New Printer

Woo. Can I just advise you NOT to get a Lexmark. Their marketing is brilliant but their printers are very unreliable.

 

And do not get any type with chips in the Ink Cartridges, they are very expensive to replace even at the cheapest places.

 

Got to agree with sarraceniac about Lexmark.
My personal experience at home has been that the two Epson photo printers I had produced great photos but were prone to clogged jets. My present Canon Pixma iP5200 has thrown up no problems over two years now and produces photos as good as, if not better than the Epson's and is slightly cheaper on ink.
Much depends on the features you require - no point in going for photo-quality if you don't need it. High capacity black ink tanks are handy if you print a lot of documents.
This link will take you to reviews of dozens of printers -
http://www.pcw.co.uk/hardware/inkjet-printers?page=1

 

I had to get one as well but was able to get a Epson Stylus D92 from Amazon for �£19.99 and comes with ink but didn't come with a USB cable which you need to get. So far after 2 prints seems OK, only arrived this PM.

 

We have my old HP5L from my business which still works and a cheap and nasty Lexmark combo (printer/scanner/copier) and we've had no problems with it whatsoever. In saying this, we don't print/scan/copy much.

I don't know about there now but here it's cheaper to buy new equipment (the Lexmark was �£28) than it is to replace any cartridges.

 

Hubby has the same Lexmark combo (X 2450) as Sis and we've had no problem with it either. Sis, you forgot to say that our Lexmarks also fax.

Since I don't have a scanner, I use his Lexmark to scan pics on to my USB stick and then transfer them to my PC.

I just have an Epson Stylus Photo R240 that only prints and does photos. Silly buy since I don't print photos, but Hubby and Junior Kedi-Gato thought it was a good idea and a good buy.

Just yesterday a friend wrote me that she wished she had her old Lexmark printer still.

 

I wonder if this is the person who sent me her Lexmark cartridge she didn't want, Sis ?????

 

My Lexmark P4350 is still going strong after 12 months of hard work.The software that comes with it is a bit iffy and consumes a lot of PC space but I just uninstalled the bits I didn't want (most of it!)

 

Woo - I can't give you any precise advice, as my old Cannon ip3000 is still going strong. But I will say look at the cost of the ink rather than the cost of the printer.

When I was looking, about three years ago, I was told that the best print quality was HP but it was the most expensive to run. I was also told that Lexmark was the least reliable.

I concentrated on the ink. At that time HP had all the holes and circuitry on the cartridge, which made them very expensive. Epson had all this in the printer, but you couldn't remove or replace that bit. So I chose Cannon which had the holes and circuitry on a seperate removeable part. In theory it could be replaced but this small part now costs more than a new printer, but I can take it out and soak it if it gets clogged. However because the cartridges are simple they cost less than �£2 each, but as Palustris says many models now have chips on the cartridge to prevent you using cheapies.

Its worth recording how much the ink costs per cc - as the capacity of the cartidges can vary a lot. Also seperate colour cartridges means that you only replace the ink that you need. You are likely to spend far more on ink than on the printer, so ask the assistant what they use at home.

 

I curently use a lexmark X5470 all in one. Ive always found lexmark to be ok, its HP that have caused me greif!

If I was buying again id be looking at getting one with individual replacement inc colurs, 30 A4 size photos and its a new �£20 colur cartridge

 

Hi WOO. Glad to hear you purchased that. Since my post I have had problems with my printer - blocked holes, and have spent quite some time looking at forums and asking questions. I found quite a consensus saying that Cannon were good and the ink cheap. The IP3500 was recommended to me.