recommend a printer?

[sara3]

my daughter is about to start her photography A Level course. during her GCSE days (and nights!) she printed loads of photos. the cartridges didn't last very long and were expensive, and the quality wasn't always great. it's an HP Deskjet F4180... it can also be a bit temperamental and refused to print/clear on many occasions.

does anyone have any recommendations for a new printer, bearing in mind all of the above?

she's sending my broke :o/

[Whickerman]

You will go broke buying ink cartridges if she's printing constantly. It will work out far more cost effective to buy a more expensive laser printer, as they last ages before you need toner, but the fact that she's doing photography may mean that's a non-runner as she'll need real top-quality print

Have a look here though. http://reviews.cnet.com/best-laser-printers/

[Vagrant]

Won't the school/college have printers she can use?

[Xaviour]

more sense to take memory card to asda or tesco and get the photo printed on proper photo paer. inkjet fades and a laser wont be as good as from a mini lab instore. i guess quality is important so forget the printer they are pennies in the big stores for pictures you couldnt print at home.

[sara3]

Xaviour, I take your point but she takes a photo, alters the shades and stuff with photo-shop (or something like) then re-prints, re-sizes.. I think it would be easier to print at home, but you make a fair point, thank you.

Vagrant, they do but they charge per print and it's a faff for her to have to do it there.

Whickerman, can't you get the quality with a laser printer?

[gingejbee]

Computeractive magazine recommends the Epson Stylus Photo P50 as"a small inkjet printer with excellent photo print quality". Max. price £90.

[woofgang]

Get a canon, they are superb quality

[carlton23]

I agree with wolfgang, Canon are very good, but, Which Magazine recommenf Kodak for best value and cheaper ink.

[sara3]

oh gosh.. thanks all! I'm too tired to do more research tonight but will come back to it tomorrow x

[Hymie]

I can purchase cartridges for my Epson D78 printer at 50p each incl p&p from an ebay seller. Before buying any printer, check that you can obtain cheap compatibles.

I could print colour photos at work for free – but the printer cannot handle 270gsm photo card stock – this can also be a problem for cheaper colour laser printers using toner rather than ink jet. Check the specification for maximum paper-weight before parting with your cash.

[yelenots]

When our daughter went to uni we bought her a Brother Printer & Scanner from Partners (thinks they've changed their name now) and she says it brilliant and it wasnt very expensive. I buy the inks off ebay and they are very cheap.

[yelenots]

By the way it model DCP-135c

[scotman]

Following on from Hymie's post about paper weight. Some printers allow single sheet feeding which can sometimes cope with heavier paper than the automatic feed.
I use an Epson D92 for colour as I don't do much colour work. It is very basic and slow but has good resolution so is OK for me. Canon have a good reputation at the moment also.

[Hugh Spencer]

I have two Epson printers, Stylus SX 200 and SX415. I am using Epson genuine cartridges, not £9.99 each but £23.26 p&p included for a multipack of the 4 colours. I have been warned off using compatibles by somebody who used to be in the compatible trade but I know a lot of people have no trouble with them. The ones mentioned are available through Amazon.

[Wak]

If you really need to save money and still keep printing then I suggest that you refill your existing cartridges.
I have an HP F380 printer, bought in 2007 for £30, which takes the same cartridges as your F4180 (No. 21 Black and No. 22 Colour, both unchipped) and I have refilled the current black one for the last 3 years and the colour cartridge for the last 2 years. When you get used to it, it takes about 30 minutes to refill both cartridges and costs about £1.
To make them last such a long time, the trick is to refill them BEFORE they run out.
This stops the electrical heater element in the print head from burning out when it becomes empty and dry. I top up my cartridges every couple of months and the print quality is as good as it ever was.
Refill kits from ASDA are cheap enough and the web site below will help with instructions.
http://secure.stratitec.com/
Considering the money you could possibly save, it's well worth giving it a try.
I appreciate that your existing printer is a bit temperamental but maybe a re-installation would sort that out???

[Jules001]

my daughter has just finished her photography A Level course, to be honest she didn't have to print loads off as in each unit there are different stages, firstly research, then take your own pics in the style of, print thumbnails and then print and mount the final 6 or so. I think there were 3 units for the first year and the same for the second year. A lot of the work is printed out on normal copier paper to be stuck into their books for the coursework and this doesn't have to be printed best quality. We have two printers at home, but she preferred to use my Canon Pixma MP600R which takes individual colour cartridges, so if her photos were heavy on one particular colour, it wasn't as expensive to replace one cartridge than to replace a 3 colour one.

[sara3]

oh gosh, this is doing my head in now, lol! thank again to all who have answered. I hadn't considered refilling my own cartridges, but not sure about the quality of the inks.

Jules, thanks for the additional info. lots to think about now!

thanks again x

[Hopkirk]

I buy compatible cartridges for my childrens Epsons from Choice Stationery.

Works fine at a fraction of the price of Epson ink.

Once you have purchased from them, they keep e mailing with discount codes for further purchases.

[sara3]

thanks Hopkirk. I've just bought a Kodak ESP 3250. not sure how good it will be, I was taken in by the recent ads on tv, lol!