Best home printer (value for money and operating expenses)

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poorestguy

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Hi guys,

I used to have an old HP which used the 121 cartridges but I moved to a new Kodak printer where the cartridges are much cheaper. 2 things, the colour photo quality is much better on the HP and also i seem to get more pictures out of it. i haven't had a good comparison yet but this Kodak looks suspect.

Whats a good printer to get around the R1000? Also looking for the best printer in terms of value for money for cartridges? thanks in advance.
 
I am also looking for a good home printer, although I have a bit higher requirements than you do:
- It must be a multifunction device (i.e. scan, copy)
- it must be networked
- I don't print too much colour but want the option to do so. Mostly black & white though, never photos.
- Must be decently priced in terms of running costs
- it MUST have decent software.

The last requirement is pretty much what makes me want to leave HP. Their software is frikken useless. I currently have a HP Photosmart C7200 series and although it still prints ok, the software for the scanner has broken for a second time now. Also, when I want to re-install it, it can't find a local directy (a temp directory which it created itself!). Looked at a Samsung but the software is even worse - couldn't resize the scanning window.

Personally I've been looking at a Brother - anybody have any experience with them?
 
The new HP's have what they call ink advantage. So you can print double the usual amount of pages at R130 per cartridge.. Not bad I think. For pictures etc, buy a 5525, priced round about R1500 at most stores.
 
GhostSixFour said:
The new HP's have what they call ink advantage. So you can print double the usual amount of pages at R130 per cartridge.. Not bad I think. For pictures etc, buy a 5525, priced round about R1500 at most stores.
Click to expand...

R130 per cartridge? do the colour cartridges also cost the same? and how many pages do u get per cartridge?
 
ebendl said:
I am also looking for a good home printer, although I have a bit higher requirements than you do:
- It must be a multifunction device (i.e. scan, copy)
- it must be networked
- I don't print too much colour but want the option to do so. Mostly black & white though, never photos.
- Must be decently priced in terms of running costs
- it MUST have decent software.

The last requirement is pretty much what makes me want to leave HP. Their software is frikken useless. I currently have a HP Photosmart C7200 series and although it still prints ok, the software for the scanner has broken for a second time now. Also, when I want to re-install it, it can't find a local directy (a temp directory which it created itself!). Looked at a Samsung but the software is even worse - couldn't resize the scanning window.

Personally I've been looking at a Brother - anybody have any experience with them?
Click to expand...

Make your own thread.

OP have you considered getting a laser printer?

HP colour LaserJet CP3525 (CZ275C)
 
poorestguy said:
im not really looking for laser we print quite a few photos and a colour laser is just way out of budget. I have never had a printer that takes more than 2 cartridges so the ones that need 4 cartridges are a mystery:confused:
Click to expand...

It is Yellow, Magenta, Cyan and black. So the two cartridges you've used, one contained all the colours, the other one the black. Now that means, once the yellow, or cyan or magenta was dry, you needed to buy a whole new cartridge. With 4 cartridges, you only replace what has finished. Works out cheaper. BTW, the 3525 takes the same cartridges as mentioned above.
 
poorestguy said:
im not really looking for laser we print quite a few photos and a colour laser is just way out of budget. I have never had a printer that takes more than 2 cartridges so the ones that need 4 cartridges are a mystery:confused:
Click to expand...
The 4 cartridge printers are the way to go. In many cases you can get generic (not refilled) cartridges at very good prices and you only need to replace the individual colours.

For inkjet printers I prefer Canon.
 
GhostSixFour said:
It is Yellow, Magenta, Cyan and black. So the two cartridges you've used, one contained all the colours, the other one the black. Now that means, once the yellow, or cyan or magenta was dry, you needed to buy a whole new cartridge. With 4 cartridges, you only replace what has finished. Works out cheaper. BTW, the 3525 takes the same cartridges as mentioned above.
Click to expand...
interesting. does seem to work out cheaper other than the initial cost of the 4 cartridges.
 
MickeyD said:
The 4 cartridge printers are the way to go. In many cases you can get generic (not refilled) cartridges at very good prices and you only need to replace the individual colours.

For inkjet printers I prefer Canon.
Click to expand...

i saw some decent priced canons. my current kodak has wifi and a scanner. dont really care about the wifi but would want a 3 in one if possible. also i reaaaly would like a scan to email functionality :D but but thats optional i suppose
 
poorestguy said:
interesting. does seem to work out cheaper other than the initial cost of the 4 cartridges.
Click to expand...
The unit normally ships with a set of cartridges that are around 25% capacity. This helps as you will see which colour you use the most when you do the replacements.
 
poorestguy said:
i saw some decent priced canons. my current kodak has wifi and a scanner. dont really care about the wifi but would want a 3 in one if possible. also i reaaaly would like a scan to email functionality :D but but thats optional i suppose
Click to expand...

Both the printers I pointed out have wifi capapbility, as well as email to print. And apple airprint and, if you download the app you can print from smart phones and tablets as well. It's called HP ePrint if you want to google..
 
MickeyD said:
The unit normally ships with a set of cartridges that are around 25% capacity. This helps as you will see which colour you use the most when you do the replacements.
Click to expand...

Most manufacturers will advise that those cartridges are mainly meant for set up purposes. But, yes. They do allow a bit of printing. Also, using the fake cartridges causes a build up of ink on the heads as it doesn't get cleaned as properly, so go for the genuine, at a cost of R130 for a cartridge that'll last longer I think it is worth it.
 
GhostSixFour said:
Most manufacturers will advise that those cartridges are mainly meant for set up purposes. But, yes. They do allow a bit of printing. Also, using the fake cartridges causes a build up of ink on the heads as it doesn't get cleaned as properly, so go for the genuine, at a cost of R130 for a cartridge that'll last longer I think it is worth it.
Click to expand...
The build-up takes some time, by then you have been through 9 or 10 sets of generic cartridges and the savings is more than the cost to buy a new printer.
 
MickeyD said:
The build-up takes some time, by then you have been through 9 or 10 sets of generic cartridges and the savings is more than the cost to buy a new printer.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. Then again.. The more broken Canon's out there. The better :)
 
GhostSixFour said:
Both the printers I pointed out have wifi capapbility, as well as email to print. And apple airprint and, if you download the app you can print from smart phones and tablets as well. It's called HP ePrint if you want to google..
Click to expand...

ok that hp looks reaaaly good then for 944:) i just found out they stopped making kodak printers! so guess i will be forced to change anyways. all good:)
 
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