18 replies to this topic

[windmorn]

HELP! I need a new printer and don't want to spend a fortune (especially since we bought a higher dollar, better quality, longer lasting, high capacity that wasn't used that much printer 1.5 years ago ). Any suggestions? My computer is quickly getting filled up with things I've wanted to print the last few days while I was looking for a way to fix it.

[windmorn]

Forgot to add because we live so far from dh's work I need one that also faxes.

[Annarchy]

Lexmark has some that print/fax/copy, and are not too expensive.

Check out the prices for the replacement ink too. Sometimes a cheap copier is not a deal when you replace the cartridges at the same price the machine was.

(Did that once, then, bought a different machine. )

[themartianchick]

I've had two Lexmark all-in-one type of machines. They worked well, but the ink always seemed kind of expensive to me. I still have one for scanning and faxing but for the bulk of my printing, I use a Minolta that takes toner, not ink. The toner lasts a long time and I do print a lot of documents.

One warning about the Lexmark machines... They talk... I mean REALLY TALK!!!

With the first one that I had, I would hit print and then several seconds would pass as the computer processed my request. I would be home alone and all of the sudden... The machine would loudly declare: PRINTING HAS STARTED!!! and then begin to produce the document. It scared the heck out of me... everytime! It was like I would forget that I'd hit print in the short span that it took for the document to be produced.

So... that machine eventually died and I went without a printer for a long while. I bought another Lexmark. Whenever I hit print, there was a long delay and then this really creepy voice would say: Printing has started. It was the kind of smarmy, sleazy, insinuating voice that is used by dirty old men who make lewd phone calls...Yeah, then I bought the Minolta that uses toner... I no longer feel that I need therapy to coexist with my printer.

[windmorn]

I was thinking lexmark. I had one before that lasted a long time. As a matter of fact it was still working when we bought the new one with the fax. I gave it to one the scout groups for a yard sale I think. I remember the ink being higher as well, martianchick. Ink price was one reason we chose the HP. I'm not sure though that the extra price with only a 1 year warranty saved us any since it's already broken. At least the Lexmark has a 5 year. I'm going to do a little more searching. I don't think I saw any Minolta's when I looked earlier. DS also reminded me that one of the ads on the black friday ad site had a printer. (He's been trained well when it comes to saving money )

[Amishway Homesteaders]

OK, we just got a new HP officejet 4500
They said that this is the 'new' ones without the ink problems?
It does everything you asked about and it was WAY under a hundred dollars! (thinking $75 or less)
Came with ink too (in it) so we saved even more! Plus the ink refills are not that bad to buy.

ALWAYS check the price of the ink before you find a printer, for it may seam that you are getting a deal on the machine and then find the ink is way up there in price.

We are very HAPPY with what we go !

[windmorn]

Thanks for the info. That's actually one of the HP's I was looking at. My first thought was to find another one that takes the ink I had just bought and installed, since mine's not fixable. I talked to a customer service guy named "Travis" online trying to figure out if I had gotten the extened warranty ( ) and he said the new 8600's didn't have a problem either. I really loved my HP until I went to print something from here the paper wouldn't feed (thank God ds had already finished his school project!!!).
Decisions Decisions Decisions

[themartianchick]

My Minolta had a brief period of time where the paper didn't feed properly. I googled the prob lem and found that the rollers inside just needed to be wiped with a damp cloth. (I used a baby wipe) I guess that dust can get in there and foul things up, making the rollers ineffective at moving the paper.

[snapshotmiki]

As far as ink cartridges go I order mine from ldproducts.com Much less expensive than any place else and they don't talk!!!

[Amishway Homesteaders]

My Minolta had a brief period of time where the paper didn't feed properly. I googled the prob lem and found that the rollers inside just needed to be wiped with a damp cloth. (I used a baby wipe) I guess that dust can get in there and foul things up, making the rollers ineffective at moving the paper.

OK, I agree with what was said here.......................
IF it is really dead then you have nothing to lose by taking it apart and trying to 'cleaning it'? might find something like a small piece of paper jamed is all that is wrong.
Or unplug and let it sit a day and then plug back in ? Ours reset itself like that years ago?

