Does this sound good? thanks for your thought!
Answer:
Stay away from dell and lexmark printers. They’re the ripoff kings of the industry. They sell printers where the ink costs more than the whole machine. Here's what you should be looking at:
Lasers have sharper text and are generally faster than inkjets. While toner cartridges are more costly than ink, they print more pages, so the cost per page is lower. But you pay more up front. Inkjets are superior for pics and cheaper for low volume. Personally, I use both. I’ve an inkjet for photos, a color laser for high volume color jobs and a black laser for regular text. I use the black laser most often.
You can get a good color laser this day for $80! Samsung CLP-300 at http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/p…
I have this printer and it's really nice. Toner cartridges are more pricey then inkjet cartridges ($70 for a set of 4 at http://ccs-digital.com/ink.asp ) but they last for about 2,000 pages.It does a nice job on pics, but an inkjet is still better for this.
Inkjet: As someone who was in the computer hardware business for years (though I rarely sold printers since I couldn't compete with the crazy rebates) I have always suggested Epson. The print quality is excellent, even on plain paper. I have pics I printed on a 640 about ten years ago hanging in my office which still look good, though not as good as the ones from the CX8400 on glossy paper. The warranty is excellent. For a year, Epson will express-ship a replacement and pick up the old one. I had one customer who needed this. He called one afternoon and had the replacement two days later. Another client purchased a Canon. It needed two repairs within a few months. Each time it was taken to the repair center, then picked up a few days later. This client runs a specialty printing business and this really injured. They’ve since purchased an Epson CX5000 and have had no down time since.
All name brand ink is expensive, but you can get cheap new replacement cartridges for Epson (not refills which I never recommend) for under $5 at http://ccs-digital.com/ink.asp I’ve been using these for years.
The C120 (printer only - no scanner) is on sale at Ritz Camera free after rebate but you must also purchase a digital camera. The cheapest is $15. With $7 shipping you pay $22 for printer and camera. It uses 3 colors and 2 of the SAME black cartridge.
http://www.cheapstingybargains.com/55740…
A set of 5 cartridges are $25 at http://ccs-digital.com/ink.asp
The RX595 scanner/copier/printer also prints on DVDs. It uses 5 colors plus black and has even higher photo quality. You can get it at Ritz Camera for $45 after rebate (with digital camera) or for $80 after $55 instant rebate.
http://www.cheapstingybargains.com/54342…
Answer:
A lot depends on what you’re going to use it for. If all you will be doing is word processing, greeting cards and occasional picture printing printers in this price range are fine. If you intend to do a lot of pic printing then I would advocate a printer of a tiny superior quality. The biggest cost concern when buying a printer is the cost of consumables. Ink is the biggest and priciest part of printing. Do some research to be sure this is the printer that best suits your needs.