Best $100 or less printer

[Richard_Cranium72]

HP 895cse, a Professional Ink Jet with super fast performance, generic ink cartridges, Photo Ret II.

I have several of the HP's with Photo Ret II technology, One word, Great !!

At Staples you can get this $300.00 printer for $99.00 + tax in your area, free shipping.. http://www.staples.com/ go to
technology
Printers
and on the 2nd page find the HP 895cse

use the www.techbargains (http://www.techbargains) coupon for $30.00 off a $100.00 order

Staples, Inc.
$30 off $100 Order Code: 91123 Expires: Feb 28

HP's page for the 895-> http://www.pandi.hp.com/pandi-db/prodinfo.product_specs?product=deskjet895c

HP claims 3000 page/month duty cycle, hence the professional tag.

This unit uses the cr1823 color cartridges which are available in the twin pack for $48.00 BEFORE you apply a coupon. CHEAP !

[Joel Kleppinger]

I use this printer as my main printer. Great printer, and if you can pull it off for $100, OUTSTANDING buy. I got mine for about $180 thanks to dear Value America. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

[Variable]

http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/011529.html

[Warthog]

I'm sick of these expensive printers that end of breaking (coughcoughHPcoughcough)....I want something cheap, as title says.

It needs to be color and [b]reliable[b/]. I don't know what brand to get. At one time, Maximum PC said Lexmark was the best for budget printers. There's Canon, Xerox, Epson, etc.

One with a rebate is preferable: http://shop1.outpost.com/product/67728/

Did I mention I want reliability?

Thanks!

Warthog

[cheapster]

I just picked up a Lexmark Z42 at the local Costco for $69.99 after a $20 off coupon. Prints up to 1200x2400 dpi, is a lot faster than my old Lexmark Z11. I wish I had a cannon to use on Canon BJC-4400. Avoid Canon, IMO.
Chuck
IF cheaper is better for you, take a look at the Lexmark Z12. Should be able to find it for around $50 or so and it should be similar to my Z11 which has performed very well (although a little slow) for over a year for us.

[Warthog]

Thanks guys!

I checked out the other threads...very helpful http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

Warthog

[Warthog]

The problem I am having with current HP printer (3 years old) is that we have had to clean the rollers every few weeks!!! It is NOT reliable. And their tech support sucks.

Is this printer good?

BTW, on the Staples coupons, can I use more than one? They have new customer coupons, coupons for $100 orders, etc.

EDIT - nm, just found out about the coupons http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

It says that the HP is NOT network capable. Why?

Warthog

[This message has been edited by Warthog (edited 02-25-2001).]

[sharder8]

Last week I picked up the Canon BJC 3000 for the kids. I ordered it on-line from Staples.

$99.97
+ .33 (highlighter)
$100.30
-$30.00 (on-line coupon)
$ 70.30
-$60.00 (mail in rebate)
$ 10.30 Total

Total price of Canon BJC printer after coupon and rebate -- $9.97

Harder

[Barney]

Why do you have to clean the rollers? Is there ink on it? If it's ink, you are probably using too thin paper or you are printing too dark. Also possible is that your cartidge is leaking or you're printing without paper in it (may not be possible with your printer).

I advise you not to buy a Lexmark. The cartridges are way too expensive, about 30 bucks a piece (you need 2, a black and color). Buying 2 cartridges costs the same as a whole new printer with cartridges.

Epson's printheads are known to dry out. The cheap Canon and Hp's (with printhead + ink tanks in one) are low quality (dpi). If you want a good printer, buy Canon or HP printer with seperate printhead and ink tanks (seperate ink tanks for all colors and black). To get good pictures it's important you have seperate a black ink, not red + blue + yellow to get black.

With seperate ink tanks you can refill very cheap, so you can get back the money you paid extra for the more expensive printer.

You can get the Canon BJC-2000 for about 70 bucks (maybe even less) and it has a color and black tank. It's also pretty easy and very cheap to refill using an injection needle (a bit messy, though). The BJC-2000 is basically the same as the 4300 and 4200 (I think there were more before that, 4100 and 4000?).

Ronald

[Fingers]

The Lexmarks do run high on the cost per printed page when buying retail cartridges, but refill kits for the Lexmark are covered in the other thread. My kit says that the Lexmark tanks and print heads will last for a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 8 refills.

$70 for both cartridges + $15 for a 4X refill kit = $85 for 5 completely full tanks = $17 average per ink cycle ($9.50 if you're good)

[This message has been edited by Fingers (edited 02-25-2001).]

[Richard_Cranium72]

The rollers are getting dust on them, if they are like the rest..

Xerox advises to use a cutter from a roll of scotch tape to lightly abrade the rubber wheels..

Barney, I don't know which HP's you have used that gave poor quality.. I've had many HP's and all of the ones with Photo Ret II give great results.

Wart-10 what do you mean by unreliable, I've only had 1 HP out of ,, err,, maybe 14 that quit on its own, the rest worked till sold/traded/wrecked..

DrVette

[Barney]

Hewlet Packerd has a few (or maybe only one) models, the cheaper ones that print only 300x300 dpi in color. If you want to print nice looking pictures, you have to buy one with a higher dpi.

Ronald

[Warthog]

I dunno...I think we just had one bad printer out of the lot. EVERYONE I know loves HP printers.

The problem with this one is that it doesn't grab the paper, hence having to clean the rollers.

BTW, it's an 870.....also "Professional Series"...

Warthog

[Peter M]

From my experience, the Canons are pretty much indestructible. I dunno about US prices, but the BJC-3000 (now reincarnated as S400 with brighter photo ink) should be in your budget - and has all the ink colors in separate cartridges, along with replaceable print heads. Saves a lot of money on ink later, and its 1440x720 resolution isn't too shabby either.

btw, the "older" BJC-3000 is sort of identical to the S400, so if you can get a stock clearance deal on the 3000, get it. In fact, it just needs the newer driver software to handle the improved photo ink/print head.

Regards, Peter