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Printer Advice

Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2022 11:48 pm
by Atomic
Now that I'm officially tired with replacing ink jet cartridges which go away long before I get any significant printing out of them....

Any recommendations for a decent, not terribly expensive color laserjet/toner type printer with flatbed scanner?

The Flintstones woodpecker does great on B/W with clay tablets, but I need color.

Re: Printer Advice

Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2022 10:46 pm
by AnotherFairportfan
You might consider an Epson "Ecotank" printer/AIO - i picked up an EPSON ET-2800 {i think it was actually an ET-2802} for under $200 at Target in January..

If you don't need to print bigger than 8.5x14" paper, and you can live without auto-duplex for 2-sided printing it works pretty well.

It has three ink tanks that hold about as much as five or six cartridges would, and, if you hang onto the bottles the original ink comes in, you can buy inexpensive ink on Amazon (or EBay) and refill the bottles for refilling the printer ... or you can buy a set of compatible 100ml bottles fro under $20 on amazon, and, again, that's five or six sets of cartridges.

Re: Printer Advice

Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 3:35 am
by Bookworm
I'll second the Epson Ecotank. If you go on YouTube, and watch some of 'bigclivedotcom' s videos, you'll see the results. He photographs boards, then blows them up, and all of the prints are done with third party ink and an Epson Ecotank.

Warning. Inkjet printers are generally NOT the best thing to use if you're printing less than three times a week, or more than 150 pages a week. In the first case, you're going to constantly be unclogging nozzles (replacing cartridges), and the second, your cost per print will mean you're buying lots of cartridges.

That's the sweet spot for inkjets.

Otherwise, you'll want a laser printer.

Re: Printer Advice

Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 12:00 pm
by Dave
No recent experience here... I've never owned a color printer. My current printer is an old HP Laserjet 1200.

HP makes a "pro" series of color Laserjet printers with scanner capability. I wonder, though, about two things:

(1) They make a big deal about security... automatic updating of the printer firmware over the Internet, and the fact that the toner cartridges are trustworthy and secure. I'm pretty sure this last means that the cartridges are security chipped out the wazoo, and you'll find it difficult or impossible to use third-party toner cartridges or refills. Personally I hate that particular product mentality.

(2) I wonder whether you might get better overall image quality (and maybe reliability) by looking for a separate color scanner rather than an all-in-one? (If you want an old SCSI color scanner I have one I'll gladly give to you... might even have a PCI SCSI card and cable to go with it)

Re: Printer Advice

Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 3:41 pm
by Atomic
Thank you for the offer!

Currently I have an inexpensive Brother printer/scanner which eats fresh color packs in about 2 months due to it's self-cleaning feature. Basically, I haven't been doing enough artsy or other stuff worth color printing in a while, though I want to get back into it again.

I don't have the footprint space for a separate scanner, so a combo is probably my best option. I'm just trying to avoid paying $30 a month to stare at something which beeps now and again to let me know it ate some more of my money. I hear the toner packs are pricey, but last years without futzing, so the monthly cost is way low by comparison.

Re: Printer Advice

Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 5:03 pm
by thehappyman
Before buying a printer check that refills are available on Amazon real cheap. For example a Canon iX6800 which does lovely A3 prints.