What's a good printer?

[mr. nails]

right now i have a lexmark z32 printer that i've had for 6 years, but both ink carts are dried up and it needs some new ones. for this model new carts will be around $70. i can buy a new printer with $70. i was looking at some epsons and they seemed good.? are seperate ink carts better than just black and color carts? or do they run out about the same time so it doesn't matter? i pretty much just need a printer that's gonna printer word docs and purchases on the intenet. are the 4in1's good? also, i wanna keep it around $100.

[Santa]

look for the ones with the best Resolution / fastest printing speeds / cheapest ink / price

[lynx]

Have a look at which ones have cheap carts.

Any of the ones which have the head built in to the cart are always going to be very expensive, since HP aggressively protects its patent.

Epson have tried something similar with their chipped carts, but since they can't prevent other people from coming up with a chip that behaves similarly you can get cheap copies.

I believe canon carts are fairly cheap too.

Single colour carts have the advantage that you only need to replace the colour that's run out, so if you use more of one colour that may be better for you. On the other hand 3 (or more) single colour carts are more expensive than a one multi-colour cart.

[DarthInsinuate]

if you don't mind just black and white printing, get a black and white laser printer. Toner is far cheaper than ink.

[zapjb]

I did as others suggested. I priced replacement cartridges first. So I came up with the Epson Stylus C62 around $65 @newegg. Probably a newer model by now. And get this replacement cartridges are $4.50 a piece. Woot!

[Gripper]

Yep I have a epson c44,and I managed to pick up 10 pairs of compatible ink catridges for £10 at a boot fair,Have a look at www.sscig.com for a handy utility

[Virtualbody1234]

You could try those ink refill kits for your cartridge. A last ditch effort to avoid the landfill.

[zapjb]

VB those refills are a pain.

[Virtualbody1234]

VB those refills are a pain.
Not to me. I use them all the time. Really inexpensive printing.

It sure beats dumping a printer.

[mr. nails]

do any of these manufacturers have a better quality or longer life? from hp, epson to canon? like cheap componants? or are all printers nowadays pretty much the same? i don't need the tray that catches the paper being printed breaking on me in a week or something. i don't know much about decent printers and am just trying to get some good opinions from u guys before i purchase something. thx!

[Gripper]

That epson you looked at should do ya,had mine a year no probs so far

[Darth Sushi]

I have a Canon Pixma iP3000. It uses a cartridge design that goes back more than 10 years. As a result, many generic cartridges are available. I buy these cartridges for about $8.00 for all four colors as oppose to $12.00 per color! Also, the printhead can be easily removed so in the event of a bad clog, you can spray canned air to unclog it (you can't do that with an epson)!

[mr. nails]

I have a Canon Pixma iP3000. It uses a cartridge design that goes back more than 10 years. As a result, many generic cartridges are available. I buy these cartridges for about $8.00 for all four colors as oppose to $12.00 per color! Also, the printhead can be easily removed so in the event of a bad clog, you can spray canned air to unclog it (you can't do that with an epson)!
awesome! and that sounds great! i saw that ip3000 @ frys for like $70, i believe. anyway, can you tell me the name of those carts so i can check into that @ frys. $8 sounds nice!

[Darth Sushi]

I have a Canon Pixma iP3000. It uses a cartridge design that goes back more than 10 years. As a result, many generic cartridges are available. I buy these cartridges for about $8.00 for all four colors as oppose to $12.00 per color! Also, the printhead can be easily removed so in the event of a bad clog, you can spray canned air to unclog it (you can't do that with an epson)!
awesome! and that sounds great! i saw that ip3000 @ frys for like $70, i believe. anyway, can you tell me the name of those carts so i can check into that @ frys. $8 sounds nice!The cartridges are: BCI-3eBK, BCI-6Y, BCI-6C, BCI-6M, which is used by many canon models. You can buy the generic ink from: http://www.supermediastore.com/canon-bci-3ebk-bci-6y-bci-6c-bci-6m-compatible-inkjet-cartridge-combo.html. BTW, the prices may vary from $7-$9 bucks due to sales.

[EDIT]
BTW, the following printers use the same cartridges:
Canon Pixma iP3000
Canon Pixma iP4000
Canon Pixma iP4000R
Canon Pixma iP5000
Canon Pixma MP750
Canon Pixma MP780
Canon i560
Canon i860
Canon i865

[Darth Sushi]

BTW, this link tells you how to clean your canon printhead when badly clogged: http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/inkjetstuff3.html

[mr. nails]

thx man! thx for the input. imma look into those. just tired of paying $60 everytime i need carts.

[twisterX]

Dont get anythign with like chips in the inks becuase that just proves they are trying to rip you off by not allowing you to refill and sometimes causes more problems .