[windmorn]

DH got home today and said he'd look at it. They use the kind we have at work and they've had the same problem we're having. He calls them disposible because it's cheaper to replace them then to get a geek off shore. I'm pretty sure it's not fixible though. From the posts I read on the HP forum and other sites, it's got the rattle of death - a piece on the roller bar breaks and it's impossible to get to mainly because it's put together with plastic clips. Still researching . Mom's friend has a Kodak one that she's been bragging about and is the one I found in the Walmart Black Friday ad. It's ink is cheap and mom's friend says it lasts long, but I read an article a while back that said Kodak is on shaky ground because of the digital pic revolution.

[Amishway Homesteaders]

I guess it is like talking about cars ( I always tell people this when they ask what type of van to buy)
It does really matter as someone will tell you Dodge is BEST and Ford is crap, and then next guy will tell you Fords are GREAT and Dodge is crap!
Next guy - Ford stands for Found On the Road Dead! And I would NEVER even be buried in a Dodge BUT I always drive a cheve!

Do go with your gut and get one that YOU want as in today’s world they are all made overseas and will not last as long as you want to too!

Another thing i always say about cars - - - - - -
Someone will ask about the mileage when I get a 'new to me' van or car?
Well, I tell them "it doesn't matter like it did in the old days! You can get one with low mileage that sat in a garage for years because the little ol' lady only drove it to Church (not good for a car) or one that had high mileage but the guy babied it and changed the oil every time it needed it and greased all the places that needed it.
WHICH one would you buy?
Same with printers Did they use it every day? Print lots of color? What type of paper? Every clean it out?
Makes a BIG difference HOW you use them as well as the price?

[indy gal preps]

I replaced mine with a Kodak and love it- also bought an extra one to keep in reserve .The price was good and the ink is very reasonable-Mine does not send faxes but I did not need that feature-it will do photos and documents and I have software that does labels so thats all I needed,mine is the 3200 series so maybe another model would have the fax capeability.

[windmorn]

Well, I thought I'd made my mind up, but a better deal came along so the printer will have to wait another week or 2. We've had plywood floors since we moved out for the Mississippi River flood back in May. The house didn't get wet, but we removed 10yr old carpet because it was easier to deal with before than if it did get wet. DH finally has time to do some work on the house and wanted to get the $.68 laminate flooring without the padding attached. I remembered seeing on lumber liquidators had a name your price section. They rejected our offer for 308sq/ft @ 90% ($.23), but offered us that 308 feet and 84 other sq/ft that were on the same pallet, but a little different color for $.35sq/ft or only the just the ones that we made the offer on for $./75 sq/ft. After doing the math ($231 for the 308 or $137 for all of it - 392 sq/ft), we decided to take it all. We got about 1/4 of the total flooring we needed! We should be able to do both the kids rooms and 2 if not all 3 bathrooms. I forgot to add it has the padding attached!

Edited by windmorn, 21 November 2011 - 05:47 PM.

[windmorn]

Finally got a printer Tuesday. I settled on a Kodak because the ink was cheap and I wasn't really thrilled with any of the ones I had the money for and ds had a project due. Thank God he's turning it in today. I just tried to print out a leader's guide to a math program I got dd and it jammed not once, but 7 times before I gave up. I even got fresh paper out of a brand spanking new pack. I did get it printed by only printing on one side, but back to the store the printer is going. It's not very good on ink either. We haven't printed but maybe 50 pages and the black ink is almost at 50%. No wonder the ink is cheap.

[Jeepers]

I'd be taking it back too! Cheap ink isn't so cheap when it soaks it up that fast. Hope you have better luck next time.

[windmorn]

Thanks Jeepers. Hopefully we can make due until after Christmas and some new models come out. I found a review on cnet.com on best printers for the money. The best only got 3.5-4 stars out of 5.

[windmorn]

I finally got a new printer. I got the HP Officejet Pro 8600. Of course it doesn't take the same ink as the one I had, but that's ok. I sprung for the extened warranty, but hopefully I won't need it. This has an a couple of added features the 8500 didn't have. I knew it would print from my phone, but it also had a couple of features I didn't realize that it had. I can email a document to it from where ever I am and it will be printed when I get home and it has an eco setting so that it will turn itself on and off at whatever time I have it programmed for. This is an extra nice bonus as we usually forget to turn the printer off. Now I can clean out all the things I had saved on my desktop to print for my binder.

[Jeepers]

Glad you got a printer you like! I'm so tech dumb I wouldn't know how to operate a fancy one if I had one. I need the push one buton to scan and push same button twice to print type of machinery.

The only good thing about being a technophobe is it's cheaper.