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Don Pickett · Jun 12, 2002, 08:15 PM

Just what the subject line says. Buying a new printer, and with the plethora of OS X printing problems I'm looking for your recommendations. I'm thinking a price of somewhere around $200. This is just for home use, so I don't need a enormous number of bells and whistles.

But it should print. . .

[ 06-12-2002, 08:17 PM: Message edited by: Don Pickett ]

KidRed · Jun 12, 2002, 08:40 PM

HIGHLY recommend the HP 940c for $150. X ready out the box, VERY quiet and photorealistic quality. I've had 2 Epsons and this HP rocks.

Cellery · Jun 12, 2002, 10:00 PM

Good suggestion by KidRed, I use one of those at work. At home I use an Epson C80, it's $149 and is awesome. The 4 Epson printers I owned before it really sucked even out of the box, but this one is a phenomenal improvement. The DuraBrite pigment inks look great even on plain paper, and there's finally seperate ink cartridges for each color so you don't waste money throwing out a whole cart when one color runs out.

Nonsuch · Jun 12, 2002, 10:58 PM

More kudos for the Epson C80. It's worked like a charm ever since I first plugged it in.

AKcrab · Jun 12, 2002, 11:16 PM

Don't buy a Lexmark.

wingdo · Jun 12, 2002, 11:20 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Nonsuch:
More kudos for the Epson C80. It's worked like a charm ever since I first plugged it in.<hr /></blockquote>I too love the C80, bought one right after they came out. The ink is great, and the 4 cartridges make it perfect. Hate the drivers though. Hardly any choices for paper sizes, nowhere near as good as the classic drivers.

Brother's drivers (I also have a low end 1240 laser) are great. Every bit as good as their Classic and Windows drivers.

Don Pickett · Jun 13, 2002, 01:03 AM

Thank's all.

How big a pain in the butt are the sucky Epson drivers?

dtriska · Jun 13, 2002, 06:06 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by AKcrab:
Don't buy a Lexmark.<hr /></blockquote>Why?

Nonsuch · Jun 13, 2002, 10:07 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Don Pickett:
Thank's all.

How big a pain in the butt are the sucky Epson drivers?<hr /></blockquote>If you're doing page layout work, where you need to set a lot of custom print options, you might find them limiting. If you're just printing Word documents and the occasional email or web page (as I do at home), I doubt you'll be inconvenienced; they cover the basics quite well.

IonCable · Jun 13, 2002, 11:48 AM

I have an Epson 740 and a C80. I like them both and have no problems with them. I got the C80 for my wife and here scrapbook Digital Photos to print. The C80 did take some tinkering to get a nice photo print. If you can find one I got my 740 for $50 and the C80 for $149. Also you can find 740 ink packs just about anywhere even at larger grocery stores. The C80 I've had a little trouble finding ink and paper for photos.

xi_hyperon · Jun 13, 2002, 12:06 PM

HP, nothing else. If you plan to print out digital photos,

HP printer + HP photo paper = unsurpassed results.

Don Pickett · Jun 13, 2002, 02:31 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Nonsuch:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Don Pickett:
Thank's all.

How big a pain in the butt are the sucky Epson drivers?<hr /></blockquote>If you're doing page layout work, where you need to set a lot of custom print options, you might find them limiting. If you're just printing Word documents and the occasional email or web page (as I do at home), I doubt you'll be inconvenienced; they cover the basics quite well.<hr /></blockquote>I try to avoid any semblance of productive work at home, so it'll be just fine. If I need nice looking stuff, I'll borrow an Epson 5500.

xdck · Jun 13, 2002, 03:13 PM

Pay attention - the cost of the printer is not the real issue - is the cost of cartridges. If you're in need of the occasional printout, try and buy a printer that can be feed with compatible cartridges (for example most of the new Epson printers use a mechanism of protection using a chip on every cartridge). The cost of a compatible can be as low as 1/5 of the original (at least here in Europe)

Leia's Right Bun · Jun 13, 2002, 04:43 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by dtriska:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by AKcrab:
Don't buy a Lexmark.<hr /></blockquote>Why?<hr /></blockquote>They suck.

