New Printer

[Dagman]

Hi AB'ers, I'm throwing in the towel with my old hp printer, sick of replacing cartridges, realigning, poor print even though half full of ink, cartridges in n out, wasting paper, it's an ordeal every time..I think you get the drift! I'm looking for one to connect by cable to my pc, not bothered much about wireless and would print more black and white stuff than colour with the odd scan needed. There are lots of printers out there but can you recommend one that is simple to use and cheap to run? The cheap ones in argos and currys look ok but expensive cartridges put me off. If I knew I could use refilled cartridges with a new printer that would be a plus. TIA :)

[Togo]

Most Cannon printers a hassle free. I would start there Dagnman.

[Atheist]

I got a b&w laser printer because of the problems you are having. The toner cartridges last forever (I don't print a lot). They are full of powder, not wet messy ink.
The printer was well under £100 and the cartridges are £30-40.
Trouble is I can't remember the model and I'm away from my printer at the moment. I'll post again if I can find more info.

[Dagman]

Thanks both, canon are the cheapest to buy, but if they don't accept replacement or refilled ink, it's expensive in the long run. If anyone knows if they do or don't?
Do laser printers do colour too atheist?

[margarettom]

I have a Canon PIXMA, as recommended by Chris on this site. It was a very good price and, although the cartridges are not cheap, you only need 2 and they last really well. It runs wirelessly from anywhere in the house, prints beautifully and I am very pleased with my purchase. Compared to my other printers, it’s a dream. I looked on the internet for the cheapest Canon ink, when I had to replace the original ones. Prefer to use their own ink.

[gylly]

I have a Canon MG5750, have only ever used compatible inks with no bother at all.

[bhg481]

Think very hard about buying a laserjet printer or even a scanner-printer. They cost more in the first place than an inkjet but you never have to spend hours cleaning the heads because they just work first time, every time. They usually come with a set of small cartridges (mine have lasted 2 years) but larger ones are available, clones as well as original manufacturer.

[Dagman]

Can you recommend a particular model bhg481?, I think I've maybe had it with inkjets, and the ink is more expensive than gold! Refilled or compatible ink cartridges are much cheaper but unless anyone can confirm a model that will work with them, I won't gamble.

[Barsel]

Dagman, I'm sure Chris will see your thread at some point today and he is great for this sort of thing.
Have you looked at the related questions?

[Dagman]

I have Barsel but mainly about printer problems. I'll keep looking meanwhile through reviews on other sites.

[bhg481]

I bought a Brother DCP-L3550 CD, which I'm very happy with. It's a scanner/copier/printer and works via wifi and/or USB. It's very convenient and easy to use and can do double-sided printing.

[theshedman]

I have a canon pixma and it works fine. Takes 5 cartridges but each one is changed independent of the others and only costs about £25 for all of them using refilled compatible ones online.

[barry1010]

I'm very happy with my Brother printer, too. I have only ever used cheap compatible inks from Office World. Sadly my model is now discontinued and the newer models seem much more expensive

[Dagman]

Thanks all, I will look into the ones suggested, cheers.

[jennyjoan]

I just bought a Canon Pixma about a month ago - unless you are going to print a novel - and just use it for printing now and again - it should be ok.

However the cartridges are very expensive - if I am right - the cartridges are nearly the price of a printer. And there is a photocopier with it. I think the days of replacement of ink cartridges are gone but I may be wrong. My printer has two cartridges - black and colour. good luck Dagman with your choice.

[jennyjoan]

oops - just looked for replacement cartridges and they are there - and they are quite cheap - so for that - go for the canon pixma.

[Tuvok]

Yes you can get colour laser printers.

If looking at inkjets some eg. HP when you replace the cartridge you are actually replacing the print head as well as its built into the cartridge. Othes eg. Epson, you are just replacing the ink as the printhead is part of the printer.