Any good recommendations for a decent color printer ??

[gomcse]

My cousin is planning to get a decent color Printer (running in Windows 98 SE). His budget is between US$ 200 to 300.

He need to print our photoleastic (photo like) pictures from that printer. He prefer to have either HP, Epson or Canon.

Any good recommendations will be welcome and many thanks in advance.

[sharder8]

gomcse --

I've seen many problems with Epson's and the cost of ink per page is one of the higher. Canon makes some good printers, but the print head wears out and the replacement cost is very high. HP cartridges are high, but everytime you replace the cartridge, you're replacing the print head. HP's are also one of the lowest in cost per page when it comes to ink.

I've owned Canon's and the print heads only lasted aprox. 2,500 pages. The price of a new print head was more than the cost of a new printer after rebate.

I've had friends who've owned Epson's, and watched them with their problems and them replace said printers with other brands.

I currently have an HP-932c connected to my computer and I love it. I print great pictures and the ink cartridges seem to just keep going. Unfortunately, the price of the HP dropped from $199 to $149 a month after I bought it (after on-line discount I only had to pay $169). I have a Canon BJC-3000 hooked up to the kids computer, but that rarely gets used and after rebates only cost $9.95.

Look around at the different reviews and you'll learn a lot about how the different brands compare.

Harder

[gomcse]

Hey, thanks for your 2cents. Probably I will suggest my cousin to got for HP.

[vintron]

hey..... i owned an epson ... i bought it b4 i moved to texas..... never had problems with it b4... but maybe something messed up suring moving... it's really messed up now...


Anyways... i like epson... they are really professional people... and get the most close to the advertised speeds..... HP and all just advertise fast printing... but EPSON does it in real life.

My cousin also wanted to buy a printer..... i did some research and we finalised on the "Epson Stylus Color 880".

I am telling you and it is the truth. This thing has THE best photorealistic printing for a economically priced printer i have seen so far. It has VERY fast text printing capabilities too..... It's a VERY good printer for less than 150bucks.

My cousin LOVES it

[CMonster]

Epson color Good, Epson ink cartridge small and printer so-so:

Epson inkjet printers are noisy, hold little ink, and the printhead is integrated into the machine and will eventually fail -especially if you use non-epson ink cartridges or refill them - the printhead is more expensive than a new printer.

Go with a high-end HP or Lexmark

[This message has been edited by CMonster (edited 05-05-2001).]

[NDC]

I'm with CMonster all the way on this one... I have an Epson Photo 750 and I'm not too fond of it. I don't like the idea of having the printer head which eventually DOES wear out attached to the printer itself, not the ink cartridge.... It's very expensive to get the printer head replaced.....

I also have a HP 950c which has the printer head attached to the ink cartridge. Each time the ink cartridge is replaced, the printer head is replaced as well.. for an inexpensive and good quality printer, I'd suggest HP 930c which is the same as the 950c and 970cxi, but just slower printing..

[struggles]

Had nothing but bad luck with Epson Printers. Worked on one with the help of epson Tech. support for the better part of 3 months. I finally had to flip on them and they refunded my money.
I think HP has about the best bang for the buck!

[madfish]

I like Hp's myself, had them going on 5 years now,only thing I can't figure out is why my old trusty dusty 693C prints faster in color and black white then my new 842c. When it saids the 842 is suposse to be the faster one. Oh well, I still love HP's. All my friends top loaders seem to jam up most of the time, Never had a jam up yet, even using staples elcheapo 20# paper and when the kids use note book paper they keep on printing jam & streak free. Cheers!

[Kuasimodem]

I definitely recommend the HP Deskjet series of printers. I have an 832c that is two years old and has never jammed, prints beautiful pics, and is fast and quiet.

The new version is the 932c, and you can get it for less than $200 most anywhere.

[codybear]

I have the HP 930c and its by far the best printer as well as trouble free printer I have owned...do not buy Epson for all the reason above...yes when they are new they are nice but that will not last long with hard use

[mousepotato]

...just my 1/2 cent...I've had good luck with Lexmark printers...I gave away an 1100 & now have a Z32...not the best of them but suits my needs...does a full page of text in 22 seconds and does 1200x600 dpi color....
... http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[NDD]

Own Canon BJC-6100 (USB), full text page in 10sec, max 1440 dpi, great quality when printing photos even with usual color head, and FABULOUS when using original Photo-head. 1.5 year, 5-10 pages average every day, not a single problem ...

Best Regards ...

