Printer Recommendation

[29dinosaur]

Any thoughts-wisdom for home computer printer. I use all non colour lasers at work but may need printer for students at home. Colour inkjet are cheap but running costs are high. If inkjet what brands? How about entry level colour laser? Are they any good?

(I know this could be asked on a computer user website but hey aulro has a great spectrum of opinions).

[Rosco]

http://www.choice.com.au/files/f134328.jpg Multifunction printers: review & compare

A multifunction printer may save on space in your home office but they tend to be expensive to run.
Online 02/2009

Contents

Multifunction printers
What to buy
Results table
Ink costs

How they perform
What to look for
Profiles - the rest
Your experience: have your say


Test results for 13 multifunction printers priced from $69 to $499

All-in-one printers (also called multifunction printers, MFPs or multifunction devices) are suited for the home office or photo enthusiast. They combine inkjet printing (including colour photo prints), copying and scanning functions (some have fax) into one device. We put 13 multifunction printers through their paces, testing their:


Print quality and speed
Copy performance
Scanning performance
Ease of use
Versatility
Energy use

At roughly $20 per teaspoon, inkjet printer ink is worth more than all but the most expensive champagne. Obviously, you want to get a printer that uses as little ink as possible, but does this mean spending more money on the printer itself? To find out, we also tested how much they would cost you to run, on average, over three years.
Why are we paying more?

If you buy a genuine printer ink cartridges overseas for cheaper, there's a very good chance you'll be wasting your money. Why? Because manufacturers attach a chip to make sure you can't use them. That way they can ensure the price they set in Australia isn't undercut by the price they set in another country.
They do this to stop legal parallel importation (also known as grey importation). Another effect of the addition of a chip is that third party ink manufacturers have a much harder job competing. The brand manufacturers own the patents for the chips which means third party manufacturers can't legally copy them. The result? Consumers pay more.
It's our belief that there's no reason Australians should pay more than anyone else for the same product. Unfortunately, this isn't a sentiment printer manufacturers share.
Where's the Canon?

In this test, we couldn't find Canon products that were available at the time of testing and would still be available upon publication. We'll be doing more testing later in the year and hopefully will be able to include Canon products at that time
Brands tested



Brother MFC-6490CW
Dell V105
Dell V305W
Epson Stylus TX100
Epson Stylus Office TX300F
Epson Stylus Office TX600FW
Epson Stylus Photo TX800FW
HP Photosmart C5380
HP Photosmart C6380
HP Deskjet F4280
Lexmark X2650
Lexmark X4650
Lexmark Professional X7675


Multifunction printers: review & compare

Ink costs

Contents

Multifunction printers (http://www.choice.com.au/goArticle.aspx?id=106299&p=1&title=Multifunction+printers)
What to buy (http://www.choice.com.au/goArticle.aspx?id=106299&p=2&title=What+to+buy)
Results table (http://www.choice.com.au/goArticle.aspx?id=106299&p=3&title=Results+table)
Ink costs (http://www.choice.com.au/goArticle.aspx?id=106299&p=4&title=Ink+costs)

How they perform (http://www.choice.com.au/goArticle.aspx?id=106299&p=5&title=How+they+perform)
What to look for (http://www.choice.com.au/goArticle.aspx?id=106299&p=6&title=What+to+look+for)
Profiles - the rest (http://www.choice.com.au/goArticle.aspx?id=106299&p=7&title=Profiles+-+the+rest)
Your experience: have your say (http://www.choice.com.au/goArticle.aspx?id=106299&p=8&title=Your+experience%3a+have+your+say)


We've done some cost predictions over one to three years based on the following usage and you might be surprised at how much one of these printers could cost you to run. We used the scenario of printing five black and white pages, three colour pages and one photo every day, for one year.
Colour pages and photos cost much more than black and white pages, so if you don't do much colour, your costs will be lower. We haven't included paper costs, but it's not unreasonable to add a cent per page for black and white and anything from $0.60 to $2 for photos, depending on the quality and brand you choose.
What will they cost?

