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New Printer

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john10001
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New Printer

#500734

Postby john10001 » May 16th, 2022, 11:14 am

Can anyone recommend a new printer to me? I have had the Epson Photo Stylus R200 inkjet for almost 20 years but it is finally caput.

I changed the rollers in it with a part I got from China because I wanted to see if I could repair it before I bought a new printer (because I am a tight Yorkshireman) but unfortunately, the printer is still not working. Paper just won't feed through at all anymore so it looks like new printer time!

I don't do much printing. Just occasional letters, once in a blue moon I print a CD/DVD. And sometimes a photo. But mostly letters and postage labels once every week or two.

I looked at the Epson Photo XP-8700. Is this any good? Is there anything else you'd recommend from Canon or Epson?


redsturgeon
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Re: New Printer

#500757

Postby redsturgeon » May 16th, 2022, 11:49 am

Your problem is that for your everyday purposes a B&W laser printer is the best option while for the occasional photo an inkjet is best.

John

staffordian
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Re: New Printer

#500781

Postby staffordian » May 16th, 2022, 1:04 pm

redsturgeon wrote:Your problem is that for your everyday purposes a B&W laser printer is the best option while for the occasional photo an inkjet is best.

John

This was my reasoning when the last in a line of inkjet printers gave up the ghost a few years back.

I bought a Brother laser printer (monochrome, not a colour laser) and it has served me well for the last nine years. On the rare occasion I want to print a photo or two I use the machine in our local Tesco which does a better job than my inkjets used to.

Given that the OP also wants to print DVD or CD sleeves, I'd look at whether a colour laser printer might do the job. I've no experience of these but recall they have been discussed here in the past, so hopefully someone might have a view on how good they might be for sleeves etc and possibly for photographs.

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Re: New Printer

#500786

Postby stevensfo » May 16th, 2022, 1:23 pm

redsturgeon wrote:Your problem is that for your everyday purposes a B&W laser printer is the best option while for the occasional photo an inkjet is best.

John


I had perhaps 20 years with inkjets and would not have one in my house for all the tea in China. There are plenty of ways to print nice colour pics, but for home use we use a fairly old Samsung B/W laser printer that has saved us loads of money and is faster and easier to maintain. In the next few years or so, I will probably replace it with a newer model that can print on both sides or even colour, but at the moment, it works incredibly well.

The old bloody inkjets cost me loads of time wasted on testing, trying new generic inks, calibrating etc. I can't believe that shops still dare to sell the s****g things!

Steve

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Re: New Printer

#500792

Postby Breelander » May 16th, 2022, 1:58 pm

stevensfo wrote:The old bloody inkjets cost me loads of time wasted on testing, trying new generic inks, calibrating etc. I can't believe that shops still dare to sell the s****g things!


An inkjet is still the only way to print quality photos at home.

The modern generation of inkjet tank printers are probably the best choice if you need one. No expensive ink cartridges to replace (or cheaper generic replacement to find/test). The OEM bottles of ink are really cheap, so no point in using any 3rd-party inks either. My Epson's ink is less than £10 a bottle (up to 6,000 colour prints) and by far the cheapest way to print large numbers of A4 glossy photos.

https://www.epson.co.uk/en_GB/products/ ... ck/p/30394

Even HP (notorious for the cost of their cartridges and firmware to prevent you using refilled ones) have brought out an ink tank range now.

https://www.techradar.com/uk/best/ink-tank-printer


john10001 wrote:I looked at the Epson Photo XP-8700. Is this any good? Is there anything else you'd recommend from Canon or Epson?


I've been very pleased with my Epson EcoTank ET4750, look at anything from their EcoTank range.

https://www.epson.co.uk/en_GB/for-home/ecotank

For Canon look at their MegaTank range.

https://www.canon.co.uk/printers/refill ... -printers/

88V8
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Re: New Printer

#500817

Postby 88V8 » May 16th, 2022, 4:19 pm

john10001 wrote:Can anyone recommend a new printer to me?
I don't do much printing. Just occasional letters, once in a blue moon I print a CD/DVD. And sometimes a photo.

Our usage is much the same as yours.

I recommend the Canon MG3650 which you can find used on eBay https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2060353.m570.l1313&_nkw=canon+MG3650&_sacat=0 or the new model the MG3650S.

