Hellcom Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 I'm looking to buy a new printer for my family. The current printer we have is a pile of crap. Yet, I'm having trouble finding something and I'm afraid what I am asking does not exist Needs to be wireless (Most computers in the house are laptops and everyone would love a wireless printer in the center of the house) Multifunction (Printer, scanner, photocopier) Needs to be quick and ink efficient when printing text Needs to be able to print images at a good quality Would be a big bonus if it had some linux functionality The only thing I might be willing to give up on is the multifunction capabilities. If that isn't possible, well then I will need scanner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverCoat Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 You can get a scanner at a thrift store for like $5. Whenever I go in there's at least like 10 scanners all piled in the back of the store. I've never tested a resold scanner, but they PROBABLY work, or at least a few in that pile . I'd go with a single-function printer - less things can go wrong and they don't cost as much. It doesn't have to be wireless either. Your router has some ports on the back, right? The printer can still be used over a network as long as it has the CAT5 jack on the back. The actual research between different printer models can be done yourself. Check Consumer Reports or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellcom Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 You can get a scanner at a thrift store for like $5. Whenever I go in there's at least like 10 scanners all piled in the back of the store. I've never tested a resold scanner, but they PROBABLY work, or at least a few in that pile . I'd go with a single-function printer - less things can go wrong and they don't cost as much.It doesn't have to be wireless either. Your router has some ports on the back, right? The printer can still be used over a network as long as it has the CAT5 jack on the back. The actual research between different printer models can be done yourself. Check Consumer Reports or something. Problem is, the router is directly connected via cat5 to my desktop. So that solution will give me the same problems I have now among other things. Giant printer taking up all my desk space, family whining if I haven't turned on the computer/printer early enough or if I turn it off to early (they can get really angry and unreasonable), and my room becoming a traffic thoroughfare with printer orders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverCoat Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 You might want some of this 300 feet of CAT5 cable in my room then (ﾟ∀ﾟ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellcom Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 You might want some of this 300-foot CAT5 cable in my room then (ﾟ∀ﾟ) You know I have doors and long hallways >.> In addition my family happens to be quite obsessive with aesthetics >.< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverCoat Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Yeah, free wires are kind of a bitch, and house-wiring is beyond my scope >_> Maybe I should learn how, though. Anyway I'm sure there are zillions of wireless printers out there that'll perform just as well as a wired one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al3xand3r Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 This is the one I have (well, this is a newer model, I have the 6800): http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/product_detail.do?storeName=storefronts&landing=&category=inkjets&orderflow=1&a1=Color+printing&v1=Color&a2=Networking&v2=Standard+%28built-in+wireless+802.11b%2Fg%29&product_code=C8972A%23B1H&catLevel=3 I got it precisely because I can have it anywhere in the house and all laptops and pc's can print from it (3 computers at my place). It's only a printer, no scanner or anything else. But damn that built-in wireless is sweet. It certainly solved my space problem! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellcom Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 This is the one I have (well, this is a newer model, I have the 6800):http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/product_detail.do?storeName=storefronts&landing=&category=inkjets&orderflow=1&a1=Color+printing&v1=Color&a2=Networking&v2=Standard+%28built-in+wireless+802.11b%2Fg%29&product_code=C8972A%23B1H&catLevel=3 I got it precisely because I can have it anywhere in the house and all laptops and pc's can print from it (3 computers at my place). It's only a printer, no scanner or anything else. But damn that built-in wireless is sweet. It certainly solved my space problem! That looks perfect! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al3xand3r Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 That looks perfect! Thanks If you have problems getting the wireless to work (you really shouldn't, it's super easy to set up), let me know. I know my way around this printer. Also, don't buy direct from HP. Search around for cheaper prices. Direct from HP is always more expensive. As far as ink goes, it uses two cartridges: tricolor, and black and white. There is an optional black/gray cartridge that you can use in place of the black one for more detail when it comes to printing photos, but I use normal black with the tricolor, and the picture is super nice and crisp. The detail is top-notch. It doesn't waste too much ink either. The printer supports both wireless b and wireless g, so that shouldn't be an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellcom Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 If you have problems getting the wireless to work (you really shouldn't, it's super easy to set up), let me know. I know my way around this printer. Also, don't buy direct from HP. Search around for cheaper prices. Direct from HP is always more expensive.As far as ink goes, it uses two cartridges: tricolor, and black and white. There is an optional black/gray cartridge that you can use in place of the black one for more detail when it comes to printing photos, but I use normal black with the tricolor, and the picture is super nice and crisp. The detail is top-notch. It doesn't waste too much ink either. The printer supports both wireless b and wireless g, so that shouldn't be an issue. Thanks, I'll let you know if I have any problems. In the uk HP is selling it for £129, but I found it elsewhere at only £90. yay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrion Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 May I personally recommend you ditch inkjets altogether and get a color laser printer? Even if it doesn't have photocopier and scanner capability, you'd be wasting a lot less money in the long run with laser toner as opposed to color ink ($50 a cartridge for ~250 sheets versus $70 a cartridge for ~2000 sheets). I have a network-capable HP Color LaserJet 2600n, went for about $400 at Fry's (plus an $80 5-year service contract) and the toner cartridges are $70 apiece. But the good news there is I bought it almost a year ago and I have yet to need to change the toner cartridges out. I figured two years before I spend ~$280 for new cartridges, which is basically just like getting a new inkjet printer, since that's about how long they last anyways (for me at least). Plus, if for whatever reason the prints get wet, laser toner doesn't bleed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellcom Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 May I personally recommend you ditch inkjets altogether and get a color laser printer? Even if it doesn't have photocopier and scanner capability, you'd be wasting a lot less money in the long run with laser toner as opposed to color ink ($50 a cartridge for ~250 sheets versus $70 a cartridge for ~2000 sheets).I have a network-capable HP Color LaserJet 2600n, went for about $400 at Fry's (plus an $80 5-year service contract) and the toner cartridges are $70 apiece. But the good news there is I bought it almost a year ago and I have yet to need to change the toner cartridges out. I figured two years before I spend ~$280 for new cartridges, which is basically just like getting a new inkjet printer, since that's about how long they last anyways (for me at least). Plus, if for whatever reason the prints get wet, laser toner doesn't bleed. Yeah, I know about the pros of laser over inkjet. However, it would be very hard to convince a large purchase like that (good lasers are always more expensive) with my family. Especially as they are not heavy users and may never see the benefits of the purchase. In addition the inkjet listed has some pretty good specs; 800 pages b/w text per cartridge and individually they are only £10 each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrion Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 If they're not heavy users, how many pages can you honestly expect to get out of a cartridge before it dries up and clogs the nozzles? Toner doesn't dry out. Plus you have more moving parts on inkjet printers, moving parts that are made out of plastic and thus aren't designed to be very durable. I used to replace an inkjet printer every couple of years because the damn things would always break, and it would cost more to fix the old one than it would to buy a new one (they're practically given away cuz all the profit is in the ink cartridges). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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