Another question about printers

[club_med]

Whats the best printer to look at for a student who wants to spend no more than $250-300 ?.

Need it for printing mostly text, with occasional good quality photo.

[Mr.Goodbytes]

No need to spend that much money.I say go with the HP DeskJet 960 Cse. It's a fast, quiet, sturdy printer with excellent quality. It'll go for just around $200 anywhere in the US, even online after shipping. It used to go for $300. I'd check out staples, they do have a $30 gift card that goes along with purchasing it. It's 199.98 at www.staples.com and I know they have stores in Europe, just don't remember if there's going to be one near you. That $30 gift card is of course a mail-in rebate which makes it inherently evil, but 30 bucks is 30 bucks.

[MaxVal]

My preference has always been H.P.
I believe that the Epson's print slightly better pictures, but I have seen too many clogged print heads for me to recommend them.
The Epson's I have seen have the print head built into the printer. The HP's have the print head built into the cartridge, making the replacement ink cartridge more expensive for the HP. The up side is that replacing the cartridge means a new print head.
I just replaced an HP855c that I purchased in late 1995 with a 952c. There was nothing wrong with the 855, which I had paid $499 for! The 952 has current technology and prints much better photos, and the price is very attractive at $149! You should check out the Dell at home and Small Business sites for discounts and or free shipping on what ever model you might choose!
Want slightly more speed? Look at the 972c.
My two cents...
MAX

[The Beav]

I love the HP2500 printer. It has fantastic color capabilities. I know that's not your main focus. The colors are all in individual print tanks so you only have to replace the color that runs out. I am aware that others do this too. In my experience as a graphic artist, I know that the HP's print better on a more variaties of paper. Epson prints fantastic but only on papers designed for the Epson inks. Hp will print great on just about anything. The HP2500 I believe goes for about $399 US, more than your target price.

The lower end like the HP 960 and 940 are real nice too. And quite a great value.

Canon has the S800 which has individual tanks and prints with six colors. This gives you better skin tones and gradients. It runs for $299 US. I haven't used Canon for quite some time so can't really say how well they print on different papers.

Good luck in your quest!!:cool:

[club_med]

Thanks for the advice, keep it coming please.

I currently use a Canon BJC4100.

How would those printers you mentioned compare in performance to this one (Canon BJC4100)?.

I would prefer a printer where replacing the print head is possible, I find that a very clever and useful function.

[Mr.Goodbytes]

club_med, the difference between the HP 960 and the canon you have is pretty much day and night. It's gotta be at least 5 times as fast as your bubblejet. And as far as replaceable printheads are concerned, you're golden. Each time you replace an HP cartridge in the 900 series, you get a fresh printhead. Here's the specs on the 960:
http://www.hpinfolab.com/resources/inkjet/pdf/dj960.pdf

I wouldn't go with the 940 because it costs twice as much for black ink, and that's what you said you'd be using the most.

I hope that link works; I usually have to log in to get to it, but I tried it going directly to the link after closing out IE entirely.

[daveleau]

I totally agree with Mr Goodbytes. I have a love fro HP printers and their durability and efficiency. Their print quality is top notch as well. I have the P1000 HP Photosmart and the HP 6L. Both are great. The P1000, I bought about 2 months ago for $189 @ Staples with a price match from an online company. Teh 960 is awesome at around $299. It does double sided print, at 2400x 1200 at 19ppm. Very nice.
Dave

[club_med]

Ok, thanks very much for the help, I'm going to have a look at the HP 960 here in the stores and see how much it costs.