Printer

[yeti]

Hi,

I'd like to have an idea of the price for a printer (even better if u can recommend a brand/model, explaining why you recommend it).

Basically I would need to print 5/10 pages of black and white text a month, but I'm lazzy to go to the internet cafe everytime I need a page.

Would a printer able to print few pictures as well be much more expensive, or is the price difference small enough to get a good printer?

Thxs for your help.

[sbk]

Inkjet printers are super cheap, the problem you face is when you run out of ink the cartridges cost nearly as much as a new printer!

You can pick up an inkjet printer at any Tesco Lotus or computer store, min price about 1700 baht--If you want to print photos then you will also need to get a photo ink cartridge and photo paper. Easy enough to price in any big store.

[Abandon]

I am looking at getting a new printer too.

Ink Jets are cheap, and you can usually refil the cartridges for a 100 baht or so, or buy the ink and do it yourself. I have had mixed results refilling.

All the basic printers offer colour printing with fairly good picture quality, but one picture will suck up your ink like there is no tomorrow. If you want to print pictures, then go for the epson and have external cartridges installed (I started a thread on this system a month or two back)

All the printers have a problem of the ink drying out and blocking the nozzles if you do not use them regularly - particularly with the cheap refil ink. Not a majour hassle though to clean the heads.

One note - the Epson has the print heads in the printer, and so if there is a problem you will have to take the machine in for repair. All the other makes have the print head in the ink cartridge, and so buying a new cartridge gets you new print heads.

Cheapo printer starts at well under 2000 baht. There are some nice combo printer/scanner/photocopier machines ... though I would tend to buy each item seperately unless you want to do a lot of photocopying on it.

Printers are very handy for photocopying if you have a scanner.

I am still undecided myself on the Epson .. I like the idea of the external cartridges ... low end model +externals is around 3600 baht, and 5300 for the next model up.

[Abandon]

I got the cheap Epson c45.

5 hours to find out that the 4th USB port cannot be detected by windows (though other programs see it easily enough)

It prints slow, and the 'draft' mode is useless except as an actual draft (I used to use draft mode on the lexmark for all my stuff).

It is noisy aswell. I was told it is one of the best regarding refilling with ink. Only, after I bought it they told me you need to buy a little machine to zero the cartridge level.

Get the Lexmark.

[yeti]

Thanks for the info, I'll check what the nearest Lotus has to offer.

[MikeWill]

I have the same problem. My old DeskJet HP 670C is became more of an office furniture... I haven't used it in quite a while, and probably, be better off just replacing it. My printing needs are also very limited, maybe a couple of pages a month in black & white. But since I already have a scanner, most likely it will be used as a copy machine as well (the quality of printing does matter in regards to the 'draft' mode).

Abandon, if I understand correctly, you advise (against the Epson c45) and suggest to go for Lexmark. Which one is that?

Any other recommendations?

Edited January 24, 2006 by Condo_bk

[Abandon]

Condo - my last printer was a lexmark and ws heavily used for 4 years before I started having problems refilling cartridges. Only new cartridges would work in the end.

I got the Epson because it is supposed to be the easiest to fill. I hardly use the printer anymore, but next year I might need it for heavy use again in which scenario the Epson is goo because you can fit external cartridges.

From my investigations the canon and lexmark seem to come out on top. HP is good, but the software has some problems or so I am told. I found before that after filling up the HP it would always give you annoying INK EMPTY warnings.

On the Canon the print heads are seperate to the machine and cartridge, but have only a 1 month guarentee. I would go with one of the cheap Lexmarks if I were you. There are several models to choose from.

[astral]

I threw out my Epson.

The heads cost a fortune and clog up to easily and then you waste a whole

cartridge of ink, well almost, whilst the machine cleans its heads.

I have HP now and had the cartridge refilled recently with no problems at all.

[yeti]

I threw out my Epson.

The heads cost a fortune and clog up to easily and then you waste a whole

cartridge of ink, well almost, whilst the machine cleans its heads.

I have HP now and had the cartridge refilled recently with no problems at all.

Can you tell me more about your HP?

What model, how much did u pay for it, can it print pictures on photo paper or only documents?

Thxs

Yeti

[Tywais]

Abandon, if I understand correctly, you advise (against the Epson c45) and suggest to go for Lexmark. Which one is that?

Any other recommendations?

I know I'm answering Abandon's question but I have a Lexmark Z55 and using it for about 3-4 years now with zero problems. I like that it is very quiet (not like my previous Epson). Photo quality print is superb. Liked it so well I recommended and bought two for the laboratory I work at and they get heavy use. The low end one we use on one of our projects was about 1600B and the higher end one (Z55) was about 4000B. These models may have been superceded by now with new model numbers but my experience has been a pleasant one with them. Only problem is that the cartridges are a bit on the expensive side (haven't tried a re-fill kit yet though).