[RalphArch]

I also got the HP932 - after my HP880 failed due to stepping motor; previously had an Epson 500 which vapor bound the color printhead (makes it a throw-away due to cost to replace; except its still good for black and white)

Bottom line on all of these on price; if you print a lot be ready to refill your own cartridges ( I do). If you don't want to refill your own cartridges and print a lot get a laser - it will be cheaper overall. Don't get fooled by the purchase price; the vendors make their money on cartridges. A large black cartridge for the HP932 costs $65. (For a printer you can get for $129) (Its got 2x the ink of the standard cartridge but is physically the same - all can be refilled with the same amount of ink)

The color cartridges are somewhat harder to refill on the later model HPs; they are really striving to stop the refillers. I buy after market cartridges for color; but if color printing was my primary use (versus occasional color and mostly black and white) I would stay away from HP and go with an easier to refill inkjet.

[SiteCharts.com]

I can recommend the Lexmark Z42!
Great quality prints! Cheap printer!

[Richard_Cranium72]

HP all the way.

Epson, Xerox and others are clunky.
Noisy every time you boot, sound like they are gonna blow up.
Large noise means wear to me, can't be good.

HP 930c $125.99 with $15 www.techbargains.com (http://www.techbargains.com) coupon

http://www.us.buy.com/retail/computers/product.asp?sku=10239431&loc=10966

Use some of the leftover money to get some carts
http://www.us.buy.com/retail/computers/product.asp?sku=10220329&loc=6450

Large Color-> http://www.us.buy.com/retail/computers/product.asp?sku=10228178&loc=6450

Large Black-> http://www.us.buy.com/retail/computers/product.asp?sku=10009942&loc=6450

On the standard carts, with my HP 712c or my PhotoSmart, I get about 80-100 8x10 color prints.
I only do phots with mine..

DrVette

[fyxxer32]

Ive had this Lexmark Z52 and I really like it, my wife scanned my daughter school photos and printed them out on photo paper , cant hardly tell the diff...

[Imperion1]

I've had my HP 712C for 3 years now. I do a lot of printing with it, but have so far have only had to change the black ink cart twice (1 of which was a week ago) and am still using the color cartridge that came with the printer. It prints color graphics pretty good on normal paper and great on photo paper. I'm still trying to get this thing to burn out so I have an excuse to get the HP 930, just so I have a newer printer.
But by the time this one burns out, there will probably be a faster HP printer out.
I'd go with a HP. They print really good, the speed is about the same as most printers, and their price is inexpensive.
You can always go to a computer store and print examples from each printer. Thats how I chose mine. But I was going for print quality.

[Richard_Cranium72]

Imperion, on the HP 712c I noticed something odd.

When printing on Glossy paper, I don't use the Best setting, only Normal.

This yields wonderful glossy color photographs.

However when using "Plain" or any thing other than Glossy paper, I HAVE to use the BEST setting.

So bottom line, Glossy paper saves ink, plain paper soaks up too much.

BTW, for the masses...

HP has some really cheap Glossy paper.
50 sheets for $12.00

They call it "Brochure and Flyer" paper.

It's rather light in weight, so be careful handling the paper until it is in the frame.

If used in an album, make sure to use something to "back-up" the pictures so that they don't wrinkle.

DrVette

[sharder8]

Those of you who are recommending the Lexmark, ya' must be RICH!!

I researched 4 different sites that did comparison reviews and the Lexmark's in every case came up as being the most expensive per sheet for ink! BTW, Epson was right behind them.

Replacing print heads on Lexmarks and Epsons isn't the cheapest either!!

Harder

[Imperion1]

You're right on that Doc. Also, when using glossy paper (on the HP 712C) there is not much of a noticeable difference between using the normal and best setting. And regular paper does soak up more ink than glossy paper. I too use best when printing graphics on regular paper to get a better print.

[wing7788]

Epson, for me, will best suit your needs. I've had an Epson 580 and its doing well, with good resolution. Not too fancy, but certainly within my requirements.

[marc666]

ok now believe this or not i've worked with epson 640 ,740,800 and 777 as well as cannon 6000 bjc, hp 1100 series and 970cxi. Epsons i used to love em but they do have their share of problems use them or hardly the jets tend to clog, cannon jus never liked it print ok but didnt like the color quality to much now hp im still looking to see something wrong with em other than the price of ink being high, pic quality like no other only way to top it is with lazer color printer

[graymark]

All I can say is do not buy an EPSON PHOTO STYLUS I have one and it has given me more problems then I can poke a stick at.
Get a Canon printer of some sort depending on your price range, stay away from EPSON.

[Richard_Cranium72]

Here ya go -->>>>>>

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/Forum10/HTML/001430.html