Using our formula the most expensive printers over a three year period are the Lexmark X2650 and Dell V105 which would cost a massive $9436 and $7553 respectively to own and run. The Dell V305W and Lexmark X4650 aren't much better at just over $6508 and $7163 respectively.
The most efficient printer in this test is the HP Photosmart C6380. Its costs $299 to buy, but over three years it would cost a total of $2496, which is a saving of more than $4000 over the Dell units, Lexmark X2650 and X4650.
The Epson Stylus Office TX300F and Stylus TX100 are relatively cheap at $129 and $69 respectively and more efficient than the other cheapies in this test. They'd be a good option if you're not too concerned with photo quality and can't afford the Photosmart C6380. In the first year they're the cheapest to buy and run by a few dollars. However, over a couple of years the initial cost of the Photosmart C6380 could be absorbed and the Epsons' running costs start to overtake their lower purchase price.


Mono


Graphics


Photo
Brand/model Price $ Black cartridge cost Cost per page Colour cartridge cost Cost per page Cost per page Brother MFC-6490CW 499 44.95 0.05 77.85 0.24 1.24 Dell V105 69 30.8 0.21 74.8 0.61 3.97 Dell V305W 149 27.5 0.12 72.6 0.32 4.23 Epson Stylus Photo TX800FW 399 26.99 0.08 134.95 0.3 1.63 Epson Stylus Office TX300F 129 17.99 0.05 44.97 0.35 1.11 Epson Stylus TX100 69 15.99 0.09 47.97 0.39 1.18 Epson Stylus Office TX600FW 229 26.99 (A) 44.97 (A) (A) HP Deskjet F4280 69 42 (A) 48 (A) (A) HP Photosmart C5380 219 44.57 (A) 98.12 (A) (A) HP Photosmart C6380 299 44.57 0.06 98.12 0.27 0.91 Lexmark X2650 69 35.71 0.22 94.19 0.61 5.65 Lexmark X4650 169 45.40 0.11 108.96 0.33 4.87 Lexmark Professional X7675 299 45.5 0.11 99.88 0.29 2.43 Brand/model Price $ Ink per year total cost 1st year 2nd year 3rd year Brother MFC-6490CW 499 805 1304 2109 2914 Dell V105 69 2495 2564 5058 7553 Dell V305W 149 2120 2269 4388 6508 Epson Stylus Photo TX800FW 399 1061 1460 2520 3581 Epson Stylus Office TX300F 129 910 1039 1948 2858 Epson Stylus TX100 69 1018 1087 2104 3122 Epson Stylus Office TX600FW 229 (A) (A) (A) (A) HP Deskjet F4280 69 (A) (A) (A) (A) HP Photosmart C5380 219 (A) (A) (A) (A) HP Photosmart C6380 299 732 1031 1764 2496 Lexmark X2650 69 3122 3191 6313 9436 Lexmark X4650 169 2331 2500 4832 7163 Lexmark Professional X7675 299 1409 1708 3117 4526

Print speed and quality

Print speed may not seem very important if you only print the occasional page or photo, but some of these printers could be frustrating even if you only want one page.
We've provided scores for each printer as a percentage, so you can see at a glance which are the fastest and slowest. The printers are set to normal quality for the type of print job, we don't use draft or economy setting, which could save both time and money, but will compromise quality in most cases.
The consistently slowest printers in the test are the Epson Stylus TX100 and Stylus Office TX300F. They'll take 22 and 19 seconds respectively to print each page of a five page black and white letter. The Epson Stylus Office TX600FW is the fastest for this task taking only five seconds. Seven to eight seconds would score in the 70s.
Once colour is introduced things tend to slow down. A colour spreadsheet page will take anything from 15 seconds for the Stylus Office TX800FW to 112 seconds for the Stylus Office TX300F. The Brother MFC-690CW is also pretty fast taking only 29 seconds.
Even the relatively speedy Epson Stylus Office TX800FW takes about one minute to print a desktop published page with a number of colour images and different fonts. The tardy Stylus TX100 and Stylus Office TX300F take around five minutes and most of the rest will manage it in one and a half to three minutes.
It's photos that can really try your patience. This test prints a 20.3cm x 24.5cm photo on A4 paper at the printers photo quality setting. The Stylus Office TX800FW can manage this in just over two minutes and both the HP Photosmart units in just under three. Most of the rest take somewhere between five and ten minutes, but the Stylus TX100 and Stylus Office TX300F will give you plenty of time to make a cup of tea taking around 15 minutes.
Getting the job done quickly can mean compromising quality. Some of the faster printers aren't necessarily the best choice if quality is an issue for you.
In black and white mode only the Stylus Office TX600FW manages to produce good quality fast.
The HP Photosmart C6380 can produce a very good quality spreadsheet at a good speed. There are a number of others that can manage good quality, but only the Photosmart C5380 and Stylus Office TX600FW do so quickly. The Stylus Office TX600FW also stands out because it can print very good desktop publishing quality reasonably quickly.
None of the printers in this test could be considered fast when printing photos, but both the HP Photosmart printers produce good quality at an OK speed. Unfortunately, all the HP units tend to be more susceptible to smearing when wet and only slightly better when left to dry overnight for both photos and text. Most of the rest in the test show good smear resistance, but the Lexmark X2650 and X4650's photos are only a little more stable than the HP printers.
Scanning and copying

