Need a decent all-in-one printer

[mica3speedy]

Looking to buy my mother in law a new all-in-one printer for christmas. Now I remember reading previously that having more than 2 injet cartridges is better. I was thinking of getting her one that has 6, like my photosmart 8250. I'm trying to keep the cost at $100 or lower if possible. The thing is that I'm having a hard time finding any that don't have the tri-color cartridge. The one's I do find that have more than 2 cartridges are way more than $100. Granted I got my printer for a good deal at Comp Usa when they were going out of business for $60. Any suggestions?

 

[fastco]

Personally I would keep it simple with a two cartridge printer. They print pretty well, even for pictures and they are cheaper to maintain. I started out with a Lexmark 1150 that still works great for small print jobs and an occasional picture. Just my opinion. Here are a few: http://tinyurl.com/2s93ud

 

[Nodsu]

Any $100 printer will have ink that will cost you a fortune. And you can't rely on printing very little either since the print head will clog when you don't print anything for a week or two! BTW, that's why the cheap printers come with two tanks - this will force you to buy the (more expensive) colour tank more often. (Of course, since we are talking about your mother-in law, maybe the upkeep costs are not a priority for you at all.. )

Do take a look at the prices of the ink cartridges (and how many pages you get out of a tank) before buying a cheap printer.

Maybe get a decent used/refurbished one with cheap third-party inks available?

 

[mica3speedy]

How is this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828113071

I'd rather get her a decent one and spend a little more if possible.

 

[N3051M]

(i talk using au$, so translate to US if you want..)

-cheap printers (under $150 for MFCs) usually come with two cartridges, with the exception of some Brother, Canon and Epsons.
-Medium priced printers ($150-300 MFCs) most come with the 4/5/6 cartridge sets. HP mfcs that have the 4/6 set cartridges start about $200ish
-Higher priced printers (from what i've observed) come with the 4/5/6 cartridge sets, however these desigend to do lots more prints or able to get high capacity cartridges to print to it, and/or have twice the amount of "features" from the medium and budget range.

Now, i must say that choosing one really depends on
a> How often its used
b> If it prints lots of photos and/or one particular colour (eg. red)
c> If it prints occasional/not often photos and/or random mix of colours

If you've answered a> Lots and/or b> yes, then by all means go for a multi cartridge set. Cheapest available would be Epson and Brother, then Canon and HP. Pretty much all Epsons produced now has the 4 cartridge sets (~$16 per cartridge, value packs are also available...) and Brothers all have 4 cartridge systems ($30 black, $18 colours, value packs available). Epson better quality between thte two, but the Brother has more features for its price (especially if you want fax also)
It saves a lot espeically if you tend to use one cartridge more than others.

If you've answered a> average/not often and/or c> yes, then its really up to you. Not using it much won't have an impact on cartridge buying (much). And if you do choose to just stick witht the two cartridge system, you can get the cheapest mfc on the market if you want. Any brand.

 

[raybay]

There is no such thing. All of the All-in-One or multifunction printers have problems, or will have them in two years. The failure rate is amazing.
The best, right now, are the Canon printers. If you can avoid the Fax function, do so. Printer-scanners are not so failure prone. The once famous for reliability Brother units have slipped badly. Under no circumstances would I get a LexMark or Epson. The top of the line HP's are very good, but expensive. I would consider Canon, Fujitsu, Samsung, or Konica Minolta, but these last three are difficult when it comes to locating ink.
Sorry for my mild opinions.

 

[mica3speedy]

sounds about right. She has a HP all-in-one she got a couple years ago. The ink cartridges leaked into the printer. The awesome paper jam error even when there isn't. I've been reading good things on the Canon's, so that may be a good starting point to look.

 

[Daveskater]

I have an Epson RX585 which is all in one and does cd/dvd's but raybay says against Epson so it's up to you

I quite like it but y'know, just my opinion It has individual ink cartridges for each colour so you can just replace the one you need to and they're really cheap too. Prints nice pics too

 

[Kita]

My Epson CX5400 all-in-one printer is about four years old and I'm having trouble with it. I think I should buy a new color printer/scanner. I have good Canon fax machine; I don't even remember when I bought it. It makes copies, too.
The printer keeps flashing that my black ink is out, even when I put in a new cartridge. I tried copying a B/W and color documents; they came out blue. I have have used the cleaning, unplugging, and reset options. Nothing works. Unfortunately I have a large supply of inks, since I print photos, newsletters, etc. Is it even worthwhile trying to get it fixed? It cost under $100.

I have an HP B/W LaserJet 1200 series printer that's been a workhorse forever, printing out thousands of pages without a squeak. My husband has an a B/W AppleWriter 4/600PS printer, also a workhorse for years. Do AppleWriters work with PCs?

Consumer Reports recommend a Canon all-in-one as a Best Buy. Should I buy that one?

I hate having to buy hardware--it seems that dumb luck is the only way to choose a good machine.

kita

 

[Tedster]

please do NOT piggyback questions. Start a new thread instead.

Your print head is probably clogged. Replace the head. If you need a new printer, I have always had good service with Canon printers.

 

[Kita]

Kita

I'm sorry to have violated the rules. Thank you for the advice. Kita