PM

Originally Posted by chabig

I don't like the inkjets because ink cartridges are expensive. I just bought an HP Laserjet 1200N for $50 and love it.

Chris

The toner is more expensive than the printer on that thing, and it is NOT more economical than something like the Canon iP4200.

The iP4200 is a great printer.

I have its predecessor, the iP3000, and it is the only printer I've had in the past ten years that has given me ZERO ****. It's worked from day one, no fuss, no discussion, no futzing around, nothing. I now run it off the Mac mini as a network-shared printer.

Canon inks are FAR cheaper than HP inks, and what's more, Canon is to my knowledge the only manufacturer who officially allows clones/refills. I would always buy original inks, but it's the draconian implicit criminality that I always feel Epson and HP accuse their users of that really puts me off them. (HP has actually publicly speculated about implementing region-coding on their printers and ink cartridges to make gray-imports impossible.)

Apart from that, I have seen issues with HP drivers not working for all users on a machine, and a really fun issue (about two years ago) where if multiple users were logged in, the machine would refuse to wake from sleep (rather staying dark with the fans going crazy). Removing the HP drivers fixed the problem immediately; re-installing them made it show up.

I think they're actually fairly good these days, but I still see the occasional refusal to go to sleep if a printer is connected.

Canon has never given me trouble.

Also, none of the HP printers can print directly onto CDs, which is MUCH nicer than using stick-on labels. The iP4200 can, and does so well (about 60% of my printing is CDs/booklets).

That said, HP make some pretty neat printers (including the only wireless All-In-One that can also scan via the network), and they are VASTLY superior, by all accounts, to Epson, who used to be pretty good, but whose drivers have turned into complete **** in recent years.

iREZ · Sep 5, 2006, 06:39 PM

i use an mp760 for my everyday tasks and love it. sure its a lil outta your budget but i really believe that its usefulness makes up for it in the long run. copy, scan, print, fax and it does em all for pretty cheap (i just bought ink from amazon for 3-4 bucks a cartridge (on sale) that means 20-25 to replace all the inks..not too shabby.

tooki · Sep 5, 2006, 09:56 PM

Originally Posted by analogika

... and what's more, Canon is to my knowledge the only manufacturer who officially allows clones/refills.

Not true. The instructions will clearly tell you that using non-Canon ink may void the warranty.

But who cares? Real Canon ink is nearly as cheap as the third-party ink for HP/Epson that they sell in stores.

tooki

jeffB · Sep 6, 2006, 11:08 AM

i came to the forums today to ask this same question, because my epson printer is about to have a fight with gravity outside my window.

don't get an epson, even when they come free with powerbooks. i ran out of red ink, and it would not let me print black and white, because as the customer service tech said "it uses all the colors to get a 'truer' black". losely translated, they bleed your expensive color cartridges.
it's 5 months old and i can not read what it prints anymore. there is an cleaning utillity and nozzle check that haven't helped, and there is no why to physically reach the printer heads and clean them with iso.

don't buy an epson. hate.

tooki · Sep 6, 2006, 09:30 PM

Yup.

I've been thrilled with my Canon i850. It's over 3 years old and still works great.

tooki

trackezoid · Sep 8, 2006, 06:20 AM

funny, i just bought my printer today!

...and even funnier, i started college just three weeks ago, so i'm in the same boat as you.

anyways, I went with an HP 5440 Deskjet and I love it. not only does is beautifully match with my pb, but it prints great both black/white and photo. i ran it through the test mill today and printed on virtually every type of paper possible, from flat office white to pro photo (photography minor) and i couldn't be happier...and it didn't cost me much either! (got mine for $50 on a crazy college macstore sale, but retail isn't much more than that at all...)

i mean i don't know what kind of printing you're doing, but for a college printer, you don't need much. like i said i'm a photography minor and i only print personal images on my dorm room printer, saving the portfolio images for the pro printers in the photography department...so yeah. if you're looking for cheap and dependable...i'd say go HP. i've had good luck, and am obviously continuing to do so! very happy

ael719 · Sep 8, 2006, 08:46 AM

I have an HP PSC 1510 All-in-One printer. I love this printer because the All-in-One goodness. The copier and scanner come in handy all the time. The only downside is that it takes up alot of space on my desk.

analogika · Sep 8, 2006, 01:01 PM

Originally Posted by jeffB

don't get an epson, even when they come free with powerbooks. i ran out of red ink, and it would not let me print black and white

Oh yeah, good point:

Canon is, to my knowledge, the only manufacturer that will currently let you print whatever the hell you want EVEN IF your photo yellow happens to be empty but you just don't give a **** because it's just a rough draft that you want to read on your way to work.

tooki · Sep 8, 2006, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by trackezoid

i mean i don't know what kind of printing you're doing, but for a college printer, you don't need much.

I don't really agree, though it probably depends on your major. When I was in college, we had to print out lots of stuff. The professors were right: it IS cheaper to print out your own "e-coursepack" than it is to have the bookstore do it.

The upshot is, between online journals, essay drafts, and having to print out web pages and files per professors' orders, I ended up printing a lot. You want a printer that is speedy and uses cheap ink, and Canon will do best for that.

(Don't get me wrong; I think HP inkjets have the hands-down cleanest plain-paper text you can get from an inkjet. But they're not cheap to operate.)

tooki

OreoCookie · Sep 8, 2006, 05:38 PM

I also strongly agree with tooki. I have been printing 5-7.5k pages a year and the number is increasing. Lecture notes, exercise sheets, TeXed notes, assignments, lab reports, you name it. To go cheap here just means your printer will crap out on you half-way through.

My Canon S630 was replaced after printing an estimated 30k+ pages (my father used it in his office during my year abroad and for printing in color). I've replaced it with a laser since I don't need to have a color printer anymore (I have one at university and a small one for photos at home).

slugslugslug · Sep 8, 2006, 07:19 PM

My Canon Pixma iP6000D has been holding up pretty well. And despite the patent issue that forced them to disable the feature in North America, I learned how to get it to print direct to CD/DVD. The duplexing is awesome for school, especially considering that I haven't seen a duplexing laser for under $300. I still haven't printed any photos on photo paper, but considering Canon's reputation and how nice photos look on printable discs, I'd trust a Pixma for that as well.

IceEnclosure · Sep 9, 2006, 03:31 AM

Canon Pixma IP5000

LOVE it.

©öñFü$íóÑ · Sep 9, 2006, 03:37 AM

I do all my print jobs on campus at my university's library... just work on it at home, save it on a thumb drive, load it up on the campus computer, print when i get there the next day (when it's due), and i'm done. Cheap... but i get to save my color ink for more, uh, creative stuff.