The Epson Stylus Photo TX800FW is the only printer to get a good overall scanning score. This is mainly because it's generally quicker than the others, but the HP Photosmart units aren't that much slower and have a slight edge in quality when scanning photos.
Scores are lower for copying because all of them take much longer than a stand alone copier. However, they can copy colour documents. The Dell V105, Epson Stylus Office TX300F, Stylus TX100, HP Deskjet F4280 and Lexmark X2650 have to do a separate scan for each copy of a document, which can slow the process if there are lots of pages to copy.


Double sided printing (duplex) – allows you to print on both sides of the page. Only the Lexmark X7675 comes with this feature, but you can purchase an optional duplex unit for the HP Photosmart C6380 and Epson Stylus Photo TX800FW.
LCD – an LCD screen is useful for printers that can print directly from digital memory cards. See the table (http://www.choice.com.au/goArticle.aspx?ID=106299&p=03) for those that have them and their sizes.
Bluetooth connection – allows printing from your mobile phone or PDA. Check the table for which have this feature.
Direct printing


Pictbridge (PB) – allows digital cameras and printers to communicate. The printer and camera don't have to be of the same brand, but both must be PictBridge-compatible and be connected with a USB cable. Once connected, the camera can control the basic printer functions so you can print without a computer.
Memory card – all the printers in the Results table (http://www.choice.com.au/goArticle.aspx?ID=106299&p=03) with a 'Yes' in the Prints from card column can accept Compact Flash, Memory Stick, Secure Digital and xD cards. Of those, only the Brother can't handle Multi Media cards. Some may also be able to handle MiniSD cards with a separate adaptor.

Wireless printing – via BlueTooth is useful if you want to print directly from a mobile device like a phone or PDA. However, a wireless connection (WLAN) gives you a much faster link between the printer and your PC and means you can position them in different rooms without the need for cables.
Network connection (Ethernet) – can make connecting your printer to a network very easy.
Separate colour cartridges – allow you to replace only the individual colour that's run out.
Printer heads – the printer head will eventually wear out and can be expensive to replace. However, they often last longer than the printers' usefulness and in that case you don't need to worry about replacing them. Heads on the cartridge generally increase the cartridge cost, but mean you won't have a large expense if you do a lot of printing.
Ink useage limitation

Testing printers is a time consuming and wasteful business. To try to limit the amount of waste we join together with consumer organisations from around the world to conduct the tests in one laboratory. Wherever possible we try to ascertain which printer models are similar except for minor variations by liaising with the printer manufacturers.
Though this is largely successful, a consequence of the practice of chipping cartridges, along with manufacturers naming their printers and cartridges differently in different countries, is that we cannot provide information on ink usage for three of the printers in this test (see Results table (http://www.choice.com.au/goArticle.aspx?ID=106299&p=03) ).



Tell you what you want to know ??

