Printable View
Try these reviews on Tom's Hardware:
http://www6.tomshardware.com/consume...509/index.html
http://www6.tomshardware.com/consume...424/index.html
http://www6.tomshardware.com/consume...223/index.html
I'm partial to Canon, as they offer separate cartridges for each color. In addition, their cartridges don't incorporate the print head, so you're not paying for a new head every time you replace the cartridge.
Cannon is lowest cost per page. Epson is next. They both have very good quality.
Jim Cook
Check out PCWorld.com. It discusses consumables. http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/artic...23,pg,1,00.asp
I realize you don't want general info, but I'm gonna give you some anyways, as I still think it may help the decision-making process. We work on a lot of printers here at the shop, so I've got a lot of "general knowledge".
HP, in my book, is the best. HP's hook is consumables. They'll sell you a high-quality printer for very little money and then nail you to the wall with ink pricing. Color cartridges on all modern hp photo-quality printers will average from $25-$35 US. Black cartridges are $20-$30 US. You can purchase high-capacity color cartridges for around $65-$80. These cartridges are definitely a bargain as they have over twice the capacity of a normal color cartridge and are always cheaper than buying two color cartridges together, even when buying in value-packs (two individual color cartridges in one pack). They are easy to get parts for and HP will sell replacement parts to anyone, not just dealers.
As a tech, I seriously dislike Epson. Yes, they have some of the best photo-quality output, but are a monster to work on. You cannot remove the cartridges to work on the cartridge cradles. Once the cartridges are removed, they must be replaced with new, you cannot put an old one back in. The price for new cartridges is comparable to that of HP. Their warranties are shady and they don't like to sell to non-dealers. We became dealers to make our service dept. happy.
I don't know much about Cannon printers. To be perfectly honest with you, I've never worked on a cannon. Nor do I see many of them around. I don't know if this is because of bad quality, high price, or whatnot. But, it does make me think that if you had a problem with one, it would be hard to find a nearby service center to work on it.
Color laser printers are great machines. You will lose some of your photo-quality, however. As laser printers go, they are much cheaper to operate, but you will pay much more for the printer itself. We have a Sharp AR-C650 copier hooked to a computer and it does an incredible job. It has 3-individual toner compartments for color and it runs you about $79 US to fill a compartment, which also is a very good price. HP makes a decent color laser printer for about $500 but, like I said, the photo-quality is nowhere near the results from an inkjet.
I really dislike CAnon, i got one in office and its having poor quality prints and having only less than 1 and a half years old with 1 servicing job.
HP I don't like that much too, but it has a good marketing campaign, and probably a little decent quality. But their ink prices are outrageous.
I also read from somewhere that manufacturers for HP and Canon are the same, you'll know that when you look at the internals. and that's why they also have a cheaper unit price.
Epson, is a long time printer expert, they have a little higher unit price, but much lower ink pricing. High quality outputs with some higher model guarantees of print out life exceeding 20 years.
Today, I was checking out Canon BJC 5100 reviews, and almost all had a bad experience,
Tried looking for reviews on Epson 980N, can't find any reviews of either bad or good, which leads me to beleive customers have no complaints. And I'm planning to buy this for a very cheap price, heeheeheee $63.79! sweet :)
I have one Epson Photo 750, and loves it without any complaints and incompatibilities whatsoever. I had it since 1998 or 99
A point not mentioned is that HP 4 series laser printers are frequently available at used computer supplers. These are a bit heavy and bulky, but they are built like a tank and last many years. Reconditioned cartridges are readily available for less than $50.00. This is a very inexpensive way to get hi quality black and white copy. Make sure the memory is maxed out if you do much graphics, though.
Jim Cook
I bought an HP 6110 ($300 USd) several months ago after searching through local stores for a particular Epson model. The only drawback to this multifunction (printer/scanner/copier/fax) has been the tri-color cartridge as I was looking for individual color cartridges. However months and many picture prints later, I still am only half-way through the cartridge. All the functions work great and are easy to use and can be run w/o the pc being on. The 3 color is $35, the black is $19, the 2 color photo is $25 retail. While I haven't done an exact cost-per-page analysis, so far the cartridge usage has been very economical.:thumbs: :thumbs:
Canon and epson may have low ink cost, but you have to consider the built in print head needs replacing and costs over $100 and it doesnt last very long.
HP may have high ink cost, but they are the easiest to refill and that brings the cost down close to nothing.
Get an HP deskjet 5550 and ink refills, you'll have perfect photo quality and much less than 1 cent ink cost per page.