|
|
Grrrr, I HATE InkJet Printers! ...
|
|
|
|
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2005
Status:
Offline
|
|
We had a $100 Samsung B&W laser printer for 7-8 years. Worked great. The wife nagged me for a long time to get a color printer for the kids' schoolwork. I explained that color lasers were too expensive, and that InkJets were expensive to use, messy, and finicky.
Well, the laser died in November and for Christmas we got a new Kodak ESP 5250 All-in-One Printer. The WiFi is great, and it was easy to setup. The ink goes pretty fast, and the quality is still below laser, imho. But I soldiered on. ;-)
A couple days back the B&W ink cartridge was used up so I ordered a couple more via Amazon that claim to be fully compatible. Of course it prints terrible now with the new cartridge. So bad it's unreadable. I reseated the cartridge, did the calibration, ran the head-cleaning process. Not much if any better.
So what's the secret with these things? Do you have to buy the official branded ink carts all of the time? What does work? What should work?
Just frustrated.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: San Diego
Status:
Offline
|
|
Step 1: Dismember inkjet printer with baseball bat.
Step 2: Buy another $100 Samsung laser printer
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Los Angeles
Status:
Offline
|
|
I've had similar experiences and don't really trust third party ink cartridges. And you're right, laser is far superior. I keep an AIO around for scanning and occasional color printing, but most of my printing gets done on a cheap black and white laser.
|
"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: 46 & 2
Status:
Offline
|
|
|
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cambridge, UK
Status:
Offline
|
|
Our Canon LBP-5050N colour laser was inexpensive, toners seem to be cheap as well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: planning a comeback !
Status:
Offline
|
|
I've been hating inkjet printers forever.
Darn cartridges or nozzles constantly dry up, a lot of ink is wasted on purging and cleaning.
Let alone the quality issues with 3rd party ink you mentioned.
-t
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Senior User
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Status:
Offline
|
|
I too am done with color inkjets -- just dumped our Epson R320 a couple months back. Kept it around however for the very rare color prints I may need and even rarer direct on CD prints... neither of which a cheap laser will do. I also picked up a CISS for it off ebay for $35... who knows how long it will last buy it was way cheaper than a new ink cart set and since quality isn't exactly relevant for those operations it should do fine. It was replaced by whatever the current cheapest brother is (2240?)
I also dumped a Epson c120 for a brother 2140 at another location... I have been pleased by both.
As for photo prints which were the main reason we got the r320... at this point snapfish is cheaper and on par quality-wise.
|
15" MacBook Pro 2.0GHz i7 4GB RAM 6490M 120GB OWC 6G SSD 500GB HD
15" MacBook Pro 2.4GHz C2D 2GB RAM 8600M GT 200GB HD
17" C2D iMac 2.0GHz 2GB RAM x1600 500GB HD
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status:
Offline
|
|
What you guys are really missing is that the feeling is mutual: Inkjet printers hate us humans.
Just walk into a store and try to find the correct ink cartridges for your particular model on the Wall of Ink.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Automatic
Status:
Offline
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status:
Offline
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: I don't know anymore!
Status:
Offline
|
|
I haven't used my inkjet in five years! Don't know if it even works, and don't care. I bought a Samsung Laser 8 years ago, and it's still going strong. When I want to share pictures, there are plenty of digital methods (I mostly use Mobile Me).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Southern California
Status:
Offline
|
|
I went on a rant about inkjets a few months ago: summary, they all suck, get a nicer printer. :/
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Detroit
Status:
Offline
|
|
a B&W ink cartridge huh?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mac Elite
Join Date: Apr 2001
Status:
Offline
|
|
I had an inkjet once, the heads dried up after a few times use and I did everything to fix that thing to no avail. Ill nver buy another one, just go to kinkos.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: CO
Status:
Offline
|
|
I keep two printers at home networked off my iMac:
1) HP 3300 Multifunction laser (5 years old) for B&W $40 for refill toner*
2) Canon PIXMA iP3300 (3 years old) for color. $8/cartridge(4)*
*If anybody can beat these prices from Printer Ink, Laser Toner, Printer Inkjet Cartridges - 4inkjets I'd love to know about it. [I get an occasional defective item, but at 30%-40% of OEM... ]
|
TOMBSTONE: "He's trashed his last preferences"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Dec 1999
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by Love Calm Quiet
I keep two printers at home networked off my iMac:
1) HP 3300 Multifunction laser (5 years old) for B&W $40 for refill toner*
2) Canon PIXMA iP3300 (3 years old) for color. $8/cartridge(4)*
*If anybody can beat these prices from Printer Ink, Laser Toner, Printer Inkjet Cartridges - 4inkjets I'd love to know about it. [I get an occasional defective item, but at 30%-40% of OEM... ]
Here you go.
Everyone should bookmark Monoprice. $18 for your toner, by the way.
|
"…I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than
you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods,
you will understand why I dismiss yours." - Stephen F. Roberts
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: CO
Status:
Offline
|
|
Their prices sound *awesome*. Thanks, olePigeon!
I'll certainly give it a shot. At those prices I won't feel bad if I get the occasional lemon. Looks like about 10-15% of what I'd pay at OfficeMax/Depot/Staples!
|
TOMBSTONE: "He's trashed his last preferences"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Status:
Offline
|
|
FWIW, if you value your sanity, I do recommend sticking with original inkjet inks. Ink is technologically far more complex than people realize. It's not just dyes dissolved in water. In test after test, most third-party inks fail to achieve the print quality or reliability of the original inks. (And in many cases, the yield is lower, negating the savings but leaving you with the frustration!) The inks not only have to contain dyes or pigments, they need to have the right viscosity, spread/bleeding, evaporation, and cleaning characteristics, etc.
In pure theory, piezo printers (read: Epson) should be more forgiving of inks than thermal ink-jet (everyone else), but in practice, Epson has been the most prone to clogging, even with original inks!
With all that said, I still resent that inkjet ink costs $7000 a liter. Somebody's making a loooottttt of money with that.
If you want to print photos, inkjet is the way to go. If you don't, get a color or B&W laser, depending on your needs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Winnipeg, MB
Status:
Offline
|
|
My Samsung color laser is kinda lousy actually. Prints are fine but it can only do about thirty pages before it gets an error.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: California
Status:
Offline
|
|
Makes note to not buy Samsung color laser printer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
Status:
Offline
|
|
I got sick of dealing with inkjets for quite a while, and did fine with inexpensive lasers for a long time. I wound up with a Canon all-in-one merely because I went out looking for a Mac-compatible scanner and the MX310 was less expensive than any other scanner. Everything I've read about Canon's technology, both their ink and their hardware, made it look like the way to go. So far it's been living up to my expectations, with really affordable cartridges and continuing good print quality.
Long story to back up my impression that Canon's inkjets (with Canon ink) seem to "get it right." Everybody else? Not so much.
Brother has some fairly invitingly priced entry level color lasers. Does anyone have experience with their 3040 and 3070 printers?
|
Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forum Rules
|
|
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
|
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|