posted
I am looking for a new printer for my computer. I have heard good things about Kodak printers, with one of the best things about them being their ink. All of their printers use the same ink cartridges, and they have made an effort to keep pricing low on ink.....$15 for color, and $10 for black ink.
I also like the pictures you get out of them, using photo paper of course.
Does anyone have any experience with these printers, or any other type of printers to recommend? I have a working HP printers, so the need isn't pressing, but the refills are about $60 for it, and it's 6 years old now, and starting to break. The plastic that holds the paper has already broken on one side, and I am not sure how much longer it will last.
Wireless would be nice, as I can't seem to get my desktop to allow my laptop to print despite having a wireless adapter for it. But wireless isn't a make or break, as cost is still an issue as well.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I think I read something a while ago demonstrating that you could buy new printers with bundled ink every time your ink ran out for less money than the ink refills for some brands. (Since the mfr. doesn't want to scare you by charging you full price for the included ink when you buy the printer.)
I'd probably go with Kodak if I were you, but I am still using an old HP. I recently switched to generic ink, and if it ruins my printer I don't care, because I saved $50 on cartridges already and this old printer isn't worth $10.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'm probably not a "good","Reliable" witness, given my age and lack of technical background. But,my youngest daughter replaced my dell provided HP printer with a Kodak, as she does a lot of photo work. I am thrilled with the Kodak. The ink is cheaper, the machine is easier to use and when we did need some "tech support" the person on the other end was sufficently human to provide real assistance. And, it was less expensive than the model we replaced.
Posts: 1167 | Registered: Oct 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
If you're doing a lot of photo printing, look into a color laser. They've fallen greatly in price, and you will save hundreds of dollars on ink in the long run.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Do color laser printers make decent photo prints? The ones I've seen looked sort of like newsprint photos - good enough to illustrate something, but throwaway quality.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I am going to so some pictures, but mostly just 1 or 2 copies here and there, not any significant amount of photo printing.
I DO know that there is a $30 printer by hp that is portable, and includes ink...a girl I know in class brings it to class it's so small. It doesn't have any scanning ability though....although I can count the times I have scanned documents in on one hand. Still, those few times I ended up scanning some very important documents, and I was glad I did so more than once.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
If you only want to print a few pictures, but mostly black and white printing, I would buy a b&w laser (you can get a good one for $100 to $150, and you'll save hundreds of dollars on ink), and then use an online digital photo printing service, use one in-store (many places have them), or just buy a cheapo like you mention and use that for the photo printing.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I wanted to fix up my parent's high school photo's and wedding photo's, and the photographer has gone out of business for bother. Yet when I try to print these out, CVS won't print them because they have a photographer's watermark in the corner.
Never mind they are out of business.
:::rolls eyes::: If one more half informed, ignorant person working for $8/hr tries to lecture me on copyright laws that don't apply I swear I am gonna punch them....:::winks:::
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
So, do laser color printers require any sort of ink cartridge? What is the quality of the color printing?
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
We had a color inkjet that worked fine when the heads weren't clogged, which they always were unless we used the dang thing every single day. And when it ran out of black ink, we couldn't just replace the black cartridge. Oh, no, they all had to be replaced. If you are planning to do a ton of photo printing, a color inkjet is nice to have. If you're only going to use it on occasion, it's not worth the trouble it will give you.
We gave up and bought a Samsung b&w laser. I love it. One of the better decisions I've made in computer accessories. It's about 20 times as fast as the inkjet, prints crisp and black, and is way more reliable and long-lasting. No more wondering if I'm going to get a decent printout.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged |
Boon
unregistered
posted
afr, can you tell me the model and such of the printer you bought? I need to buy one and I'm being lazy. I'd much rather buy one from personal recommendation than buy blindly.
IP: Logged |
posted
It's the Samsung ML 1740. Pretty basic printer, and you'll have to replace the limited toner cartridge fairly soon. But I've been very happy with it.
quote:Originally posted by scifibum: I think I read something a while ago demonstrating that you could buy new printers with bundled ink every time your ink ran out for less money than the ink refills for some brands. (Since the mfr. doesn't want to scare you by charging you full price for the included ink when you buy the printer.)
When I bought my Epson Printer (which I don't recommend, but it was relatively cheap) it came with a full set of color cartritges and a black in cartridge, and the whole thing totaled around 2,000 Kc. I bought one replacement black cartridge and the price was 500 Kc, the price of extra color cartridges being 1,200 Kc. So yes, the price of a full set of cartridges would be 1,700 Kc, or about 14 dollars less than a new printer. However, sales of these ink cartridges are getting chewed up by third party ink refilling services in the city, so you can now fill one of these ink cartridges for about a third of the cost of a new one. It seems like there could almost be a business in buying the components of a printer package and selling them seperately for cash- you'd get more than 300 Kc for a brand new printer, sans ink.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Kwea: So, do laser color printers require any sort of ink cartridge? What is the quality of the color printing?
It was a black laser printer bought 15 years ago, but I recall never having to change our laser printer's cartridge over 10 years of consistent use by the entire family.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
But wireless isn't a make or break, as cost is still an issue as well.
