Quizzes & Puzzles6 mins ago
New Printer Scanner
11 Answers
In the past, ABers provided valuable advice on buying a new printer/scanner. Technology moves on so quickly, I am finding it difficult to see which printer/scanner would be best now. We simply need one that does a fair amount of b+w printing and a little colour printing - and where the ink cartridges don't cost a fortune. I remember Buenchico recommending some Canon Pixma options, but I don't know if those are still as good.
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I bought a new Canon Pixma last month or two - unfortunately I printed a copy of home contents insurance - it could have been 12 or more pages but there was a lot of bold print in the document and it nearly wiped off the whole black print.
I bought another one refurbished as I learnt my lesson but the original cartridges are very expensive - particularly if you are going to print a lot of black ink.
I bought another one refurbished as I learnt my lesson but the original cartridges are very expensive - particularly if you are going to print a lot of black ink.
Printer manafacturers keep down the cost of their printers by charging indecent amounts of money for the ink. In addition, the printers are made so that they have to be thrown away way too soon.
I find that the lower-cost end of the laser printers suits my needs extremely well. These machines print much faster than most of the ink-jet printers and there's also none of this head cleaning that many ink-jet machines need. Sure, I only get black & white but I've never had a black & white document refused for purposes such as a boarding pass.
Typically, I print 10-15 pages per week and my last printer (a Dell-branded Samsung) finally died after 12 years of sterling service. I now have a Brother, which seems nearly as solid. The print cost per page beats ink-jets hands-down, especially if you buy compatible toner cartridges.
If you must have colour, you could keep an ink-jet just for that.
I find that the lower-cost end of the laser printers suits my needs extremely well. These machines print much faster than most of the ink-jet printers and there's also none of this head cleaning that many ink-jet machines need. Sure, I only get black & white but I've never had a black & white document refused for purposes such as a boarding pass.
Typically, I print 10-15 pages per week and my last printer (a Dell-branded Samsung) finally died after 12 years of sterling service. I now have a Brother, which seems nearly as solid. The print cost per page beats ink-jets hands-down, especially if you buy compatible toner cartridges.
If you must have colour, you could keep an ink-jet just for that.
We bought an Epson XP 3100 a year or 2 ago and it suits us fine :)
It prints in black and white or colour (the missus printed a few photos the other week) and a pack of 4 replacement inks (non-genuine) are approx £10.00.
They still sell them in Argos for £54.99:
https:/
It prints in black and white or colour (the missus printed a few photos the other week) and a pack of 4 replacement inks (non-genuine) are approx £10.00.
They still sell them in Argos for £54.99:
https:/
We bought a Brother DCP L3550CDW laser colour printer scanner. There is never any problem having to clean the heads with laserjets; I reckon I used more ink cleaning the heads than printing when I had an inkjet. Not as cheap to buy as inkjets but cartidges last for ages and it's so nice knowing that you can just print without having to faff about trying to get the heads clean.
This isn't a good time to be looking for a new printer, NAC. Firstly, the worldwide shortage of computer chips means that not many are actually being manufactured. Then the shortage of shipping containers means that the few that are being produced are taking ages to get here and finally the shortage of lorry drivers then means that those containers end up sitting at ports waiting to be delivered.
The foregoing isn't political rambling. It's based upon me trying to research an answer for a very similar question just a few weeks ago. At that time 12 of the cheapest 13 Canon models on the Currys/PC World website were shown as being out of stock. The situation was much the same for printers from other manufacturers too, so it's going to be very hard to direct you towards a suitable printer at this time.
The most popular brand of printers among AB members seems to be Canon and I've frequently recommended seeking out a Canon model that uses 5 or 6 ink cartridges, rather than just two, as they can work out a lot cheaper to use in the long run. However replacement cartridges for the most recent models of Canon printers (even those from third party manufacturers) all seem to cost a hell of a lot more than cartridges used to cost for earlier models from Canon.
Even so, I note that the current 'best printer' recommendation from the publishers of Computer Act!ve magazine (which I generally trust to be a reliable source of information) is a 6-cartridge Canon model, the TS8350, which is priced at £139.99 on Amazon: https:/
The inks aren't that cheap though, with Canon wanting a staggering £133.44 for a full set of original inks but my usual ink supplier (Inkredible) charging a far more reasonable £36.24 for a full set of compatibles. (StinkyInk charge £35.08 but they're out of stock, possibly due to the supply problems I've mentioned above. CartridgePeople are much dearer, at £64.99. CartridgeSave want £58.63, with CartridgeShop charging £56.49). So ink isn't going to be cheap for that printer, wherever you get it from!
[Note though that the prices above are for 'XXL' cartridges, which typically have enough ink for around 4,500 mono pages and for many hundreds of pages in colour, so on a 'cost per page' basis, they're actually very good value].
Computer Act!ve's runner-up as 'best printer' is the Epson Expression Premium XP-6105, at £89.99 from Argos: https:/
Computer Act!ve warns that ink costs can be on the high side for that printer though. (Inkredible charge £37.34 for a full set of compatibles).
With the very limited number of printers actually available to purchase at the moment, I think that (if I was in your position) I'd bite the bullet and opt for the Pixma TS8350. It's actually quite cheap to run on a 'cost per page' basis when using compatible inks from Inkredible (because the cartridges hold a lot of ink and will last for ages), despite the big hole appearing in your wallet when you eventually do need to fork out for some fresh ink.
The foregoing isn't political rambling. It's based upon me trying to research an answer for a very similar question just a few weeks ago. At that time 12 of the cheapest 13 Canon models on the Currys/PC World website were shown as being out of stock. The situation was much the same for printers from other manufacturers too, so it's going to be very hard to direct you towards a suitable printer at this time.
The most popular brand of printers among AB members seems to be Canon and I've frequently recommended seeking out a Canon model that uses 5 or 6 ink cartridges, rather than just two, as they can work out a lot cheaper to use in the long run. However replacement cartridges for the most recent models of Canon printers (even those from third party manufacturers) all seem to cost a hell of a lot more than cartridges used to cost for earlier models from Canon.
Even so, I note that the current 'best printer' recommendation from the publishers of Computer Act!ve magazine (which I generally trust to be a reliable source of information) is a 6-cartridge Canon model, the TS8350, which is priced at £139.99 on Amazon: https:/
The inks aren't that cheap though, with Canon wanting a staggering £133.44 for a full set of original inks but my usual ink supplier (Inkredible) charging a far more reasonable £36.24 for a full set of compatibles. (StinkyInk charge £35.08 but they're out of stock, possibly due to the supply problems I've mentioned above. CartridgePeople are much dearer, at £64.99. CartridgeSave want £58.63, with CartridgeShop charging £56.49). So ink isn't going to be cheap for that printer, wherever you get it from!
[Note though that the prices above are for 'XXL' cartridges, which typically have enough ink for around 4,500 mono pages and for many hundreds of pages in colour, so on a 'cost per page' basis, they're actually very good value].
Computer Act!ve's runner-up as 'best printer' is the Epson Expression Premium XP-6105, at £89.99 from Argos: https:/
Computer Act!ve warns that ink costs can be on the high side for that printer though. (Inkredible charge £37.34 for a full set of compatibles).
With the very limited number of printers actually available to purchase at the moment, I think that (if I was in your position) I'd bite the bullet and opt for the Pixma TS8350. It's actually quite cheap to run on a 'cost per page' basis when using compatible inks from Inkredible (because the cartridges hold a lot of ink and will last for ages), despite the big hole appearing in your wallet when you eventually do need to fork out for some fresh ink.
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