Inkjet, never needs aligning, ink long-lasting. Cheap to buy, cheap to run. Had ours several years now, it cost about £30 back then which was cheap, and has never gone wrong.
The new model is currently £40 at Argos.

Also copies and scans.
I use mine hard-wired, can also be wireless if one is so inclined.

Recent review https://trustreview.co.uk/canon-pixma-mg3650s-wireless-inkjet-printer-review/

V8

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Re: New Printer

#500828

Postby gryffron » May 16th, 2022, 4:57 pm

I have a colour laser. IMO it is brilliant for labels, posters and presentations. It does solid colour MUCH better than inkjets. The colours are much brighter than an inkjet. And it prints quicker. And it's cheaper to run. And the ink doesn't run or smudge, so the resulting output is more resilient.
But the colour balance is poor and it isn't nearly as good at printing photographs. Often the colours are too bright, and bits of the photo leap out of the page at you.
Also the purchase cost is a fair bit higher.

Breelander wrote:An inkjet is still the only way to print quality photos at home.

The professional photo printers use dye-sublimation printers. You can buy these for home use now, and they are superb. But they're still relatively expensive. You'd have to print A LOT of photos at home (hundreds a year) to make it worth buying one, rather than just walking into the print shop on the odd occasion you need the quality.

Gryff

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Re: New Printer

#500831

Postby redsturgeon » May 16th, 2022, 5:06 pm

Moderator Message:
Now moved to Computers etc. Shadow left on DAK

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Re: New Printer

#500841

Postby Bminusrob » May 16th, 2022, 7:02 pm

I have gone through a number of printers over the years. Printers are so cheap it's crazy. What costs money is the print cartridges. I used to used Epson printers, but they stopped people using "compatible" cartridges, so it started getting a bit expensive, and being a Yorkshireman like the OP, I wasn't happy.

I have now been using an HP Envy 5000 all-in-one printer/scanner for at least five years, and I have been very happy with it. I don't do a lot of printing, but from time to time, I will print out a manual (say 40 pages), or some other similarly long document. Other than that, it is the odd letter, or photos.

What I like about the HP offering is that they do a sort of subscription model for printer cartridges, called HP Instant Ink. I pay £2.99 a month(*) (it was £1.99 a month until last month), and for that I can print up to 50 pages a month. Any extra, and I have to pay more in batches of 10 pages. In fact, if I don't use my monthly allocation, it rolls over to the next month, up to a limit of, I think, 3 months. This works well for me, because I may only print 5 pages one month, then print two 40 page manuals the next month. When the ink cartridges are getting a bit low, as if by magic, a black or colour cartridge or both arrive in the post.

It works very well for me, so you may want to consider it as an option.

(*) There are other subscriptions available at moreor less cost depending on the amount of printing you expect to do.

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Re: New Printer

#500843

Postby CliffEdge » May 16th, 2022, 7:22 pm

88V8 wrote:
john10001 wrote:Can anyone recommend a new printer to me?
I don't do much printing. Just occasional letters, once in a blue moon I print a CD/DVD. And sometimes a photo.

Our usage is much the same as yours.

I recommend the Canon MG3650 which you can find used on eBay https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2060353.m570.l1313&_nkw=canon+MG3650&_sacat=0 or the new model the MG3650S.

Inkjet, never needs aligning, ink long-lasting. Cheap to buy, cheap to run. Had ours several years now, it cost about £30 back then which was cheap, and has never gone wrong.
The new model is currently £40 at Argos.

Also copies and scans.
I use mine hard-wired, can also be wireless if one is so inclined.

Recent review https://trustreview.co.uk/canon-pixma-mg3650s-wireless-inkjet-printer-review/

V8

Me too

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Re: New Printer

#500851

Postby GrahamPlatt » May 16th, 2022, 8:54 pm


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Re: New Printer

#500866

Postby wanderer » May 16th, 2022, 11:39 pm

Another vote for the Canon here.

Cheap (fake) inks, easy apps, WiFi and good quality printing from a very compact all in one unit. If I want a photo printing then I go to Max Speilman or whatever, but for day to day printing its great.

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Re: New Printer

#500868

Postby Howard » May 17th, 2022, 12:21 am

john10001 wrote:Can anyone recommend a new printer to me? I have had the Epson Photo Stylus R200 inkjet for almost 20 years but it is finally caput.

I changed the rollers in it with a part I got from China because I wanted to see if I could repair it before I bought a new printer (because I am a tight Yorkshireman) but unfortunately, the printer is still not working. Paper just won't feed through at all anymore so it looks like new printer time!