Cheers

[Chucaro]

If you like a cheap to run printer go to Cartridge Work and ask them which is the cheaper pinter to run based on their refill prices.
Then shop for the printer ;)
Cartridge Work have a site HERE (http://www.cartridgeworld.com.au/)

Cheers

[spudboy]

In my previous life I worked full time in IT, and in my experience if the printers used at my clients said "HP" there were no problems. They have good drivers, good reliability and good service.

Having said that - I own a DELL colour laser for home use. $700 and I couldn't resist!!

[29dinosaur]

If you like a cheap to run printer go to Cartridge Work and ask them which is the cheaper pinter to run based on their refill prices.
Then shop for the printer ;)
Cartridge Work have a site HERE (http://www.cartridgeworld.com.au/)

Cheers


Did what you suggested - fingers doing the walking and local Cartridge Work suggested Brother ($119, refill $11 black, $11.50 colour). Sounds good. Other brands becoming non-refillable - chips etc on cartridges.

[kaa45]

Get a canon with the seperate ink tanks...you just buy the ink in bulk. $2 to $3 per refill. Simple, easy and no mess.

I've got a shed full of HPs...old ones (dot matrix) where good, new ones just cheap crap.(buy the ink cartridge and they give you the printer)

GET A CANON and save your money

[abaddonxi]

I'd say network colour laser.

Lasers are cheap to run. Network is good if you have a bunch of users and don't want to leave one computer running all the time. You also get a lot more flexibility choosing where to put it, you can go a long way with an ethernet cable.

I bought a colour laser for my father, and with the rebate it was twenty dollars more than the mono laser my mum bought the same week.

I think the toner cartridges were something like $140 and the inkjet cartridges from his previous printer were $70-80. Toner cartridges go a long way - except for the first one, at the bottom end of the market the first toner cartridge is often low-volume.

Simon

[greg-g]

I've got a Epson RX590 with a Rihac "Continuous Ink System" that I'm very happy with. After the initial purchase costs, the running costs are very low.
I asked Rihac what printer they would recommend. The initial cost of the bulk Ink System is about $150, but this is very quickly saved (It's less than the cost of 1 set of replacement ink's) Google Rihac for more information.
The Epson RX590 has now been superseeded by more recent models which I would hope would be even better.
Best of luck
Greg

[bussy1963]

many years ago i owned a printer repair business which was a interesting experience to say the least. I have kept a finger on the pulse of printers. If you search a bit you should be able to get a "brother Color LASER printer" from about $au 180.00. The toner cartridge is a 3 in 1 set up and costs about $ 95.00. this cartridge is rated for 7500 prints which isnt bad. The cartridge can be refilled for about $50.. The only downfall is the conductor drum in the cartridge is rated ar 15000 prints. The drum itself is about $ 75.00 to buy plus $50 for a refill. You work it out

But yeah the brother laser is the go rated at 20ppm mono and 15 ppm color

[HangOver]

IMO If you want reliability go for HP. HP inkjet cartridges are expensive but generally hold more ink so do your home work first. HP laser have always been reliable.

You can forget make, model, wizz bang gizmos that do whatever,
For each printer you like, you need to find out:
1. Cost of cartridge replacement.
2. Amount of pages per cartridge.

If you pay say $50-$100 more now it will save you lots in the long run.

Some cartridges maybe $15 but can got up to $70 easily but the cartridge size may be twice as much. So you need to find the price per page.
*thats if you are just looking at cost rather than quality.

[jx2mad]

A slight sideline but. I went to a computer salesperson in DJ'S a while back and asked to price some inkjet printers. He asked me what I was running and I said "a dot matrix printer" He looked at me with a wierd look and said "what is a dot matrix printer" So much for technology. I now run a Brother MFC with individual ink tanks and find it quite good. Jim

[81stubee]

I have a Canon MP730, I paid $600 for it 4 years ago, and has been absolutely fantastic. It scans, prints, faxes and copies plus it has an Auto document feeder for scannin/faxing. Next printer I buy will most likely be a canon, probably the MP780 which has duplex copying (both sides). Mine has been cheap to run, and has never missed a beat. The same can be said for the several other canon's i've had. I can't say the same for the latest HP Inkjets unfortunately as my friends have them.

