Recommend me a colour printer, please...

[Maz]

Can anyone recommend me a colour printer, please.

I bought a cheap Lexxmark from Asda for £30 and it is cr@p. Toner just ran out after a few goes! (yes you gets what you pay for! )

So, any suggestions?

 

[Joe]

I've just bought a new printer. It's a Canon IP3500 and cost me £60 at Maplins.
It's actually an "out dated" model I think. But it has seperate cartridges for each colour and compatible ones can be had for a couple of quid each (7dayshop.com)! Which was my main concern.
With the really cheap printers replacement cartridges are insanely expensive.
I generally have bad luck with printers, but *touch wood* this ones seems fine. Having said that I've only used it for running off low quality documents so far.

 

[Crackle]

What are you going to use it for, Just print or scan and copy. Attached to one PC or a home network?

 

[marinyork]

HP colour laserjet 1600. If you're looking for networking that's obviously more.

 

[Wolf04]

Can anyone recommend me a colour printer, please.

I bought a cheap Lexxmark from Asda for £30 and it is cr@p. Toner just ran out after a few goes! (yes you gets what you pay for! )

So, any suggestions?

All inkjets are sold with starter cartridges. These have only a fraction of the ink found in a normal cartridge. It's worth trying new cartridges before buying a new printer which may well have the same problem.

 

[Maz]

What are you going to use it for, Just print or scan and copy. Attached to one PC or a home network?

Occasional home use printing only, not networked. I much prefer B&W for which I have a great HP Laserjet 5 workhorse. Kids insist on colour for various homeworks from time-to-time.

 

[peanut]

Can anyone recommend me a colour printer, please.

I bought a cheap Lexxmark from Asda for £30 and it is cr@p. Toner just ran out after a few goes! (yes you gets what you pay for! )

So, any suggestions?

The cartridges that are included with the printer are reduced capacity ones just to get you going. Your replacements will last a lot longer.

I would recommend an all-in-one printer,scanner and colour copier . They are as cheap as chips My last Epsom cost 75.00 lasted 3 years and had a 2 year on-site warranty. When it went wrong after 18 months a local company came out and delivered me a new printer to replace it FOC !

Check how much replacement cartidges cost .It could be more expensive than buying another printer. Also most modern printers won't print at all once the software decides the black ink has run out whether it has or not

 

[Willow]

i bought a dell on ebay from www.mcscom.co.uk it was such good value that I purchased a further 2 for the school I work at. They were not new but returns work perfectly and were an absolute bargain.

 

[peanut]

i bought a dell on ebay from www.mcscom.co.uk it was such good value that I purchased a further 2 for the school I work at. They were not new but returns work perfectly and were an absolute bargain.

when you can walk into your local Asda and buy a brand new all-in-one printer for 35.00 with 2 year warrantee, why buy a used one for twice as much ?

 

[Crackle]

Occasional home use printing only, not networked. I much prefer B&W for which I have a great HP Laserjet 5 workhorse. Kids insist on colour for various homeworks from time-to-time.

Well as you've already discovered not many people do clone Lexmark cartridges, so as your needs are simple I would choose a suitable HP for your budget and before you buy make sure you can get the clone cartridges cheap off e-bay.

Should you want to do photo printing, I'd still go for an Epson or maybe a canon. Again depending on what you do with the prints, clone cartridges are the way to go.

If you want a multi-function device, fax, scan, copy, 6x4 photo plus other bits and pieces, I'd choose a Brother.

The only one I wouldn't choose is a Lexmark

 

[derall]

I have a Canon M510 which I think gives exceptional print quality (also has good scanner built in). Very good photo printing and very fast text printing. Separate ink tanks which last me quite a long time - though I don't do a vast amount of printing.

 

[swee'pea99]

First, it's true that Lexmarks have a piss poor reputation - having said which, if it's only for occasional use, for homework, it may well be well up to the job, and certainly it would be worth finding out how much new cartridges would be before abandoning it. Second, printers are loss-leaders, so never go by the purchase price: the manufacturers view them purely as ways to get you to buy vastly overpriced inks. Third, I would personally hesitate to use non-branded 'compatible' inks. I'm not saying don't do it - others may have had different experiences - but I completely destroyed a very good Canon by using non-Canon inks in it. I ended up getting an HP 845C deskjet off ebay, and it's superb. Excellent quality and feels really robust. I get HP-branded inks off ebay (people sell their spares when their printer dies or they buy a new one). They're almost as cheap as 'compatibles', and give great results.

 

[Willow]

when you can walk into your local Asda and buy a brand new all-in-one printer for 35.00 with 2 year warrantee, why buy a used one for twice as much ?

It's not the printer that costs the money it's the toner so buyer beware.

 

[Night Train]

I've given up on this 'best printer' lark. I look on the PC World clearance site and see what available. Last time I got a HP colour laser with 4 full toners for £99. The toners alone were £79 each.