Recommend a printer

dahamsta

Not sure where to post this. Looking to replace my aging Officejet with a printer and scanner. Picked a scanner, can't decide on a printer. Requirements: inkjet, pretty fast, relatively cheap, photos not really a concern, knock-off cartridges a plus. Been looking at the HP 5550 and the Epson C42UX, although I'm concerned with reports that the Epson is noisy and the HP is likely to have chipped cartridges. Any recommendations?

Thanks,
adam

SouperComputer

hmmm, what about lexmark? Cheap and cheerful

ballooba

Go for the HP my sis and her hubbie work there.

No, TBH I've only ever used HP and Canon printers. Both were good but the HP is better.

woolymammoth

personally i'd go for the HP 5550. i got a HP 970cxi over a year and a half ago
and i've had no trouble yet. its quick, its quiet and it turns out a quality print.
a big plus for HP is their software which is simple and quick to use.

i know ppl with Epson, Cannon and Lexmark, and tbh i don't think they're great.
the software is overcomplicated for something that should be simple. a guy
i know with the Lexmark told me it tore up many a sheet on him.

there's always the all-in-one products if you fancy something different.

sceptre

Like woolymammoth I've a 970 (3 years old). Great printer, the 990 is very cheap on elara at the moment (about 81 euros), I assume it's about the same on komplett. Cartridges are expensive (especially the colour ones) but knockoffs are a lot cheaper and easy to get. If my printer died in the morning I'd probably just get the 990 (the 5550 is better but a lot more expensive). Damn thing was about 300 when I got it, nice to see the price take a massive tumble. Print quality is very good, even for photos.

My brother got a 5550 about two weeks ago. Scary fast, even compared with the 970. Cartridges are very small though so you'll be stocking up if you're going to use it a lot. Obviously the 5550 is a lot better for photos but given that it's not an issue, I wouldn't say the price difference is worth it.

Both are very quiet. The 5550 is a little quieter than the 970 but then again, that was pretty quiet to begin with compared with my previous Epson.

madmoe

Hello,
Why don't you go for a combined scanner/printer joby? I have no experience of these its just a suggestion. Can anyone give feedback on them?

Thanx

tribble

Been looking at the HP 5550 and the Epson C42UX, although I'm concerned with reports that the Epson is noisy and the HP is likely to have chipped cartridges. Any recommendations?

Those two models are totally incomparable

the 5550 is designed as a cross between the Deskjet 3820 and the Photosmart 7150.
the c42 is Epson's cheapest current model (the 20 series is discont.)

the c42 is noisy but nice bright prints and cheaper than the 5550 to run.
the 5550 is fast and has better text quality but duller colours.

My recomendation (and i'm usually paid to do this:)!) is to go for either a HP deskjet 3820 (uses a #15(19mil) and #78 (21mil and 42mil) or if you can get it a Deskjet 990 would be better and cheaper to run.
The Epson C82 is the nearest epson to these and has large individual ink carts. so is cheap to run, but spurious (3rd party) carts. are hard to find. This printer is better than any HP deskjet for photos and text. It's photos are pretty bloody good to.

Note if you don't use the printer daily then go for a HP as the epsons carts. waste themselves every time you turn the printer on (not a consideration if it's used a lot).

Somebody said you could get the old 990 for less than a €100 - go for this it was the top end deskjet last year.

tribble

elexes

epson c82 22ppm bk 12 col . 169 i think in pc superstore . ink is 4 cart's so save on cash there . dono about the compatiables as its a new printer im sure they will be made soon enough

Occidental

Originally posted by tribble
My recomendation (and i'm usually paid to do this:)!) is to go for either a HP deskjet 3820 (uses a #15(19mil) and #78 (21mil and 42mil) or if you can get it a Deskjet 990 would be better and cheaper to run.

HP3820 appears(4 months+) to be rock solid in use and a lot faster than previous HP's in this price range. HP also seem to have sorted out comms and memory, so that you PC no longer crawls while printing. Same pricing as the old 840/845 but a world away in quality and speed.

dahamsta

Thanks to everyone who replied. I think I'll lash out the extra few quid and go with the HP 5550.

adam

tribble

hmmm...

[mutters] i would have gone for the 3820/990 [cough] or a c82 if i print lots of colour, [choke] smaller footprints, cheaper/larger carts, similar speeds [/choke] [/cough] [/mutters]





tribble

ps. i'm off to the doctor to get this cold looked at...

dahamsta

Ah, I took your feedback on board tribble, but I can get a 5550CXI on Komplett for €165, whereas the 990CXI on Elara is €125 (both with shipping); and I don't see the point in buying last years gear when there's only €40 of a difference. And the 5550 is prettier, and matches my MS wireless keyboard and mouse.

What's the CXI stand for anyway?

adam

woolymammoth

CXI
(sexy?)










i dunno... don't mind me

Captain Trips

Samsung ML4500 laser. Going for a year plus now on one toner cartridge, excellent B&W for letters and stuff. Awful for anything with graphics.

milltown

A wee bit of advice.
Do a bit of research before you buy into which cartridges the printer takes, how much ink they hold and how much they cost. Some physically identical cartridges (black) come in 14ml, 25ml and 42ml flavours. The price difference between 14ml and 42ml is only about €10 to €15 in most places, for three times the ink. As somebody mentioned above the low end printers are chipped so as to only accept the lightweight carts.
Not a big deal if you are only printing the odd letter but if you find yourself using the printer more it may begin to hurt.
The 3820 is chipped in this way. I bought one in December and the quality is great but it did have to go back to Compustore in January when it stopped working.
In fairness to them they did seem to appreciate how attached I had grown to it and rather than give me a new one off the shelf they sent mine back to HP in the UK, got it repaired, and had it back to me in about a month. :rolleyes:

dahamsta

It was actually a Tom's Hardware article on the 5550 that said that it compares reasonably favourably with predecessors on the carts front that clinched the 5550 for me. Some sites, like ZDnet weren't entirely sure about the 5550, but Tom's Hardware as much as raved about it.

adam