I don't do much printing. Just occasional letters, once in a blue moon I print a CD/DVD. And sometimes a photo. But mostly letters and postage labels once every week or two.

I looked at the Epson Photo XP-8700. Is this any good? Is there anything else you'd recommend from Canon or Epson?


I bought an HP DeskJet 2630 for around £30 three years ago and as well as providing scanning and copier functions, it produces brilliant colour prints and very good quality black printing. It uses a wireless connection.

As a light user (up to 50 pages a month) it costs me £2.99 a month to "rent" HP cartridges. They replace them when necessary and send me a recycling bag to deal with the old cartridge.

So I'd recommend a low cost HP printer.

regards

Howard

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Re: New Printer

#500896

Postby DrFfybes » May 17th, 2022, 8:59 am

Ask 4 people what printer to buy and you'll get 5 answers :)

We bought a Brother MFC 6390 last year as we did very little photo printing, but with MrsF working from home and doing a lot of family history then A3 print/scan and double sided became important.

However we are infrequqnet users, and as this one is wireless it tends to be left 'always on', cnsequently the head clean cycle probably uses more ink than your 30 page per month printing. At least it doesn't randomly clean the heads at 2am, seems to happen mid morning every week or so, so either we are lucky or they have got cleverer.

It is quick, which is nice.

Still got the Epson RX620 in the spare room, uses 6 x Seahorse cartidges. Works fine, but probably should ditch it as by the time we ever plug it on to do photos again it will be gunged up. Even got the little 'zapper' somewhere that resets the half full ink cartridge that Epson insists is empty. If you're passing Shrewsbury you can take it away :)

Paul

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Re: New Printer

#500899

Postby Infrasonic » May 17th, 2022, 9:29 am

Whatever you buy check in advance for print issues with whatever OS' you use.

If you use multiple OS other than Windows then check for full CUPS/IPP support - it's not a given these days and you'll even get conflicting information on the manufacturers support websites (hello HP...). :?

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Re: New Printer

#500944

Postby Charlottesquare » May 17th, 2022, 11:48 am

This is work not house.

For years I was a Brother laser fan, originally colour but latterly just black & white re low cost operating costs ,but then I bought a poor one that annoyed me so much I switched to a HP laserjet Pro MFP M428fdw. which is fine and has been pretty reliable (only owned 12 months)

The key for me is a good, minimum 30 page, sheet feed scanner and friendly operating software re same as scanning in documents has become increasingly important to how we work.

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Re: New Printer

#503179

Postby 88V8 » May 27th, 2022, 3:01 pm

June Computing Which....

Best all-rounder Epson Ecotank ET-8500 at £592 but ten-year running cost only £54.

At lower cost, Canon Pixma G1520 at £150 with ten-year costs of £23. Only prints, doesn't copy or scan.

They don't rate the Canon MG3650S that I suggested. They don't like the quality and say the ink is expensive, which it can be if you buy Canon ink. It's done me OK with ink from Stinkyink, and it does copy and scan.
One niggle I have with it, is that one has to renew all the inks at the same time... the black is running out but not the colour. I wonder if I should start corresponding in pink.

Anyway, Which's two-pennorth.

V8

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Re: New Printer

#503180

Postby bungeejumper » May 27th, 2022, 3:12 pm

88V8 wrote:At lower cost, Canon Pixma G1520 at £150 with ten-year costs of £23. Only prints, doesn't copy or scan.

FWIW, we're pretty impressed with my wife's Canon Pixma TS8350, which does do scanning and copying, and which apparently costs £180 direct from Canon. (https://store.canon.co.uk/canon-pixma-t ... /3775C008/) It also runs fine on StinkyInk cartridges @ about £23 a set, plus £6 for the optional photo blue, which you'll probably never use.

One caveat: printers have generally been in short supply since covid and chip shortages and WFH, and we had to wait ten days before our Pixma came into stock at Amazon. Whatever you buy, it would definitely be worth checking on delivery dates before you lay your money down.

BJ

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Re: New Printer

#503198

Postby Midsmartin » May 27th, 2022, 3:58 pm

For very occasional photo printing, places like Boots offer very high quality printing if you pop in with a USB stick.
Or you can use an online photo printer, like photobox.co.uk

Both of these seem to work better in the very long run that trying to do it myself.


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