David Jenkins
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| posted on 15/5/20 at 03:11 PM |
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Which colour printer to buy?
Following on from the 'home schooling costs' thread - I'm getting fed up with trying to keep my elderly HP Photosmart 2575 inkjet
printer going, and I'm looking for a replacement.
I have a very serviceable Brother laser printer that serves for nearly all of my day-to-day printing. I buy compatible toner cartridges about once a
year that work very well, so I'm more than happy with that and feel no need to replace it. My problem comes when I need to print something in
colour - the old HP thing gets dragged out, I try to print something, spend 10 - 15 minutes trying to clean the cartridge jets and, maybe, I'll
get a decent print.
I also object to the megabytes of crap software that HP install on Windoze machines - 'printing for cretins' - at least the Linux printer
management app is modest!
I've been buying compatible ink cartridges for several years, but lately the quality has dropped significantly. I bought one from Cartridge
People, who've been good in the past,but it didn't print yellow. They sent another, but that was rejected by the printer - when I finally
persuaded the printer to accept it, the colours were rubbish. At least they refunded the cost without quibbling! The one I'm trying to replace
came from the same people but it was far, far better quality. I tried one from another company, but that wasn't too special either. I could
buy a genuine HP cartridge - but there's no way I'm going to pay £65 + P&P for that! Compatibles are £15 - £20.
The HP has always been temperamental, so now I'm looking for an alternative. I am prepared to pay good money for something that works well and
is likely to last me a fair number of years, but I'm not prepared to pay stupid money for ink cartridges. I even looked at colour laser
printers, but the consumable cost made my eyes water.
I am looking for an 'all-in-one' device - printer/scanner/copier - currently I am considering the Canon Pixma series, but I have no
knowledge of that brand. Individual ink cartridges appeal, and compatibles don't seem too bad a price.
Can anyone advise? Or recommend?
[Edited on 15/5/20 by David Jenkins]
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Deckman001
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| posted on 15/5/20 at 03:24 PM |
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Hi David,
I've got a Brother MFC-J6520DW .
It's for work and I've never had any issues with it for scanning, printing or copying. It's wifi as well as Ethernet. A3, A4, A5 and
envelopes suitable tray, so i just load up whatever paper i want to use, and normally just leave A4 in there as it suits my wife's printing for
her work too as a teacher and Deputy Head.
It can also print double sided as can use a feed tray to load up copying or scanning for lazy people 
She supplies the paper and I get Ink, she got the best out of that deal !!!
Jason
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 15/5/20 at 03:45 PM |
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Looks nice - but may be overkill for what I need. I have no doubt that it would be a very good main printer, but I'm only looking for
'occasional colour printing', with some scanning & copying on the side.
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cliftyhanger
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| posted on 15/5/20 at 04:51 PM |
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I would get a lazer printer as opposed to inkjet. Inkjets seem useless when only used occasionally.
As per the other thread, we have given up having a colour printer for that reason.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 15/5/20 at 05:10 PM |
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We work our printers very hard and have never ever had had any issues with HP in nearly 30 years -- we had one very high end Office Jet suddenly
announce on its LCD panel that it had reached "End of Life" after working almost conituously for years. We retired the HP Envy 5532 a
couple of weeks simply because it was getting on a bit --- we always keep a spare new printer ready for use so plugged in a Envy 7530 an were printing
in the time it took to unpack
All inkjects tend to suffere from blocked nozzles if not used regualrly using non OEM cartridges is only goining to make things worse.
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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russbost
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| posted on 15/5/20 at 05:52 PM |
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I have had inkjets from both Canon & Epson & would highly recommend either. For both you can buy generic cartridges & save an absolute
fortune when compared to manufacturer's prices. I typically pay less than a fiver for 4 cartridges delivered
One thing I would say, particularly with Epson, if you aren't using the printer regularly then print at least one multi colour full a$ size
photo at least once a week, stops the nozzles getting gummed up & much better at doing so than the nozzle cleaning facility which doesn't
always work
I currently have a Epson WF 2510 which gets a fair hammering & is several years old, never been a problem other than gumming up nozzles
occasionally - if that gets really bad & normal cleaning/printing doesn't shift it then using a proprietory print head cleaner solution on
paper towels soon does the job
I no longer run Furore Products or Furore Cars Ltd, but would still highly recommend them for Acewell dashes, projector headlights, dominator
headlights, indicators, mirrors etc, best prices in the UK! Take a look at http://www.furoreproducts.co.uk/ or find more parts on Ebay, user names
furoreltd & furoreproducts, discounts available for LCB users.
