What Printer?

Hi

i currently use a Epson C66 photo printer and have compatible inks which sometimes give awful prints due to blocked heads. i then use loads of ink cleaning them to get good prints.

My lass don;t like it and wants a new one. i would like a good quality photo printer which prints CD's to.

i can't afford a fortune. should i go for another epson or go for a canon?

are the cartirdges cheaper and better with canons than epsons?

what printers are recommended and wheres a good place to buy them cheaper.

merry christmas everyone

Personally, I've never liked Epsons. Canons, on the other hand, have always been great for me, so long as you don't use Linux.

We seem to have this question atleast once a week :D
Going on past threads, Canon seems to come out the most recomended, with HP a very close second - you wont go wrong with either brand :)

HP would be my recommendation - and I've had both/ Back from the BubbleJet to the 690C, then to the Cannon (big thing, cant remember model) and on to a 930C and a Photosmart 2710. The original bubblejet was ok, but the later Cannon was aweful. The 690C I had fixed itself about 4 times before dying completely (I had it about 4 years) and the 930C I have as my own Printer. The photosmart I've now got is shared amongst the whole family, and has been faultless.

Something like the HP Deskjet 5940 would be good, otherwise if you want a networked printer and have a bit more to spend the Deskjet 6840 would be good for you. You could buy either of them direct from HP or somewhere like dabs would do them at a reasonable price. Unless I'm inept at searching unfortunatley scan didn't have them, as they are very competitive on most things.

Hope this helps,

Dave

I've got an army of both HP printers and Canon's here :)

Was using in the past HPs like 940, 930, 939 and generally they did a good job, but wanted CD printing and Duplex, so I got two iP4000s. The problem with these was that the print heads die very quickly, like 1000-1500 pages and then cost a bomb to replace (approx £65), but I have just bought an iP5200 which is so far very good and am very happy with it... until the print head runs out. But yeah, even with this problem I still went Canon again and would recommend an iP printer.

ShMeE

and a print head is what as opposed to a cartridge?

cheers guys, looks like a canon for me next.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shiato storm

and a print head is what as opposed to a cartridge?

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a cartridge is a plastic thing full of ink

a print head is a tiny nozzle which squirts ink

hp cartridges & lexmark cartridges (rebadged as dell, samsung, bt):
combination ink cartridge and print head, approx £30 per cart. as heads are replaced with every cart, hp don't block - if they do, buy a new cart, problem fixed

epson cartridges:
ink cartridge only, print head is built into printer, approx £20 per cart. heads are built inot the printer, if they block you;re fecked

canon cartridges:
ink cartridge only, print head is separate consumable, approx £6 per cart. heads are about £10 more than a complete set of ink cartridges (which they come with), so head cost varies from printer to printer, depending on how many tanks the printer uses. if the head blocks, get a new one

personally i like HP printers might be kinda expensive but they last for ever :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mike_w

Personally, I've never liked Epsons. Canons, on the other hand, have always been great for me, so long as you don't use Linux.

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My printer a Canon BJC3000 works fine with Linux (using Redhat 9)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Workaholic

My printer a Canon BJC3000 works fine with Linux (using Redhat 9)

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But not all Canon printers work fine with Linux - whereas HP, I believe, have much better support.

We just bought a (used) Canon Pixma4000 off ebay. [after i nicked our epsom880 for uni]
- Its butt ugly, but it produces nice prints, and seams to be runing fine on Jectec ink, which is th same ink we used in the 880.
- It also does CD printing, which is quite cool, and has a parrallel port for our printserver. The later model only has UBS, and USB printservers are a quite expesive.


Daniel

Quote:

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Originally Posted by oshta

We just bought a (used) Canon Pixma4000 off ebay. [after i nicked our epsom880 for uni]
- Its butt ugly, but it produces nice prints, and seams to be runing fine on Jectec ink, which is th same ink we used in the 880.
- It also does CD printing, which is quite cool, and has a parrallel port for our printserver. The later model only has UBS, and USB printservers are a quite expesive.


Daniel

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is it worth using compatible inks, when official carts are a fiver?

I don't think so, although dodgy ones are like £1.50 each cart on ebay, and real ones might be slightly over £5 each, so although the saving is probably good, I am of the impression that genuine canon ones last longer (whatever the others say) and are better for the print head hence they will run out significantly later.

ShMeE