Inkjet printers

Started by Papyrus, October 31, 2020, 06:26:02 PM

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Papyrus

Opinions please!

I'm about to throw in the towel with my Canon inkjet printer - getting all six cartridges to work at the same time is getting increasingly difficult. I've decided to cut my losses and replace it. I don't want another Canon, for obvious reasons. I've been surfing the net and pretty much narrowed it down to either a bog-standard HP or a much more expensive Brother. Does anyone have any views on the relative performance, and especially reliability, of the two makes?

Before anyone suggests it, a laser printer is not an option! For what I want it to do the physical size, and price, is out of my league.

Cheers,

Chris

chrism

Do you actually need "immediate" prints?

I gave up on my A3 inkjet when I found that I could get 18" x 12" proper photo prints for the princely sum of 99p each - although I see that they've now gone up to £1.30   :(


stevewalker

#2
Has it been sitting unused and dried out? I've had that with inkjets before. I have a Canon A3 ink jet (picked up second-hand, on Gumtree, in March for £10, in preparation for WFH and used with cheap cartridges) and so far it has worked perfectly, even after standing for weeks. I also have an office grade laser printer (only printed 2500 pages) picked up for £2.50 on Ebay and just needing new (cheap) toners and a power lead. It is well worth looking out on Gumtree and Ebay.

I've had HP and found that they cost a fortune to run - needing new cartridges every time they were left unused for a while and with no cheap ink options.

ntpntpntp

I've run Epson and Canon inkjets in the past and they were good. 

We used to have an A3 Brother inkjet, but being rarely used it tended to dry up and block up - plus the paper would jam a lot which apparently was a well known problem with this model (probably another reason it wasn't used much). I accept it's experience of just one printer but it's rather put me off the brand.

To be honest though, as a family we made the decision years ago to switch to lasers for efficiency and reliability/availability whenever needed.  We're currently running both an HP colour laser and a Samsung mono laser on our home network.  I wouldn't go back to inkjet now. If I particularly wanted a top quality photo-glossy image then I'd send off the file to be printed online.
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jpendle

Hi,

If you want cartridges that don't dry out then you probably need to buy a more expensive Inkjet, say 350 pounds vs 99, but of course these tend to be large and then you might as well get a Laser printer.

HP et al don't make money selling 99 pound printers, they make money selling the ink.

BUT when they sell a Multifunction Laser or Large format printer like the T125 then they are making money selling the printers as well as the ink.

For example I got an HP T120 large format printer 3 years ago, it cost $600 and replacement cartridges cost $50 each. I use it to print out track plans, location photos, and maps, even so, it rarely gets used more then once a month. None of the 4 cartridges have ever dried out.

Not a lot of help I know.

BTW did you know that HP licenced their Inkjet technology to Canon, in exchange for a licence for Canon's laser printer technology.

Regards,

John P
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chrism

Quote from: ntpntpntp on October 31, 2020, 08:08:15 PM
To be honest though, as a family we made the decision years ago to switch to lasers for efficiency and reliability/availability whenever needed.  We're currently running both an HP colour laser and a Samsung mono laser on our home network.  I wouldn't go back to inkjet now. If I particularly wanted a top quality photo-glossy image then I'd send off the file to be printed online.

Same here. I bought a second hand HP colour laser, which does a perfectly acceptable job for, say, calendars - and can be refilled.
If I want a larger print or high quality one then off it goes to be printed and posted to me.

Dorsetmike

I spent a few years repairing printers, don't know if things have changed since but I would never want an Epson ink jet unless it was going to get more or less daily use, otherwise print heads get blocked, HP included the print head as part of the cartridge so was less of a problem, however the cost of ink is ridiculous; when you compare the cost per page of an ink jet against a laser I don't see why people still uuse ink jets.

I've been using  Oki colour lasers for over 15 years. I print my own backscenes up to 4' long, print brick, stone and tile textures to A4 self adhesive label stock, or I can print direct to card up to 220gsm thick, plus laser printed material does not need varnishing like ink jet which is not waterproof, unless they've developed that recently. You can also now get clear plastic material for laser printing of OHP transparencies and label stock which can be used for coach sides.

At one time lasers were not considered suitable for photographic work, I don't see it as a problem now.
Cheers MIKE
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Papyrus

Thanks for the helpful replies, chaps. Despite what I said in my OP, I am under a certain amount of domestic pressure to look at lasers again. They do certainly seem to be cheaper than they used to be - you appear to be able to get hold of one with a reasonable spec for not much more than the Brother inkjet I was considering. If colour print quality has genuinely improved it might be the way to go.

Cheers,

Chris

themadhippy

QuoteThey do certainly seem to be cheaper than they used to be - you appear to be able to get hold of one with a reasonable spec for not much more than the Brother inkjet I was considering.
Add in the cost of a few replacement cartridges and the cost will get even closer,i bought my present laser printer 6 years ago and apart from adding paper nothing more needed.
QuoteFor what I want it to do the physical size
most printers these days,apart from the bargain bucket range,will be able to connect via wifi meaning you can plonk the printer anywhere  theirs a signal and electrickery so it dosnt need  to sit next to the computer
freedom of speech is but a  fallacy.it dosnt exist here

Dorsetmike

The cheaqper OKI 300 and 500 series seem to be out of stock at most places, there is one, same model as mine, on Ebay at a good price, but it's buyer collect only located Addlestone Surrey

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OKI-C531dn-HD-Laser-Printer/184488908869?hash=item2af4655845:g:b98AAOSwHXxfiAFl
Cheers MIKE
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How many roads must a man walk down ... ... ... ... ... before he knows he's lost!

themadhippy

for 50 quid more you can get a new brother laser printer from currys,complete with unused toner,garentee and free delivery
freedom of speech is but a  fallacy.it dosnt exist here

Adam1701D

I have been using an Epson SX-425 inklet for years for general printing and instructions, etc. The official cartridges are great for high-quality permanent printing but you can get cheap knock off cartridges for a much less.
Best Regards,
Adam Warr
Peterborough, UK

Jim Easterbrook

It's interesting (or maybe not) how people's experiences vary. I had no end of problems with Canon ink jets blocking through infrequent use but have had no problem with the HP 1110 I'm using now. I chose HP because they have better Linux software than others I'm aware of.

I had an OKIpage laser printer for quite a while but it's now dead - prints black over the entire page. Free to a good home if anyone wants to take it away.

Ink jet cartridges are expensive, but instead of thinking about cost per sheet I think of cost per year. I do very little printing so my annual budget is insignificant compared to, say, my beer bill.
Jim Easterbrook
"I'm an engineer, not an artist!"
"Amoro, emptio, utiliso!"
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AlexanderJesse

We have two Epson EcoTank printer and are quite happy with them. a 2600 series and a 16000 series.
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lil chris

I am currently using a hip printer plus I have a old hp printer in the railway room that still works even though it is a bit battered. I always said I will never touch Epson again, I bought one to print cd's etc and windows updated but Epson did not bother updating there software so it would not work any more. A lot of printer's now stop working when the colour cartridges get low! I get my ink online and always buy genuine after having a bad experience buying cheap ink. If  I was buying now I think I would get a colour laser printer, the price has come down a lot.
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