Don't forget Stainless Steel Braided brake hoses, made to your exact requirements in any of around 16 colours.
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/furoreproducts/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1
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NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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02GF74
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| posted on 15/5/20 at 06:20 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by russbost
One thing I would say, particularly with Epson, if you aren't using the printer regularly then print at least one multi colour full a$ size
photo at least once a week, stops the nozzles getting gummed up & much better at doing so than the nozzle cleaning facility which doesn't
always work
Exactly this, print head blocked on my epson, probably printed less than 50 pages in the 5? years I owned it. Looked into replacing the head but it
needs a lot to be taken apart plus for the cost of a replacement head, I could buy a new unit and the same problem would occur again.
I also have a kodak inkjet that has easily removable head, dipping the head nozzles into a water/meths mix clears it.
I would recommend colour laser jet, they cost less than what I paid for my Epsom and they do print better quality.
Look at media cost and how often it is used, it may be cheaper to go inkjet.
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02GF74
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| posted on 15/5/20 at 06:21 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by britishtridentWe retired the HP Envy 5532 a couple of weeks simply because it was getting on a bit -.
Did it get a free bus pass to silicon heaven?
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russbost
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| posted on 16/5/20 at 07:33 AM |
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"Exactly this, print head blocked on my epson, probably printed less than 50 pages in the 5? years I owned it. Looked into replacing the head
but it needs a lot to be taken apart plus for the cost of a replacement head, I could buy a new unit and the same problem would occur again."
Any inkjet not used regularly will block the nozzles, having a removable head makes them easier to clean, but not difficult even with a fixed print
head, you just wad up kitchen roll & soak it in the cleaner then run a few head clean passes over it. I think I paid less than £50 for the Epson
& as already said 4 new colour cartridges costs less than a fiver, running one full colour pic thro' the printer once a week cures the
problem anyway & with media so cheap must cost in the region of about 2p (& half of that is the paper!)
I no longer run Furore Products or Furore Cars Ltd, but would still highly recommend them for Acewell dashes, projector headlights, dominator
headlights, indicators, mirrors etc, best prices in the UK! Take a look at http://www.furoreproducts.co.uk/ or find more parts on Ebay, user names
furoreltd & furoreproducts, discounts available for LCB users.
Don't forget Stainless Steel Braided brake hoses, made to your exact requirements in any of around 16 colours.
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/furoreproducts/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1
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NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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ianhurley20
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| posted on 16/5/20 at 11:10 AM |
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We have had lots of different printers and probably the best were the old Kodak ones but windows 10 didn't like them so we standardised on the
Canon Pixma series of printers, they were all less than £30, one was £17 from Aldi and lives on the loft as a spare, the other two cover my desktop
and my wifes laptop and we have never had an issue with either. All are MG2900 series. One thing we do do is to use only genuine cartridges, yes we
can save pounds by buying refilled ones but have had several unhappy experiences with them in the past with other printers so pay the extra. As our
use isn't heavy its not an issue, if we were heavy users I would go down the laser route
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perksy
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| posted on 17/5/20 at 09:16 AM |
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Having had several ink jets over the years we went for a Brother lazer a few years ago and its like chalk & cheese
No mess or faffing about
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Benzine
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| posted on 17/5/20 at 09:40 AM |
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I switched from HP to Brother last year and wish I had ages ago. The HP is a right diva. It's like trigger's broom with the amount of
parts I've swapped.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 17/5/20 at 11:23 AM |
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My main printer is a Brother mono laser printer - very impressed. It just works! It's my number 1 printer and sits up front on a side table -
the inkjet lives behind it and has to be hoisted out every time I want to use it. A total PITA.
The idea of one printer to rule them all appeals greatly, and I'm leaning towards getting a Brother colour laser printer - research time...
[Edited on 17/5/20 by David Jenkins]
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 20/5/20 at 06:38 AM |
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And in the end - I got a Lexmark. The salesman pointed out the difference in cost-per-page (Lexmark a lot cheaper to run than Brother) and the
capacity of the toner cartridges that are supplied with the Lexmark (standard size, not 'little ones to get you started' like other
manufacturers do).
It printed straight off from Linux Mint as soon as I set up the printer, and the scanner worked after a little bit of assistance from the Linux Mint
forum.
The cost of consumables is a bit eye-watering though, but no difference from other laser printers... 
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MikeR
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| posted on 20/5/20 at 09:21 AM |
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Having fought with occasional use Inkjets I plumped for a Dell colour laser copier. It's been amazing. Never fails. Had to replace the toner
once in 5 years (didn't use original). Might have cost 150 quid to buy but like garage tools, buy quality once or pay may times.
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