Good day all,
My HP j5750 all in one needs to be replaced. I need an all in one with Fax and scanner. I do light office work and occasional photos. I would like to stay around the $200.00 - $250.00 mark if possible. My biggest problem with these printers is the price of ink. If you were to replace yours today what would you buy and the reasons for your decision.
Thanks for your input.
For the price of ink alone, I'd say far away from HP printers. But then, I'm biased, having had no end of trouble with HP's software under OSX.
For reliability and pretty decent software, I've always been a fan of Brother printers... and lots of good press has gone toward Lexmark in recent years.
For your listed needs and for that price range, I'd suggest one of the Brother Laser units such as the Brother All-In-One Laser Printer (MFC7360N) or similar or maybe one of the Canon units such as Canon imageCLASS All-In-One Laser Printer (MF4450).
For your occasional color printing needs, leave them for your local corner print shop or drug store that can do the prints cheaper and possibly better than you could. The laser printing costs will be a fraction of the price of inkjets and ink and won't dry out either.
Regardless of model, do make sure there is compatible software for your Mac and OS version. Brother is usually pretty good with current Mac software.
PS: Many stores such as BestBuy and Future Shop often have refurbished models available to save even more $$$.
I would agree that HP software under OS X stinks unless something has changed recently.
Surprised that Lexmark is now on top of the list in the CNET reviews, I had a Lexmark printer a few years back - nothing but problems then. Seems they finally got their act together although these reviews don't give you the longer term pictures.
The Brother printer I had was fine until it came to printing on heavy cardboard type paper. Because the paper path on the Brother printer I had made a 180 degree turn, one couldn't print on anything on heavy stock - the paper would just jam.
Something I never even considered before when I was looking for printers.
Right now I have gome with an Epson Workforce 610 for places where I need fax capability.
I get ink from a place in BC where the compatible cartridges are just a bit over a dollar each, so the cost of ink has become a non-issue.
Price of the 610 runs about $150 on sale.
The printer works very well and is quite fast - only issue is that it's a bit noisy when it starts.
The other thing to watch out for with Epson is that the heads can clog if you don't turn the printer off for a few days and don't use it. Works best if it's in use regularly or if not - TURN IT OFF.
Makes a big difference.
The 610 can also be connected wirelessly if that is a requirement.
If you were to replace yours today what would you buy and the reasons for your decision.
We're holding out replacing our Epson R1800 (5 year old technology) with the as yet unannounced replacement for the R1900 (current technology). There have been rebates for the R1900 recently, so we're just in a holding pattern until the new model comes out.
While more expensive than your price range, we're very happy with our Epson printers & will continue to purchase them, as well as Epson ink and mostly Epson paper.
My experience with HP software has been the opposite of everyone else's. I have a fairly basic B&W LaserJet all-in-one and the accompanying software has been flawless through multiple OS upgrades, dating back to 10.5. I can print, scan, copy and fax from two computers across the network and it works every time. The software is a bit bloated and there's the occasional memory leak, but has caused nowhere near the aggravation described by others.
FeXL, I think Epson makes pretty great printers - but service? A friend of mine in Halifax bought an R1800 when it first came out... she's had no end of trouble with service. Nobody on the East Coast (at least, east of Montreal) will even look at the Epsons. She had to ship the darn thing (and it's *heavy*) to Toronto to unclog some seriously jammed jets.
So there's another angle - if you're going to spend a LOT on a printer, you want to be sure it's serviceable in your area. Likely not such a problem for folks in the 'center of the universe'
For your listed needs and for that price range, I'd suggest one of the Brother Laser units such as the Brother All-In-One Laser Printer (MFC7360N) or similar or maybe one of the Canon units such as Canon imageCLASS All-In-One Laser Printer (MF4450).
For your occasional color printing needs, leave them for your local corner print shop or drug store that can do the prints cheaper and possibly better than you could. The laser printing costs will be a fraction of the price of inkjets and ink and won't dry out either.
Regardless of model, do make sure there is compatible software for your Mac and OS version. Brother is usually pretty good with current Mac software.
PS: Many stores such as BestBuy and Future Shop often have refurbished models available to save even more $$$.
Well.................
That really depends on what the printer is used for.
People seem to think most colour printing is of photographs but for me at least that isn't the case at all.
If I had to go out every time I wanted something printed in colour I would go nuts.
Having said that, I also have a Brother laser printer, does a nice job for large b/w print jobs, but it a secondary printer in addition to an ink jet.
Printing with it is fast and good quality but not as cheap as the Epson using the dollar plus cartridges.
And a refurbished printer - I wouldn't touch that with a 10-foot pole.
FeXL, I think Epson makes pretty great printers - but service? A friend of mine in Halifax bought an R1800 when it first came out... she's had no end of trouble with service. Nobody on the East Coast (at least, east of Montreal) will even look at the Epsons. She had to ship the darn thing (and it's *heavy*) to Toronto to unclog some seriously jammed jets.
So there's another angle - if you're going to spend a LOT on a printer, you want to be sure it's serviceable in your area. Likely not such a problem for folks in the 'center of the universe'
CM:
We never had a problem with two R800's or the R1800 that required servicing. The very first R800 ended up breaking under warranty & getting replaced, Epson bought freight both ways. We've had a couple smaller issues that phone service was able to diagnose & fix, but nothing else.
In Alberta, there were three service places last I checked (say, 3 months ago?): Medicine Hat, Calgary & Edmonton.
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