mmj_ngen · Jun 13, 2002, 05:15 PM

I just bought the Epson C60 from Office Max for $80. I haven't had any problems with set up nor printing in OSX 10.1.5, OS9 and Classic. Prints are nice too, but that is compared to my 740. Admittedly, I'm probably not as picky as some folks..

anly · Jun 14, 2002, 02:05 AM

Have anyone tried the HP PSC950 Its about 400 bucks over here in Taiwan. One of my collegues bought it for his PeeCee. It scans, photocopies, faxes and prints. (another cool thing is that you can put CF, Memory Sticks right in without using a computer.. Sounds quite cool). I know they also have an OSX driver out for it that just came out in May. So how's the quality ..if anyone has used one...? How about the drivers?

[ 06-14-2002, 02:07 AM: Message edited by: anly ]

OreoCookie · Jun 14, 2002, 02:56 AM

I got a Canon S630. Excellent text quality, nice photos (on the proper paper, of course).
And it is very fast (in fact, sometimes it has to wait for my iBook

A model that should offer excellent price performance is the S520.

The reason I bought it is that the cartridges are very cheap and each color may be changed separately.

Leia's Right Bun · Jun 14, 2002, 03:16 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by anly:
Have anyone tried the HP PSC950 Its about 400 bucks over here in Taiwan. One of my collegues bought it for his PeeCee. It scans, photocopies, faxes and prints. (another cool thing is that you can put CF, Memory Sticks right in without using a computer.. Sounds quite cool). I know they also have an OSX driver out for it that just came out in May. So how's the quality ..if anyone has used one...? How about the drivers?<hr /></blockquote>yes my friend has it. The OS9 drivers are horrible and the OSX drivers are even worse. Read the reviews on versiontracker, nothing but bad reviews.

my friend hates the thing to death and it cost a lot.

dtriska · Jun 14, 2002, 03:58 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Leia's Right Bun:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by dtriska:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by AKcrab:
Don't buy a Lexmark.<hr /></blockquote>Why?<hr /></blockquote>They suck.<hr /></blockquote>Can you be more specific?

AKcrab · Jun 14, 2002, 04:28 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by dtriska:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Leia's Right Bun:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by dtriska:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by AKcrab:
Don't buy a Lexmark.<hr /></blockquote>Why?<hr /></blockquote>They suck.<hr /></blockquote>Can you be more specific?<hr /></blockquote>I purchased a very inexpensive Lexmark Z32 from Costco. Inexpensive == cheap, in this case. It has never worked very well, as compared to the old epson I replaced. (I was never very happy with the epson either.) Replacement ink for the Lexmark is extremely expensive, and if you don't print at least every day, be prepared to replace a lot of very full cartriges. It's a real POS.

Lew · Jun 14, 2002, 11:02 AM

Hmmm... Had no problems at all with my Lexmark Z43 (well, none on the Mac side anyway. Getting the bloody thing to work with NT4 was a right pain in the arse). Maybe you just got a duff unit?

Gankdawg · Jun 14, 2002, 01:35 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by xdck:
Pay attention - the cost of the printer is not the real issue - is the cost of cartridges. If you're in need of the occasional printout, try and buy a printer that can be feed with compatible cartridges (for example most of the new Epson printers use a mechanism of protection using a chip on every cartridge). The cost of a compatible can be as low as 1/5 of the original (at least here in Europe)<hr /></blockquote>xdck is right. The real issue is cartridge cost, not printer cost. Having worked in the retail computer industry for 9 years, I can tell you that printer companies could almost give you the printer - they will make up the cost in cartridges. HP makes great printers but unfortunately their newest 900 line uses half full cartridges. If you could find a 970 they still use the full cartridges (cartridge 45A and 78D). The 45A's capacity is 42ml but the new printer lines uses a different cartridge that only has a 21ml capacity. Guess what - the cartridges are the same price!

miligo · Jun 14, 2002, 02:16 PM

I also have the Canon S630, it is an amazing printer, it is very fast, has separate ink tanks for each color, and has a replaceable print head. One of the fantastic features of this printer is the ability to remove the ink carts when they are not empty, and Canon makes the tanks translucent, so you can see how much is left in each tank. The ink seems to last a long time too, I am still using the original ink that came with the printer in December. One last thing, the ink is water proof. I am thinking of replacing it though, I may donate this one to my sister and buy an S820.

