Printer help and advice

[Jilly]

Hi

Hopefully I've posted this in the right section.
I'm looking for a new all-in-printer.

I currently have an HPpsc 1355 - but scanning quality is not very good. The reproduction is very wishy washy on the colours. I want one that will give me good imagery. Can anyone recommend a good one that also uses separate cartridges?

I was wondering about the Canon MP630 but on reading the reviews - whilst it seems to be excellent on copying etc it seems to use a lot of ink as it self cleans each time you switch it on.

I did wonder about the posssibility of leaving it switched on to get round that particluar problem!

Would appreciate any comments from you all.

Thanks

[Rentochops]

All I tell you is that the Kodak printers' claim that their ink is the cheapest is true - HP's the most expensive.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kodak-ESP-5-Printer-Copier-Scanner/dp/B001ANCLZS/ref=pd_cp_ce_3

[Dips]

Jilly, have you considered a laser printer? Their cost has come down considerably and the cost per print will always beat an inkjet. Plus you can print on surfaces such as vellum much, much better with a laser.

[Jeanette]

Make sure you buy a printer with individual colour cartridges. Then you will always have the option of adding a CISS system to cut down on printing costs

[satincollie]

I have a HP photosmart C6380 all in one which I find good. It takes five individual cartridges which can be bought in two sizes. Though I will admit I'm thinking of buying a CISS system. As the one downfall is availability of the cartridges on the high street.

[Jilly]

Hi Dips

I did consider a laser but I read a review that said they were brilliant for text printing but not so good on the graphics. Are you able to add to that - are you aware of any good ones?

Thanks

[Jilly]

Whats a CISS system? Haven't heard that before.

[LoobyLou]

Whats a CISS system? Haven't heard that before.

Continuous Ink Supply System.

Basically you attach tubes to where the cartridges sit and these have bottles of corresponding ink on the end, the ink gets fed continuously through the tubes and prevents the cartridge running dry and needing to be refilled, recharged etc. etc. The ink is much cheaper to buy than pre filled cartridges, even compatible ones. There is a drawback it you have an all in one like I do, because my scanner lifts up to allow me access to the cartridges so they would be somewhat squashed when the scanner is lowered.

Looby

[Jeanette]

There is a drawback it you have an all in one like I do, because my scanner lifts up to allow me access to the cartridges so they would be somewhat squashed when the scanner is lowered.

Looby

Looby, my son has a Epson all in one where the scanner lifts up as you describe. I was a little worried a CISS wouldn't work for the reason you said but its absolutely fine

[Phree]

I just got a new combined Printer/Scanner on Monday. I chose a Canon MP540 - the reason for Canon is because hubby had had a Canon Pixma printer for a few years and we are both very happy with the print quality and the running costs.

The scans are good, there's a bit of a story here - my old scanner (a Canon LiDE 30) had gone on the blink and the scans were totally unacceptable - I had to have acceptable scans somewhere by end of business on Monday - so Monday lunchtime hubby snuck into our local town to buy me a new scanner - I got a phonecall and this wee voice said "I'm in town, was going to buy you a scanner but the combined printer scanners are actully cheaper than the stand alone scanners so now I don't know what to buy you" Anyhow the end result was we decided to rush thru to Edinburgh where our nearest PC World is in the hope that they may have a better selection to choose from.

By the time I got home I had just enough time to install new scanner, scan at default settings and then get myself and the original items to the post office to mail them as a back up. Well the default scans worked - and that tells me it can do even better as the default scan resolution never set to the best the machine can produce.

Anyhow, I like my new printer/scanner - it has sepertate ink tanks for all the colours including an extra black photo tank - so 5 ink tanks. The printhead is seperate component so you do not need to pay the high prices for ink cart that come with a built in printhead.

As for CISS - then I am not sure if I can buy one for this Machine, but that is because I have not looked online yet to see if one is available. I would recommend that IF you can run to the purchase of a CISS you give it some thought - it is by far and away the most economical way to buy ink, however the initial outlay for a CISS is a considered purchase.

Finally, and this is something else I have not had a chance to look for yet, but we run hubby's Canon Printer on compatible ink carts - specifically we buy Ink-Rite carts and they cost us £2 per cart. The only downside of hubby's Pixma is that it has a tri-colour cart rather than individual colours but heck, at 2 quid a go it's not a big hardship to be tossing carts out because they have run out of one colour.

[LoobyLou]

Looby, my son has a Epson all in one where the scanner lifts up as you describe. I was a little worried a CISS wouldn't work for the reason you said but its absolutely fine

Thanks Jeanette, might look into that again. Would you know which CISS he opted for and where he got it from?

Looby

[Rentochops]

Thanks Jeanette, might look into that again. Would you know which CISS he opted for and where he got it from?

Looby

There are loads on e-bay Lobby, but my HP won't work with them it is a 3 in 1.

[Dips]

Hi Dips

I did consider a laser but I read a review that said they were brilliant for text printing but not so good on the graphics. Are you able to add to that - are you aware of any good ones?

Thanks

I have access to a HP laser printer (need to be a bit circumspect here ;)) and I have printed off from Joanna Sheen CDs and also pictures and have been very pleased with the results. I have not tried to print photos onto photo paper (I think you can get professional prints done so cheaply these days that it is a waste of ink to print your own, so I never do). HTH

[Jeanette]

Thanks Jeanette, might look into that again. Would you know which CISS he opted for and where he got it from?

Looby


I think he got his from ebay Looby. The only thing I would say about buying from ebay is you may not get the support that you might need. My son initially had a problem setting it up and had to communicate through emails which took some time. It was sorted eventually. A phone number in this instance would have been much easier