New Printer/Scanner/Copier

[BEST45CAL]

My old HP 950C DeskJet printer finally quit on me. Said it needed new print cartridges. Wasn't accepting anymore refills.

So I went to the local Costco and to my shock, two new replacement cartridges are more expensive than a new HP printer/copier/scanner!

So I bought the new HP all-in-one machine.

When this machine runs out of ink and if the refill cartridges are more expensive, I'll just buy another new printer.

Has anyone else run into this situation?

[Rhino]

Yeah, a lot of people have.

[BEST45CAL]

Not too long ago I would have needed three separate machines to do each function. Now one little machine does it all for $70.

As for my old printer, I threw it in the trash. It would cost more to have it cleaned than what it's worth.

[Kathy29]

I run into this all the time. That's how I normally get new printers.

Except for one. I have an ancient Canon BJ80. It's a portable. It uses teeny cartridges that I get at a store that sells refurbished cartridges. I got a small, very small (one inch) attachment that makes the Canon into a scanner and it's the best scanner I ever saw. I treasure my antique. When I finally have to get rid of it, I will no doubt shed a tear.

[SunnyBrook]

Try the refurbished/recycled cartridges. They are much cheaper and work just as well for most purposes.

I have a HP712 Inkjet and also an HP newer all-in-one. OEM cartridges at the office supply stores cost around 25/black and 35/tricolor. I'm able to get them refurbished for around 9/black 18/tricolor. Most of the online recycled cartridge places offer coupon codes and/or free shipping if you don't mind doing a Google search for them.

Be warned that most newer printer cartridges hold LESS ink for the same price. Used to, the HP printers used cartridges with 40ml of ink. Now many only hold 20ml or less.

I've heard good things about he Epsom printers that have multiple cartridges so you can replace each color separately.

[SunnyBrook]

One more thing...I'm not sure about other brands, but all of the older HP printers are easy to clean. A tech support guy walked me through the process one time and told me to do that any time I started having problems. The printers act up the most if they have been sitting not being used for awhile.

Basically, you use damp rags to clean the surface of the roller and other visible areas, forcing the roller to turn toward you counterclockwise as you clean.

This has worked for me several times on several different HP printers.

[Native American]

I'm looking to buy a cheap laser printer/scanner/copier to replace the inkjet version my church currently has, and which has died. We only use the printer for black-and-white stuff (mostly music) so I figure it will be cheaper in the long run, given the cost of inkjet cartridges.

Can anyone offer a recommendation for a cheap, reasonably good model?

[DoctorDoom]

... so I figure it will be cheaper in the long run, given the cost of inkjet cartridges.Have you priced laser toner cartridges?

[BEST45CAL]

I'm looking to buy a cheap laser printer/scanner/copier to replace the inkjet version my church currently has, and which has died. We only use the printer for black-and-white stuff (mostly music) so I figure it will be cheaper in the long run, given the cost of inkjet cartridges.

Can anyone offer a recommendation for a cheap, reasonably good model?

It's not a laser, but the HP PSC 1510xi All-In-One (inkjet) is great. Laser-like printing. Sold by Costco (maybe other stores have it, too). Final price: About $70. Replacement cartridges are rather inexpensive for this model. Don't expect to pay much more than $26.00 for the black cartridges (twin pack).

[Native American]

Thanks, Doc and 45 cal.

Yeah, I know the laser toner cartridges can run around $50 or so, but my impression (owning both a laser and an inkjet myself) is that the cost per sheet for the laser is far, far less. OTOH, the cost up front for the laser printer is considerably higher.

And I must say, $70 for a combo unit is pretty attractive, and if those $26 cartridges last a while, maybe that's a reasonably good pick, rather than a laser combo unit, which I think run around $200. Plus our church's print volume is fairly low, so maybe we'd never recoup the lower cost-per-sheet on the laser model.

[Eagle1]

i have a small black/white laser printer and i love it.
i get over 5000 sheets to one toner and that runs about $40
it is fast and clean, i dont miss inkjets one bit

[DoctorDoom]

For low-volume printing, inexpensive units are adequate. For high-volume output, it will quickly be learned WHY they are cheap. They are constructed of barely adequate components that wear quickly and fail prematurely.

As for the price of printer ink carts, if they merely held the ink, they'd be much cheaper. However, each cartridge is a complete printing assembly. It contains all the necessary electronics and the "mechanical" devices that eject the ink onto the paper. Ergo, a new one provides a new print head.

Anyone who ever had to change a print head on an old dot matrix printer (been there, done that) can appreciate the ease of replacing the inkjet units.

[BEST45CAL]

Thanks, Doc and 45 cal.

Yeah, I know the laser toner cartridges can run around $50 or so, but my impression (owning both a laser and an inkjet myself) is that the cost per sheet for the laser is far, far less. OTOH, the cost up front for the laser printer is considerably higher.

And I must say, $70 for a combo unit is pretty attractive, and if those $26 cartridges last a while, maybe that's a reasonably good pick, rather than a laser combo unit, which I think run around $200. Plus our church's print volume is fairly low, so maybe we'd never recoup the lower cost-per-sheet on the laser model.

You're welcome, Native. $26 is a direct quote from HP for a black ink twinpak. Someplace else probably has them a lot cheaper.

One other suggestion is to see if you can find a free used laser printer on craigslist.org and search a city near you under the "free" category. If you can't find one there, they have other categories you can search under and probably get one really cheap.

Craigslist is like an online newspaper want ad section for all kinds of different stuff. We recently bought an 11.8 cu. ft. Whirlpool commercial standing freezer, 2 years old, for $150.

[SunnyBrook]

Research the cost and the quantity of ink for the cartridges.

Find out if recycled lower-cost cartridges are available for that particular brand/unit.

I have an HP PSC 2410v photosmart all-in-one. We use it amost strictly as a copier, because our computers are too old to handle the software (bloatware) that comes with it. Only install one like this on a newer computer.

It has a three cartridge system, including a pigment black to use when copying photos. I have used it to make some great copies of family photos. It also has slots to insert about every kind of memory card so you can print photos direct from them.

Google the name of the printers you are considering and you will be able to find consumer reviews, troubleshooting tips, etc. Doing so may save you from buying a lemon.

[RayChuang]

I have an HP PSC 2410v photosmart all-in-one. We use it amost strictly as a copier, because our computers are too old to handle the software (bloatware) that comes with it. Only install one like this on a newer computer.


Fortunately, given the dirt-cheap costs of RAM and hard drives nowadays, the so-called "bloat" is not as much as problem as it was in the past. I'm using an HP Officejet 5610 and even with the software fully loaded it used less than 37 MB of hard disk space, a literally drop in the bucket of my 80 GB hard drive.