I need a printer to replace my aging Epson laser.
My requirements are reliable and cheap to run, laser probably, although I would consider an inkjet if it fits the bill.
Colour is not really necessary and I would like it to be under 100 euros and the replacement toners not to cost a fortune!
What do you have/recommend?
So how was it? What you expected? Reliable?
The manufacturing cost of cartridges is not much different, regardless of capacity, but those supplied with the printer are deliberately designed not to last long so the manufacturers will soon start to make big profits on replacements. Various trick are employed to make it difficult to refill cartridges or replace them with generic equivalents. Imagine buying a car and only being to refill it with the manufacturer's own petrol.....!
Five years ago,
Pamela, as I have already said in this thread I have an Epson50 and the replacement cartridges are very expensive and often needed replacing. I then searched on Amazon and found the squid ink and ordered two full packs plus four individual black cartridges which arrived as promised on 21.02.14 and still have the first lot in the printer although I know that the black will need replacing quite soon. Have had no problems and would thoroughly recommend them to anybody and they are also very friendly and helpful people to deal with.
We too, have an Epson (DX7400 Stylus) with individual cartridges, which is great if you run low on just one colour. Also, you can use the colours to make up black if you are running low on black. Printing options are also comprehensive.
Years ago we tried the cheaper ink refills, but that gave us problems with our printer clogging and glueing up, so had to buy a new printer... sigh
I've seen a few mentions about the squid ink - can those who are using them recommend them?
Sounds as if you ought to invest in an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). Domestic ones aren't particularly expensive, say around €100 for the CyberPower Value 800VA model. I keep three computers, my internet routing equipment & the internet-based phone connected through it & get about 15 minutes margin when the power trips. (Laptops with decent batteries don't need to be connected.)
Not only does a UPS give you peace of mind for power outages, but it protects against surges and drop-outs as well. At this time of year, with thunderstorms happening quite frequently, it certainly can be a godsend. (Bear in mind that the unit, or at least the battery inside, will probably need replacing approximately every 3 years.)
You have got it in one! Long live companies like www.theinksquid.com who look after us the customer unlike the manufacturers!
Apparently some years ago printer manufacturers decided it was OK for the cartridges to be sold with the printer to only have very small amounts of ink. My HP costs 5 euro less for replacement cartridges than the whole printer cost originally. I think they basically sell the printers cheap and make their profits on the cartridges
I had to replace my first lot of Epson cartridges very quickly and as you so rightly say I would have been in the poor house sooner rather than later! One point is that you cannot mix the two different makes of cartridge. However the good thing is that you can also purchase individual black cartridges which you certainly cannot do with Epson.
I'll give theinksquid.com a try. Retail Epson thimble sized cartridges are driving me to the poorhouse. I just learned of a little trick to keep my reliable but thirsty Epson inkjet from drinking ink. Don't turn it off... ever. Each time you reboot it uses a copious amount of ink (all colors) in the self cleaning nozzle process. A recent orage caused the power to to go off intermittently through the day, creating multiple reboots. Thank you EDF. At the end of the day my brand new cartridges were dry. A little online research found the reason why.
Yes and Ozone, you're right of course, thanks
Re particles there is this: Morawska, Lidia; co-authors: He, Congrong; Taplin, Len (2007-07-10). "Particle Emission Characteristics of Office Printers" (PDF). International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health (Queensland University of Technology); Queensland Department of Public Works (SF Gate). pp. 1–7.
Steve - I think you'll find that the toner powder issue is no worse than the general air pollution issue in the developed world (& of far less concern than that in developing countries). Particulate Matter (PM) is quite a big issue for public health, but arises from a great many sources. IMHO, toner powder in a domestic environment is fairly low in the list of PM 'baddies'.
If you want to look into the health implications of laser printers, you shouldn't, however, ignore the ozone they produce. Ozone is incredibly chemically reactive and affects lung function in particular. (If you thought that ozone was something that the planet was short of, that's only high up above the troposphere or thereabouts.) Strangely, very tiny amounts of ozone can be beneficial, but humans shouldn't be exposed in the long-term to more than 60 parts per billion in the air they breathe. (I think that's the WHO recommended level, although there's controversy in the US over this as industry doesn't want to pay for the cost of cleaning up their operations.)
Large commercial laser printers (& copiers) have carbon-based filters which convert most of the ozone into normal oxygen but the cheaper domestic models don't usually have them as they're rarely used as intensively.
The bottom line is that domestic laser printers should always be located in a reasonably ventilated area. If you are printing a lot of pages & can smell that characteristic laser/photocopier smell, that's ozone & I would suggest that you open the window and keep away from the printer as much as practicable. This applies especially if you are asthmatic or have other breathing issues.
To read more about this, the University of Edinburgh has published a useful Health Hazard Guide.
I just wish I was in the market for a laser printer. Twenty-five years ago, I paid £4,000 plus vat for a QMS black-and-white job. Times have certainly changed. I've used Epson Stylus Photo A4 printers for the last few years and find them exceptionally good for photos. Oddly, they're less than perfect (although perfectly usable) for plain text. The ink cost is high, so a laser makes more sense if its main use is a high volume of black-and-white documents. Might make sense to have one of each -- the right tool for the job and all that. The all-in-ones seem to be pretty good these days and are probably a good bet for text documents.
Al
How many pages do you print in a month? If lots the cost of ink/toner is important.
really cheap is Brother HL1110
mono laser no network no scanner
quite cheap Brother DCP 1512/NON 16MB 20ppm
mono laser with scanner no network
I've gone off lasers, bit worried about toner powder in the lungs and how hot they get
I like network (wifi) connected, laptop and tablet can use equally easily.
I've got used to colour now sometimes it's vital for clarity when printing out a web page or research report or something which just doesn't work in mono (excel graphs for instance)
If you print lots of pages, ie cost of ink/toner really countsEpson WorkForce Pro WP-4525 DNF http://www.pcpro.co.uk/alist/office-all-in-one
which costs about £150~200 extra compared to the cheapies, but saves 1.5p per page (so recovers the extra cost after 10,000 pages)
Steve
Looks good. To be honest, I think they are all gradually converging and that there is not a lot between many of them bar the refills which can be hair raising.
Bought this one in the end, I am as excited as one can be about a multifunction printer! Thanks for your advice everyone
Seems to have all the right drivers for you (or an appropriate app.). There are only a few reviews on UK Amazon, but they're pretty favourable. One review claims that this is a very popular (& well-reviewed) item on Amazon.com (where it's only $225!)
It's definitely button-hitting time.
The new Kodak range feature long-lasting colour/black ink cartridges and cheaper replacement than their competitors. I have an ESP 3250 with low enerergy rating, and it incorporates a scanner / copier all for less than £100 on amazon. It also uses cheapo cartridges but I think they're a false economy as they don't last long. I'm very happy with my Kodak printer.
FNAC have this printer, from the same UK seller as Amazon.fr, but for around €10 cheaper after allowing for shipping. You also get an adapter as the printer comes with a UK 13-amp plug.
An excellent deal seems to be directly with amazon.co.uk, not a Marketplace vendor. Their price is £216.43, including shipping to France, which works out to be €270.54 at 1.25, though you won't get a plug adapter. I like dealing directly with Amazon in the UK as their customer service is first class should you ever need it.
I get my generic type cartridges off Cartouche Cartouche- never had any major problems as the machine is used most days. The above machine is just what I have- the A3 tray when in use sticks out at the front.