On top of all of this, it's color scheme matches my G4...

Back up 15 and punt · Jun 14, 2002, 02:35 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Gankdawg:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by xdck:
Pay attention - the cost of the printer is not the real issue - is the cost of cartridges. If you're in need of the occasional printout, try and buy a printer that can be feed with compatible cartridges (for example most of the new Epson printers use a mechanism of protection using a chip on every cartridge). The cost of a compatible can be as low as 1/5 of the original (at least here in Europe)<hr /></blockquote>xdck is right. The real issue is cartridge cost, not printer cost. Having worked in the retail computer industry for 9 years, I can tell you that printer companies could almost give you the printer - they will make up the cost in cartridges. HP makes great printers but unfortunately their newest 900 line uses half full cartridges. If you could find a 970 they still use the full cartridges (cartridge 45A and 78D). The 45A's capacity is 42ml but the new printer lines uses a different cartridge that only has a 21ml capacity. Guess what - the cartridges are the same price!

<hr /></blockquote>Your statement is not quit correct. The HP 960, 990 series printers and the photo printers come with the 45G cartridge which contains about half the ink of the 45A. However, the 45A will work just fine inside of these printers. How do I know this? I am HP Rep. So when you need to replace the 45G, replace it wth the 45A.

supernature · Jun 14, 2002, 09:40 PM

Canon S series printers are great. I have an S9000, and it's by far the best printouts I've seen. HP's tend to drown my papers in ink. Epson has problems with the ink drying out, and the prints are good only if you're pictures are outstanding.

But this Canon is awesome. Prints really fast. I'm sure the S900 is just as fast. If you can afford the S900, just take that extra step to go for the S9000 (if you have physical room available). If you don't print too many photos, get the S820's. Granted the Canon printers are slightly more expensive than the rest of the bunch, but it delivers, and the ink cartridges IMO are on the cheap side (though I haven't done a side by side price comparison yet -- but it sounds cheap).

Tommo · Jun 14, 2002, 09:46 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Leia's Right Bun:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by anly:
Have anyone tried the HP PSC950 Its about 400 bucks over here in Taiwan. One of my collegues bought it for his PeeCee. It scans, photocopies, faxes and prints. (another cool thing is that you can put CF, Memory Sticks right in without using a computer.. Sounds quite cool). I know they also have an OSX driver out for it that just came out in May. So how's the quality ..if anyone has used one...? How about the drivers?<hr /></blockquote>yes my friend has it. The OS9 drivers are horrible and the OSX drivers are even worse. Read the reviews on versiontracker, nothing but bad reviews.

my friend hates the thing to death and it cost a lot.<hr /></blockquote>I just bought a similarly spec'd HP D155xi which is a *network* double-sided printer/scanner/copier/fax. The OSX drivers WERE indeed absolutely awful, but they're fine now. HP just released new drivers for OSX and OS9. I've got a TiBook and an airport network with a hub on it connected to my printers and dls router, and get a kick from being able to not just print and fax from it wirelessly, but also scan to it wirelessly too! Works flawlessly in 10.1.5 once you've fiddled about with a few network settings on the printer end (you HAVE to assign it a static IP or all hell breaks loose).

For anyone running 10.2, don't

Its not compatible yet (and believe me I've tried). It breaks Print Centre.

T

SteevAK · Jun 15, 2002, 04:18 AM

I really like my epson 880i. Worked from day one w/ X and I've had no problems. Ink lasts forever too. . .

kennedy · Jun 15, 2002, 11:20 AM

For $200, you can get a Lexmark X83... you get great quality printing PLUS great quality scanning. In addition you can use it as a great color copier.

