Inkjet Color Printer Purchase Advise, Please

[lngbruno]

Okay, my HP 870Cse color inkjet has given itself up to the digital ghost. If you know anything about HP inkjet printers, you’ll know this one is 15+ years old. :no clue: Yes, 15+ years old.

I use it mainly for projects and presentations. No photo reproduction is necessary.

I am using Windows XP SP2 for this setup.

I would also like you tell me of units to stay away from.

Thank you in advance,
Lou

[Monkeypimp]

I just recently upgraded to a Lexmark Prevail 705. I picked it up for $119 on sale at Office max and it has impressed the crap out of me. It prints superfast, I get way better ink longevity than I did with my 4 year old Brother printer.

I think that the scanning ability is the best I have had so far as it works every time I use it without spending an hour trying to figure out why it won't work.

I would say this is my best printer yet....and I go through them about every 2-4 years. I print a ton for work and print presentations that range from 3 pages to 100 pages. I bought it 10-12 weeks ago and have already put 2 full boxes, not packages, but boxes of paper through it and it is still jamming.

[InfernoSTi]

I'm pretty happy with my HP Photosmart D7200 series printer. I like it a lot more than my old Epson (except that Epson printed beautiful photos...but I rarely use that any more).

[woofersus]

If you don't need photo printing, I'd say go color laser. They're much more affordable now, and the per-print costs are waaaaay lower with toner than inkjet cartridges.

If you don't have to duplexing or a huge paper tray this looks nice:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2310613,00.asp

If you do need duplexing and better paper handling options, maybe this:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2345242,00.asp


Also, while generic inkjet cartridges will get you in trouble, you can use generic laser toner cartridges with no issues, which will make it even cheaper.


If you really want to stick with inkjet, I tend to like Canon.

[dvenardos]

Lou,
What exactly do you use it for? I got sick of buying inkjet cartridges and just went with a B&W laserjet and have never looked back.

Don

[lngbruno]

Greetings,

Thank you all for your suggestions.

Dvenardos, I use it whenever I need to jazz up a particular project or presentation. I have a relatively new Samsung B&W laser printer-fax-scanner. My last HP Laser unit lasted about 16 years.

I did narrow my future purchase down to either the Lexmark Prospect 205 or their Prevail 705. Both had great specs and I chose Lexmark primarily based on the separate color cartridges. In vetting them out, I discovered they are currently very close in price.

When this occurred earlier in the week, I had an existing color cartridge fail (no yellow). I then turned to my unopened replacement. The replacement was purchased on 12-5-09, when I ordered a new laser cartridge. When I inserted the new color cartridge it didn’t have magenta even though when I rubbed the printing end with a paper towel I got all three colors. So, I figured it must be the printer.

Just for grins and giggles, I called the supplier – 4inkjets aka LD Products - out of CA, and got through quickly to a very nice service rep. The service rep stated she would send me a new replacement cartridge free of charge to try. It arrived this afternoon, from CA, and tah-dah, it worked.:whew:

I am happy that I didn’t need to go explore printers further, but I have written everything down for future reference. I hope my HP 870Sce will go a few more years, then I can get a new one when I get a new PC.

Thanks again for your assistance.

Lou
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