David Jenkins
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| posted on 17/12/06 at 06:57 PM |
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Talking of printers
My poor old Epson Stylus Photo 700 is showing signs of old age... can anyone suggest a decent replacement that doesn't have a high running cost?
(ink cartridges, etc)
One minor issue - it must have a parallel port, as that's how I connect it into my home network!
cheers,
David
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britishtrident
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| posted on 17/12/06 at 10:00 PM |
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Be hard pushed to find any afordable printer with a parrallel port.
If you want a decent printer that will give you no hassel and connect straight to an ethernet hub get an HP Photosmart 2575, it prints and scans via
an IP address.
I have an HP 2575PSC on my desk that has printed 9,223 A4 sheets since May this year without jamming once. The trick with refills is to buy only the
high capacity ones.
Otherwise you will have hang the printer off a PCs USB port or use an ethernet to USB interface which will cost more than some printers.
I have had a a lot of experience with all makes of printers and the only Inkjets that are both truly reliable and fast are HP, you just hav to live
with the cost of refills.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 17/12/06 at 10:04 PM |
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Trouble is, I only bought my ethernet to parallel device a few months ago. I really don't want to have to pay all over again!
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Hellfire
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| posted on 17/12/06 at 10:50 PM |
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Get a parallel to USB connector and use any printer cant you?
Canon Pixma iP4300 mine is the iP4200 and it's amazing value for money and much cheaper than my Epson which I recently sold due to high running
costs...
Steve
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britishtrident
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| posted on 18/12/06 at 12:27 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Hellfire
Get a parallel to USB connector and use any printer cant you?
snip
Steve
A lot of the more modern multifunction printers won't work with ethernet to parrallel printer access points, add a parrallel to usb convertor
in the mix and it is even more unlikely to work.
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Mark18
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| posted on 19/12/06 at 09:52 PM |
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I'd reccommend a laser printer if you're looking for cheap running costs.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 20/12/06 at 08:33 AM |
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I got the HP 2575 in the end - I wasn't going to, as I've been annoyed by HP's software in the end, but the direct connectivity to
my network sold it to me in the end.
As far as the software's concerned... it took me 1 hour to install the software on each of my Win2K computers! Then I went to my main Mandriva
Linux computer, called up the printer manager, told it to search for any new printers on the network, it told me that the HP was there, recommended a
particular driver, then finished by telling me that there was a very useful management program installed in the System menu - all in all, 3
minutes!
But thanks to everyone for the recommendations!
cheers,
David
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martyn_16v
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| posted on 20/12/06 at 10:22 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Mark18
I'd reccommend a laser printer if you're looking for cheap running costs.
...right up until you need to change the photoconductor  Mind you, i'd still rather have a laser than an inkjet
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Mark18
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| posted on 21/12/06 at 01:33 PM |
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I'd still say it would work out well cheaper - we use ours a lot and we've only changed once since we got it years ago - there's
another point, toner doesn't have a shelf life AFAIK so the ink doesn't go bad after a few months like inkjet.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 22/12/06 at 06:54 PM |
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I looked at one laser printer last week - special offer, £99.99 or similar. Price of a toner cartridge? Just shy of £80!
What's the next step - disposable laser printers? Use once then throw away?
David
PS: I used to have a Panasonic laser printer, which was very cheap to run - the first 5 refills were just toner, at about £15 a throw. As each refill
lasted me the best part of 6 months I was pleased with that. Sadly the mechanism failed - but not the bit that comes with a new drum cartridge... 
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martyn_16v
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| posted on 22/12/06 at 08:14 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
What's the next step - disposable laser printers? Use once then throw away?
Basically yes. The current breed of laser printer i'm putting in sites lasts as long as it's fuser unit, once that gives up the whole
printer goes (costs something like 300 quid for the printer, and 200 just for the fuser). Not as bad as inkjets though, they really are getting
cheaper than the ink refills. Every now and then Dell do a 5/10 quid printer offer, really is disposable at that price
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