It has one problem: the computer sometimes loses the printer when the printer goes to sleep. There's a third-party "fix" for this that makes it much more infrequent, but it still happens. A reboot with the printer awakened always fixes it, but it is annoying to have to reboot.

I own top of the line HP, Canon, Epson, and Lexmark printers. I have been very impressed at the quality of the Lexmark X83, especially given the price. The Canon was my least favorite... always seemed to find the most difficult ways to do stuff. The HP's are consistently high quality, but expensive. The Lexmark seems to rival the HP in quality, but at half the price (or less).

mbryda · Jun 15, 2002, 11:17 PM

My vote is for Epson - I have an 880 and a 875DC and love them both. EPSON 6 (and 7) COLOR PRINTERS CANNOT BE SURPASSED when printing photos. Sorry HP - I (and many others) can pick an HP print out a mile away!

Used HP before - OK quality, expensive cartridges (esp. with the half full BS), not worth the price.

Lexmark is supposedly the highest cost per page and I've never been happy with what the output looks like.

Canon's new photo printers are supposed to be nice.

If you're doing any photo work, it's Epson or Canon 6 color. For normal work, I'd go Epson 4 color.

Mr. Blur · Jun 16, 2002, 12:38 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by GFive:
Hmmm... Had no problems at all with my Lexmark Z43 (well, none on the Mac side anyway. Getting the bloody thing to work with NT4 was a right pain in the arse). Maybe you just got a duff unit?<hr /></blockquote>i got the Z53 last year as part of a deal on the G4 dual 800....and it's been very good for me. I'd previously been using an epson 750 and as much as I hate to say it (i've never been a lexmark fan, especially on the laser side of things....) i do prefer the lexmark. but, much like the computers, the printer matrix changes on a monthly basis and the newer ones makes for a whole different comparison. if i were to be buying today, the hp940c would get a really close look first.

The Placid Casual · Jun 16, 2002, 01:28 PM

I just bought a Canon S520 for draft work, which should fall well within your budget.

It rocks...never had one problem in OS X. The printing is crisp, precise and quick...I would recomend it 100%. (Unlike a few HP printers I own...)

It also has the advantage of seperate ink cartridges, so you can replace colours individually when they go...

Peace

Marc

ryarber · Jun 17, 2002, 01:02 AM

What inkjets are the cheapest to operate? HP, Cannon?

Big Mac · Jun 17, 2002, 03:22 AM

The experience I've had with my Epson 900 has soured me to Epson printers. In order to yield decent prints, my printer requires frequent print head "cleaning," which consumes a great amount of ink needlessly. Even with clean, aligned heads, my prints leave much to be desired. I've heard current models still require such cleaning, so I don't think I'll purchase an Epson printer again any time soon.

Gee4orce · Jun 17, 2002, 03:37 AM

Never had problems with my el-cheapo 6-colour Lexmark here - excellent Mac drivers, and absolutely stonking output - crisp text and quality photo output.

In fact, I printed the Mac OS X screensaver image with the orange fish in the turqouise water and blue sky, because of the tricky colour matching this needed. The print was abolutely 100% spot on.

I highly recommend Lexmark.

I used to swear by Epson, by the stupid cartridge loading 'protection' finally drove me nuts, then the drive belt went.

Macanoid · Jun 17, 2002, 04:39 AM

It all depends on what you want to do. If you want to do high quality photo stuff, the only choice is either the latest Canon S900 or of of the later Epsons. The Canon is very fast, very quiet and has seperate ink catridges. The later Epsons have the latter too, but are a bit noisy, and printing (compared to the Canon) takes forever.For all other print jobs, you can look into other printers as well. The HP and Lexmarks are ok too.

