Just looking for the best overall deal on a new copier and or printer vs most ink for the buck. Did general searching as well as checked the cnet type sites as well. I figured that there would be an article somewhere that would list the best bang for the buck overall. Any articles or suggestions anyone would have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
best price ink/printer
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CheapLikeAFox
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Are you trying to do color and black n white? Or just black and white? And how much copying/printing are you doing every week? What's your budget?
W/e you do, stay the hell away from HP. I bought one for a good price with duplex and the damn thing eats black ink. No matter what I tried messing with settings on the machine and PC, like 20-30 pages and it's out of black ink again. I barely use the thing anymore except to scan stuff or print sensitive matter. I'm kicking myself for not just getting a refund when the first one I bought was DOA.
elessar123
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Does it have to be ink?
I have this laser printer. Paid somewhere around $70-80 for it while I was in grad school. The 250 page toner that came with it lasted me 3+ years, and about 1000 pages. And I'm on my first high yield toner, which claims 2600 pages. For black and white text, it's something like $0.004 to $0.015 a page, compared to $0.10 a page for inkjets.
Here's the newer version of the printer, not on sale.
I have this laser printer. Paid somewhere around $70-80 for it while I was in grad school. The 250 page toner that came with it lasted me 3+ years, and about 1000 pages. And I'm on my first high yield toner, which claims 2600 pages. For black and white text, it's something like $0.004 to $0.015 a page, compared to $0.10 a page for inkjets.
Here's the newer version of the printer, not on sale.
Paco
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[quote name='Jodou']W/e you do, stay the hell away from HP. I bought one for a good price with duplex and the damn thing eats black ink. No matter what I tried messing with settings on the machine and PC, like 20-30 pages and it's out of black ink again. I barely use the thing anymore except to scan stuff or print sensitive matter. I'm kicking myself for not just getting a refund when the first one I bought was DOA.[/QUOTE]
You're wrong on this. The old HPs are freaking tanks and I can get a good 300-400 pages PER ink cartridge, and I get those at the fleamarket for like five bucks each. Expired ink is like 70-90% off and just because it's expired doesn't mean it doesn't work. Ink basically has no expiration date.
Of course HP all in one units suck ass. You need the single units. I used an HP printer till it keeled over and it was a used model from 1997. I used it for four years after I bought it and each one of those carts was rated for around 600-800 pages.
Key word on HP is get their old RELIABLE stuff, do NOT get the bargain or newer stuff.
Current printer I'm running is an HP Photosmart 7760. I print on it every other day, and the ink lasts a good clip. They're around 18 ml each cart which is far more than the 2-4ml which cheap printers come with. This is my second one of that model number, and if this one dies, I"m getting another one of the same due to the fact I have about 20 ink carts from the fleamarket that I get for dollars.
You're wrong on this. The old HPs are freaking tanks and I can get a good 300-400 pages PER ink cartridge, and I get those at the fleamarket for like five bucks each. Expired ink is like 70-90% off and just because it's expired doesn't mean it doesn't work. Ink basically has no expiration date.
Of course HP all in one units suck ass. You need the single units. I used an HP printer till it keeled over and it was a used model from 1997. I used it for four years after I bought it and each one of those carts was rated for around 600-800 pages.
Key word on HP is get their old RELIABLE stuff, do NOT get the bargain or newer stuff.
Current printer I'm running is an HP Photosmart 7760. I print on it every other day, and the ink lasts a good clip. They're around 18 ml each cart which is far more than the 2-4ml which cheap printers come with. This is my second one of that model number, and if this one dies, I"m getting another one of the same due to the fact I have about 20 ink carts from the fleamarket that I get for dollars.
I currently have a hp photosmart c7280. My wife needs a printer to run copies of stuff for school. so ink laser or whatever is the best over all deal. if it happens ot connect to our network and or wireless for the ipads all the better but at least something that can run copies as cheap as possible.
CheapLikeAFox
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Does she need to do both color and black and white? And what is your budget?
We got a
brother
HL-2280DW
Versatile Laser Printer with Wireless Networking and Duplex
similar to what elessar123 suggested. 2600 pages for the high capacity cartridges for around 45 and i can get refills in the 10-20 range. Seems to print well. The biggest problem was getting the networking set up. Tried to set it up using the ethernet cable method but that would'nt work. The usb cable method did however. works fine as a copier and printer. While it does'nt support air print off the bat we have been able to get it to print from the ipad with a variety of programs. though about going up 2 levels where the printer supports airprint and with high capacity catridges of 8000 but the printer price went from 100 (originally 200 but on sale at staples) to 300 dollars. Would have been better on ink but from where we sit this was probably the best choice. Thank you all for all your help suggestions and everything.
brother
HL-2280DW
Versatile Laser Printer with Wireless Networking and Duplex
similar to what elessar123 suggested. 2600 pages for the high capacity cartridges for around 45 and i can get refills in the 10-20 range. Seems to print well. The biggest problem was getting the networking set up. Tried to set it up using the ethernet cable method but that would'nt work. The usb cable method did however. works fine as a copier and printer. While it does'nt support air print off the bat we have been able to get it to print from the ipad with a variety of programs. though about going up 2 levels where the printer supports airprint and with high capacity catridges of 8000 but the printer price went from 100 (originally 200 but on sale at staples) to 300 dollars. Would have been better on ink but from where we sit this was probably the best choice. Thank you all for all your help suggestions and everything.
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I'd recommend getting a laser printer. As others have pointed out its not the printer it's the ink, and in that category lasers are far more economical. Furthermore, if you only print sporadically, laser printers fare much better because they don't have the issues with ink drying out, dirty heads, etc. I think it's just a better overall solution and worth the higher initial investment cost.
Except if you are interested in photographic prints where inkjet is by far the superior choice. But that's a pretty special case scenario.
Except if you are interested in photographic prints where inkjet is by far the superior choice. But that's a pretty special case scenario.
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