Good printer?

[Hicks12]

Well ive been needing one for awhile as the main one downstairs isnt hooked up to my pc. Now that ive started A level i need todo more printing so thought it would be best o look for one now, budget is probably ~£30 dont want a huge one and a scanner/faxer isnt needed(a bonus) it also doesnt need good picture quality as it will be mainly texted based, finally it needs to be cheap ink like canon or something(no lexmark prices ).
Thanks.

[kmac]

Ink jets while cheap to buy have a high running cost in terms of ink cartridges.

If you will be printing mostly test, why not get a cheap laser printer like a Samsung, or Brother or entry model HP

[Webby]

My Local Staples had the Epson D92 for £30 they also had the DX4400 for the same money (as far as I can tell its the same printer but with scanner copier as well)

[Hicks12]

Ink jets while cheap to buy have a high running cost in terms of ink cartridges.

If you will be printing mostly test, why not get a cheap laser printer like a Samsung, or Brother or entry model HP

But how long do toner's last? they are like £60 a pop for some so the initial ~£50 for one without colour is alot right?.

I looked on amazon at those 2 printers you mentioned at staples, apprently they are really bad but i think most of its due to this "high priced ink" which tbh, £7 a pop for black is nothing as i remember my old lexmark was about £20 for a black cartridge and it was only a £50 printer . Preferably looking for one at staples because if any issues arise i can replace easy.
Might get the Epson but still deciding, will try and get in to staples this weekend.

[kmac]

Toners are rated for a number of pages with a certain coverage - I think text coverage is about 5-10%

The thing about laser printers though is the cartridge contains a "druM" and the "toner"
The toner usually runs out first. You can get a kit to just replace the toner for around £10

I used to have a Panasonic laser printer where you could replace the drum and toner separately but they have stopped making them like this.

I now resort to just topping up toner when it runs out and only chnaging the entire cartridget when the drum wears.

In any case on a per page basis, lasers are significantly cheaper, taking into accont the total cost of ownership

[Webby]

You can't expect miracles from a £30 printer, my girlfriend got one of the DX4400 and its a bit noisy when printing and maybe a tad slow, but the benefit is separate colours (for her a real bonus as she does a lot of colour printing) which should keep overall price of inks down she was forever running out of one colour in a tri-colour cartridge which gets expensive fast!

With print speed unless you are planning on regularly printing 50+ pages does it really matter if its 20ppm or 50ppm as long as it prints what you need?

I would look into laser printers as well if you really have no need to print images, didn't realise how cheap they had gotten.

Here are a couple of reviews from Trustedreviews for the Epson printers DX4400 and D92

[Hicks12]

yeh im not really expecting much in terms of printing speed or quietness but as long as its reliable and doesnt eat ink to bad. Having 4 cartridges could be confusing but i guess i could live with it, the main reason i didnt look at lazer is because they are big and this wouldnt be used alot only occasionally so a laser prnter seems a bit high but if there are any recommendations for one that is cheap to refil then please say .

[Hicks12]

Well i just talked to my dad and he mentioned he wanted to replace the canon one with a newer one that can be accessed on a network. Any chance there is a cheap way todo this with the current printer? like a usb to ethernet adaptor? or do we need a new printer with special connections?, basicly there is no need for me to buy one now >.<, if we can find one that has network connections and is as good as the canon pixma mp150 because quality in photos is very good, budget would be around &#163;50-&#163;60(maybe more) if we need a new one.;

Thanks for the time guys >

[Hicks12]

Well i just talked to my dad and he mentioned he wanted to replace the canon one with a newer one that can be accessed on a network. Any chance there is a cheap way todo this with the current printer? like a usb to ethernet adaptor? or do we need a new printer with special connections?, basicly there is no need for me to buy one now >.<, if we can find one that has network connections and is as good as the canon pixma mp150 because quality in photos is very good, budget would be around £50-£60(maybe more) if we need a new one.;

Thanks for the time guys >

[Agent]

You either need

1)A print server which the printer plugs into
2)A printer with an ethernet / networking built in
3)A computer to act as a print server

My personal preference for printers is Canon. Not had one go wrong on me yet. I'll never touch another Epson though

[Hicks12]

Could any computer work? would it be possible to just mod say an xbox? and put windows or something on it? Just had a look at them print servers and they are not cheap really and at &#163;40 for the netgear one it seems a bit pointless for a printer worth that, is there ones with it built in for around &#163;50 or am i hopeing to much?XD. Canon seem very good from the first one we had, i remember the lexmark one we had(all in one) and it was OK thats about it but with &#163;20 a cartridge it was pathetic.
Thanks for the suggestion agent, will keep thinking about them .

[Agent]

You could install a variant of Linux on the Xbox, such as Xebian and install a print server on it. You would also need to mod or buy USB cables for the Xbox. There is no easy way to install Windows on an Xbox in a usable state.

[Webby]

Look here for a list of Canon printers with built in network ability.

http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Prod..._a_network.asp

Didn't look at price though

Edit: Ignore that it is using a print server

[Webby]

Hmm on Scan the cheapest Printer with built in network connection I can find is this HP
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=531174

Or this Epson on Ebuyer http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141331
Hp in stock at Ebuyer http://www.ebuyer.com/product/110587

They seem to be the only two I can find in the <&#163;100 price bracket.

[Koolpc]

I would 2nd a Canon. Really great printers

[kmac]

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148076

Try this laser printer - no built in network but at &#163;42 good value. You can get after market kits to refill only toner till drum wears out.

Brother lasers come with separate drum and toner out of the box

Or if you want a Canon

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142200