Have a look at this indepth review: <a href="http://www.dp-now.com/Features/Printer_reviews/Epson_950_preview2/epson_950_preview2.html" target="_blank">canon versus epson</a>

Myself, I just ordered the Canon S900. Several design en photography magazines rated this very highly, and after some extensive testing myself, I agreed with them.

mbryda · Jun 17, 2002, 07:29 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by ryarber:
What inkjets are the cheapest to operate? HP, Cannon?<hr /></blockquote>Last I heard (was it Macworld?)
Canon was cheapest
Epson was second cheapest
HP was 3rd
Lexmark was most expensive

Liquidity X · Jun 17, 2002, 11:05 AM

I got a Epson 777i for like 60 bucks, and 10 bucks for the graphite cover to match my G4. and i ,ust say its thebest 70 bucks i ever spent. great quality. its fast. runs outstanding in X. and its cheap as hell. it uses epsons smart cartrages so u can see how much ink uhaveleft threw its softwre app installed in 10.1. u might have t search around a bit to find one, they stoped making em i think, but as i said witht he price u canlt go worng.

Gankdawg · Jun 17, 2002, 03:22 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Back up 15 and punt:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Gankdawg:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by xdck:
Pay attention - the cost of the printer is not the real issue - is the cost of cartridges. If you're in need of the occasional printout, try and buy a printer that can be feed with compatible cartridges (for example most of the new Epson printers use a mechanism of protection using a chip on every cartridge). The cost of a compatible can be as low as 1/5 of the original (at least here in Europe)<hr /></blockquote>xdck is right. The real issue is cartridge cost, not printer cost. Having worked in the retail computer industry for 9 years, I can tell you that printer companies could almost give you the printer - they will make up the cost in cartridges. HP makes great printers but unfortunately their newest 900 line uses half full cartridges. If you could find a 970 they still use the full cartridges (cartridge 45A and 78D). The 45A's capacity is 42ml but the new printer lines uses a different cartridge that only has a 21ml capacity. Guess what - the cartridges are the same price!

<hr /></blockquote>Your statement is not quit correct. The HP 960, 990 series printers and the photo printers come with the 45G cartridge which contains about half the ink of the 45A. However, the 45A will work just fine inside of these printers. How do I know this? I am HP Rep. So when you need to replace the 45G, replace it wth the 45A.<hr /></blockquote>That is correct. The 45G is a "starter" cartridge that has half the ink of a 45A. I should've noted that the 940 does NOT use the 45 series cartridge and is marketed towards Mac users.

The bottom line is to look at the big picture when buying anything that uses consumables. Consumables are where the company makes the money - not the hardware.

Back up 15 and punt · Jun 17, 2002, 08:23 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Gankdawg:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Back up 15 and punt:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Gankdawg:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by xdck:
Pay attention - the cost of the printer is not the real issue - is the cost of cartridges. If you're in need of the occasional printout, try and buy a printer that can be feed with compatible cartridges (for example most of the new Epson printers use a mechanism of protection using a chip on every cartridge). The cost of a compatible can be as low as 1/5 of the original (at least here in Europe)<hr /></blockquote>xdck is right. The real issue is cartridge cost, not printer cost. Having worked in the retail computer industry for 9 years, I can tell you that printer companies could almost give you the printer - they will make up the cost in cartridges. HP makes great printers but unfortunately their newest 900 line uses half full cartridges. If you could find a 970 they still use the full cartridges (cartridge 45A and 78D). The 45A's capacity is 42ml but the new printer lines uses a different cartridge that only has a 21ml capacity. Guess what - the cartridges are the same price!

<hr /></blockquote>Your statement is not quit correct. The HP 960, 990 series printers and the photo printers come with the 45G cartridge which contains about half the ink of the 45A. However, the 45A will work just fine inside of these printers. How do I know this? I am HP Rep. So when you need to replace the 45G, replace it wth the 45A.<hr /></blockquote>That is correct. The 45G is a "starter" cartridge that has half the ink of a 45A. I should've noted that the 940 does NOT use the 45 series cartridge and is marketed towards Mac users.

The bottom line is to look at the big picture when buying anything that uses consumables. Consumables are where the company makes the money - not the hardware.<hr /></blockquote>Alright people here is a web page that will give you hint of things to come from HP.

<a href="http://www.dp-now.com/news/Jun02/dpnnews211/dpnnews211a/dpnnews211a.html" target="_blank">http://www.dp-now.com/news/Jun02/dpnnews211/dpnnews211a/dpnnews211a.html</a>