Stu

[Xavie]

Recently purchased a colour laser... It came in at 250 or 300. it's a brother 4040cn. I'm extremely happy with it. I've now run off 2 reams of paper over a short time and it is brilliant. I just wish I had given up on crappy inkjets before. I would of had to change the ink 7 or 8 times at least by now to get my printing done over the last couple of weeks and I hsve not had to do anything to the laser in that time. I think it is good even if at school because parents get reluctant to have ink on hand at home so students don't get as much as what they should be getting printed out or it runs out of ink just as your printing off your work as your walking out the door and you got none to put in.

I had previously those Canon Multi functon things and a plain old inkjet also. The MFC from memory I have seen it going for 150ish but the ink cost as much as the printer.

Although I have not recently used an epson they are probably my favourite printer but they may not be as good as they were. They lasted much longer then any canon I have had, quality was better and in the canon handbook it says "printer lifespan is 2 years".

[discopete]

Recently purchased a colour laser... It came in at 250 or 300. it's a brother 4040cn. .

No thread hijack intended :), but where did you get it for this price? I couldn't see it for less than $430ish.

Pete

[Chenz]

JB HI-FI $98 for a Canon MP480 and they threw in for $30 a set of catridges. Works like a treat, quick prints, scans, copies. Can highly recommend with a Year 12 student who prints reams of stuff on it. Had a Lexmark X73 but whan I bought the new computer running on Vista the drivers did not support it.

Was a good printer with XP

[rick130]

Great thread, my good 'ol HP Deskjet 1000 went BANG as I turned it off last night :(
I haven't pulled a cover yet to see what actually popped.

[waynep]

I have a Canon ip4300 ( mid range printer about $200). It produces very good photo prints and does double sided, and A3 prints etc. but is expensive to run if you use the OE refills, because of the embedded chip.

I noticed that Officeworks have after market refills for these printers now, where you (apparently from reading the pack), re-use the chip from the old cartridge. I bought some ( about 1/3 the price of Canon ) but yet to try them.

[kaa45]

If you lift the label on the Canon ink tank, you will see a plastic ball. Force that into the tank with something like a ball point pen. Now you can use a Hypodermic syringe to squirt the ink into the tank. Plug with a small plastic plug available with the Ink Kit.

Easy As.... and CHEAP

[Pedro_The_Swift]

We have used mono lasers for a good while now,, the only downside is new OS's. Gave away the last one as it would not operate on vista. This MAY only be a problem at the low end of models,, but why would i buy a high end mono when you could spend the same on a color laser?:p(thats next by the way:cool:)

[greg-g]

Pedro
Why would i buy a high end mono when you could spend the same on a colour laser?
My IBM Network Printer 12 that's about 10 years old costs $100 for toner refills that last at least 10,000 pages, or 1 cent per page, nothing else can match it.
Drivers are a problem, IBM don't support Vista for this printer, but Vista does still work with HP5 emulation

Greg

[350RRC]

Hi 29,

Had same issue a few months ago, and a friend was going to give me a HP colour laser printer, but there was an issue with the driver and the Mac I use.

Bit the bullet and went for a Brother MFC- 260C that cost about $110 after $30 cashback.

Prints faster than the ? 1290 that I was used to, scans and faxes as well. The worn out fax and scanner can get 'recycled'. Ink is in separate cartridges for each colour so you don't have to get a new colour cartridge when only one colour is down. (@ about $70 for the 1290).

Full set of non-OEM inks was <$40 from O/works where I bought this thing. I am still on the inks that came with it! These are usually not a real fill apparently.

cheers, DL

[29dinosaur]

Too many to choose from - have previously history of problems wih just about every brand of injet printer... went for a Brother DCP 185c - $98 at DSE... will see... Brother have low cost consumable sand ? easier to use the refill separate cartridges. Good salesperson - nice young woman - also doing uni and has used her same model without any problems.

(Last MFC for SHMBO) was a B&W laser samsung - nice and reliable.

[350RRC]

Hi 29,

I have experience with other Brother stuff, like industrial sewing machines, etc.

All a class act IMHO, which is I bought this MFC, and so far it is also a class act!

Especially for the price. 5 years ago I would have paid a gorilla to get what this does and not even blinked.

cheers, DL