Posted on 09/01/2010 7:13:19 AM PDT by the invisib1e hand
A little old lady who uses her computer to write letters asked me.
I have always had HP because they work.
I’ve always preferred HP printers.
Well, I bought a Samsung CLP-310 color laser printer from Newegg.com for $130 and I love it. Supposed to get about 500 pages from the cartridges it comes with. Replacements are a bit expensive but you can refill them.
Lasers are a little more expensive, but worth it.
This would be a decent choice.
I sent my 16 y.o. off to prep school last fall with an HP inkjet printer that cost less than $50 at Walmart. He's replaced the ink cartridge 1X.
My husband bought a $29 HP lowest end printer at Target about six months ago. Only prints, but works well.
I have a recent HP J4680 that seems to work OK.
Stay away from Canon. They’re junk.
I’ve been using an HP 2610xi for four or five years. It scans, prints, faxes, works well. It’s been very dependable.
I think the secret is that the ink carts do double duty as print heads. So, every time you swap a cart, you get a fresh print head.
Discount carts are available, too. I like 123inkjets.com Big savings over HP.
Simple HP 1200 series have always been the workhorses of many offices. I’ve had one for 5 years now. It’s a tank. No frills but a tank.
For printers I have always recommended sticking with Canon, HP and Epson. No Lexmark or Brothers for me.
Right now Best Buy has a Canon Pixma iP2700 Printer on sale for $29.99. For simple printing needs, that is a hard deal to beat.
Consider the Brother 2170W. Wireless capable (no need to plug it in or network), cheap, available at your local Office Depot, toners are $50, and - if it's like the 2140 (and all the previous generations) - you'll get 3000-4000 pages per toner. Hard to beat $100!
If you’re looking for art-quality output, laser is the only way to go. If you are an ordinary person looking for something readable where you’re not going to notice any flaws while reading a letter and don’t care if pictures are a little fuzzy, the inkjet printers are close enough and much cheaper. I’ve tried several brands, and I’m very happy with HP.
I’ve got a Brother 2170W. Works fine.
My Lexmark X6570 All-In-One has been an absolute disaster, however.
Funny thing is, the only printers (two) I’ve ever had go bad just outside of warranty were HP, where board issues rendered them useless. The best overall quality and price to print I’ve had have been Canon.
Who knows?
I have an HP F4180 that sucks ink like a Cadillac.
How many sheets a month? Does she need color? What operating system is she using?
If she only needs B/W, I would strongly recommend laser, not ink jet.
HP and Samsung are reliable (except HP low end ink jets). Brothers are NOT reliable.
There is an inexpensive HP laser (1012? 1029?) that goes for about $99 when on sale. No problem getting toners for it. Consumables are somewhat pricey.
What model? The problem is that her HP doesn't work and will probably cost more than the purchase price to repair.
I bought an Epson form this company in TN. Very nice people. They add external ink tanks and see the ink.
http://www.cobraink.com/printers.htm
Why is that important? I generally hate ink jets cause you get screwed on the cartridges. This fellow adds external tanks and your printing cost per page is down to about a half penny. This is incredibly cheap. Nice people, they pick up the phone, the guy is an engineer.
The Epson 610, 710 and 30 they offer is not expensive and you will save incredible amounts of money on the ink.
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