NEED ADVICE ON PRINTER PURCHASE

Perhaps someone can help:

I need a printer for a secondary location that will have very light usage
including some months of non-use.

Would like the following:

-Vista AND XP compatible
-USB (network not necessary)
-B & W (color not needed)
-Small footprint
-Reasonable through-put (doesn't need to be high speed)
-Moderate price
-Major manufacturer
-Good web site & customer service (if necessary)
-Favorable consumer comments
-Available at Amazon, Newegg or equivalent
-Ink supply should not dry out before being used up

Thoughts and help, please.

Thank you.

my personal experience, stay away from epson printers.
once the ink dries in the print head it's finished. and you have a
paper weight.
stick to printers that have a print head built into the ink cartridge
or you can buy new ones.
the former being the ideal.
my Hp officejet has replaceable print heads I can buy at the store.
my old epson a $150 printer, the print head costs $189 from
epson


--
serpentracer
Posted via http://www.vistaheads.com

Answers inline

"its_my_dime" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Perhaps someone can help:
>
> I need a printer for a secondary location that will have very light usage
> including some months of non-use.
>
> Would like the following:
>
> -Vista AND XP compatible

Most are

> -USB (network not necessary)

Almost all are

> -B & W (color not needed)

The colour cartridge is used to enhance 'black'

> -Small footprint

Cheap printers have the smallest footprint

> -Reasonable through-put (doesn't need to be high speed)

HP haven't made the 300 and 500 series for years now. All printers print
fast these days..

> -Moderate price

Look at the display barkers..

> -Major manufacturer

HP every time

> -Good web site & customer service (if necessary)

HP every time

> -Favorable consumer comments

HP every time

> -Available at Amazon, Newegg or equivalent

Go to the HP website to check out models then to the sites above to check
for availability

> -Ink supply should not dry out before being used up

HP every time

>
> Thoughts and help, please.
>
> Thank you.



--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
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http://support.microsoft.com/default...help&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

On Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:47:47 -0500, its_my_dime wrote:

> Perhaps someone can help:
>
> I need a printer for a secondary location that will have very light
> usage including some months of non-use.
>
> Would like the following:
>
> -Vista AND XP compatible
> -USB (network not necessary)
> -B & W (color not needed)
> -Small footprint
> -Reasonable through-put (doesn't need to be high speed) -Moderate price
> -Major manufacturer
> -Good web site & customer service (if necessary) -Favorable consumer
> comments
> -Available at Amazon, Newegg or equivalent -Ink supply should not dry
> out before being used up
>
> Thoughts and help, please.
>
> Thank you.

Sure - get a cheapie sub $100 laser.

serpentracer <> wrote in
news::

>
> my personal experience, stay away from epson printers.
> once the ink dries in the print head it's finished.

While that may be true, if you do a lot of printing, and by a lot, I mean
2 or 3 times a week.....often...not necessarily 100's of pages....an
Epson printer IS a good deal.

Printing off a few pages a week will keep the ink from drying in the
heads, and well......the Epson I have has 4 colors and a black cartridge.
If I HAD to buy the genuine Epson cartridges, it would cost over $75 to
replace all five cartridges. (I paid $70 for the printer to begin with.)

On the other hand, using the non-OEM ink tanks will refill all five
cartridges for under $20.

Now if your someone that does a LOT of printing...all the time...it's a
no-brainer to go for a printer that doesn't cost much to refill.

The price of ink is ridiculous.

DanS <> wrote:
>
> The price of ink is ridiculous.

It's a few years old now, but this page was interesting:

http://www.cockeyed.com/science/gallon/liquid.html

ss.

DanS;1078318 Wrote:
> serpentracer <> wrote in
> news::
>
> >
> > my personal experience, stay away from epson printers.
> > once the ink dries in the print head it's finished.
>
> While that may be true, if you do a lot of printing, and by a lot, I
> mean
> 2 or 3 times a week.....often...not necessarily 100's of pages....an
> Epson printer IS a good deal.
>
> Printing off a few pages a week will keep the ink from drying in the
> heads, and well......the Epson I have has 4 colors and a black
> cartridge.
> If I HAD to buy the genuine Epson cartridges, it would cost over $75
> to
> replace all five cartridges. (I paid $70 for the printer to begin
> with.)
>
> On the other hand, using the non-OEM ink tanks will refill all five
> cartridges for under $20.
>
> Now if your someone that does a LOT of printing...all the time...it's
> a
> no-brainer to go for a printer that doesn't cost much to refill.
>
> The price of ink is ridiculous.

yes, do print with it and you will be ok. I was too worried about
spending the money on ink, and it cost me a great printer. it did print
very well.
but the problem still exists, you cannot remove and clean the print
head. or replace it.
which in turn leaves you with a useless paper weight just because of
that simple little part.

If I knew that when I bought it, I wouldn't have bought it.
a little research would have saved me a lot of $$ over all in the end.


--
serpentracer
Posted via http://www.vistaheads.com

serpentracer <> wrote in
news::

>
> DanS;1078318 Wrote:
>> serpentracer <> wrote
in

<SNIP>

>>
>> On the other hand, using the non-OEM ink tanks will refill all five
>> cartridges for under $20.
>>
>> Now if your someone that does a LOT of printing...all the time...it's
>> a
>> no-brainer to go for a printer that doesn't cost much to refill.
>>
>> The price of ink is ridiculous.
>
> yes, do print with it and you will be ok. I was too worried about
> spending the money on ink, and it cost me a great printer. it did
print
> very well.
> but the problem still exists, you cannot remove and clean the print
> head. or replace it.
> which in turn leaves you with a useless paper weight just because of
> that simple little part.
>
> If I knew that when I bought it, I wouldn't have bought it.
> a little research would have saved me a lot of $$ over all in the end.

I had an Epson clog and it had to be junked. My fault though as it sat
unused for 6 months. I'd buy another though. And have.

There is one that fits your requirements perfectly:

Canon LBP2900

Available from PC World at about £60.

It's a black-and-while laser printer, and it ticks every one of your boxes.

SteveT

DanS <> wrote:
>
> I had an Epson clog and it had to be junked. My fault though as it sat
> unused for 6 months. I'd buy another though. And have.
>

Epsons clog very easily wen unused, but you can unclog them with isopropyl
alcohol and cotton tipped sticks.

ss.