Printer required

[Berties123]

What modern printers are XP compatible with large cartridges? Friend is annoyed of the cost of tiny little carts which don't last long. I have a couple of HP deskjets and they're 5x the size of modern carts!

[Phage]

It's not the size of the cartridge....
It's how many pages you get from each. Have you checked the stats / cost per page ?

[shaithis]

Also, asses the usage. You may find a laser printer works out a lot cheaper in the long run.

[Pob255]

Well it's sort of the size of the cartridge, as the amount of ink inside it does have an effect on how long it lasts.

One thing to remember is that most cartridges and toners are rated in number of pages at 5-10% coverage, i.e. a page of text with maybe one or two small pictures, if you print out full page photo's or other full colour full page images (eg power point slides) you ink usage massively goes up.

Most of the more expensive "business" class inkjet printers are for higher duty cycle, higher page yield and more expensive higher capacity cartridges.

[SUMMONER]

If your friend would consider a dedicated black and white printer, there are few that can beat a HP Laserjet 4000/4050/4100 N/TN/DTN.
Refurbished units can be had for as little as £50 delivered on eBay and a generic 10,000 pages yield cartridge costs < £20.

If the 4xxx series is too big, there are the less intimidating HP Laserjet 2100/2200/2300 N/DN/DTN. The printers cost about the same as their bigger cousins and a 6,000 pages yield cartridge costs < £20 delivered.

Because the N models are networked (< £10 to buy if it is missing) you can connect them to a set of Homeplug adapters and banish them under the stairs/a compartment that does not have to be right next to the computer/broadband router.

Both the 4xxx and 2xxx ranges are built like tanks and will quite possible last until the end of time in a SOHO environment - as I can attest to with my every day use of both a Laserjet 4000TN & 4050TN.