I just want a cheap Copier/Scanner/Printer with built in wireless. I am leaning towards the $80 dollar Kodak from Wally World, my HP just quit on me after about 4 years, but geez the Kodak ink is CHEAP when compared to HP or Canon, I would get a Brother but their ink is about the same as HP and Canon. Any reason not too buy a Kodak? I have no experience with them which is really what I am asking...Thanks
http://www.amazon.com/Epson-Stylus-NX420-Color-C11CA80201/dp/B003N3GUT6
This is the printer I have. No complaints so far.
This is the printer I have. No complaints so far.
I would highly recommend this all-on-one. It prints photos as good as the photo service at Walmart and it was very easy to set up. The wireless printing, including AirPrint, from my iPhone works flawlessly.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003P2UM1W?ie=UTF8&force-full-site=1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003P2UM1W?ie=UTF8&force-full-site=1
First, I'd say stay away from MFP's. Second I'd say stay away from inkjets. However, if you truly must have an MFP, HP makes some good Color Laser MFP's that aren't terrible. Such as http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...g&v2=Color&product_code=CE866A#BGJ&catLevel=3
I just gave up on another ink jet printer due to high costs of ink and repeated issues with using cheaper refills from Cartridge World.
I bought an HP LaserJet P1102w at Office Depot on sale for $99 and it's been the best decision I ever made in a printer. It's a B&W only and I just use it for generic printing and shipping invoices, labels, etc... but it's impressed me so far and I wouldn't hesitate to get a color version.
The nice thing is that it gives 1500 pages on a toner cartridge and I've found factory HP ones for as low as $65 and refills for as low as $26. That makes it significantly cheaper than the BS I've been putting up with on inkjets.
I'm a laser man till death now. Fast, cheap, good. It does all three better than an inkjet.
I bought an HP LaserJet P1102w at Office Depot on sale for $99 and it's been the best decision I ever made in a printer. It's a B&W only and I just use it for generic printing and shipping invoices, labels, etc... but it's impressed me so far and I wouldn't hesitate to get a color version.
The nice thing is that it gives 1500 pages on a toner cartridge and I've found factory HP ones for as low as $65 and refills for as low as $26. That makes it significantly cheaper than the BS I've been putting up with on inkjets.
I'm a laser man till death now. Fast, cheap, good. It does all three better than an inkjet.
If you don't need to print photos, I would stay away from inkjets. If you only need to print a few photos, send them to Snapfish or CVS.
In inkjets I have had the best luck with Brother printers as far as refilled tanks go. You can even get an easy continuous ink system for them from Amazon.
I print most of my black on a laser. Even my old-ass Laserjet 5L is orders of magnitude cheaper than an inkjet to print black on. Even though it was made in 1995, the prints look better than a 2010 inkjet.
The problem is that inkjet MFPs are going to be pretty bad at everything they do.
In inkjets I have had the best luck with Brother printers as far as refilled tanks go. You can even get an easy continuous ink system for them from Amazon.
I print most of my black on a laser. Even my old-ass Laserjet 5L is orders of magnitude cheaper than an inkjet to print black on. Even though it was made in 1995, the prints look better than a 2010 inkjet.
The problem is that inkjet MFPs are going to be pretty bad at everything they do.
I've got this printer and it rules.
http://www.amazon.com/Brother-HL-53...9BV8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1322750028&sr=8-2
http://www.amazon.com/Brother-HL-53...9BV8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1322750028&sr=8-2
Just my $.02 here, but this is what I do for a living so (cost analysis for business environments)...
First of all, I'd stay away from inkjets period, I'll explain that in a second. If you HAVE to have an inkjet, from what I've experienced, the canons and HP's have a bit better QC when it comes to their lower level stuff. Kodak/epson/brother/xerox don't do cheap stuff well (maintenance wise).
Inkjets in general, are expensive, no matter which was you slice it. They aren't meant to print a lot. The machine may be cheap, but the Ink itself is incredible when you look at it on a cost per page basis. If you don't continuously print then the cartridge heads dry up and you're out that cartridge despite how much you've printed (this seems to happen pretty quickly if you just let it sit. I've seen them go back in <1 week).
Basically, without going WAY to much in depth for it, it looks like this for ink machines:
$75-150 for the machine, $20-25 for a blank cartridge, $30-35 for a tri color cartridge, or another $15-20 per color cartridge. Generally, those mono cartridges put out around 4-500 pages before they crap out, if you can milk them for everything they've got. That puts you around $.05 per page if it's only black. Color wise it's a bit trickier with the math. If it's a tri color tank, you're probably in the neighborhood of 500-600 pages per tank, which puts you at <$.08 per page color, which isn't all that bad. If you've got individual colors, the price goes up per page. These are cheap tanks too, trust me, I've seen some in the neighborhood of $.30 and $.40 per page prints in color.
With a toner machine, if you can get away with mono only, then you've got a good bet. As an example, and FWIW I'm not a fan of this machine, but most businesses overdrive them. If you don't, you should be fine:
HP Laserjet M1212 AIO - down at best buy - is $159.99. Toner cartridges work better than ink, and truth be told in a desktop sized machine, 80% of the moving parts are in the cartridge. So if something breaks on the machine, you're not totally screwed, just replace the cartridge. I just happen to know the exact cartridge that goes in this is an HP CE258A. Best buy has them at 67.99 and yields 1,600 pages. That's $.042 per print, which is stupid expensive for toner.
If you went inkjet and say you print, 500 pages a month (300 of which are color). $99 for the printer, plus $10 for black pages, plus ~$25 a month for color pages.
If you do the same with that laserjet, 500 pages a month. 159.99 for the printer, plus $21 a month for prints.
The idea here is that you spend more upfront on a better machine, and then less per page later. Yes machines are expensive, so is toner, but on a price per page basis it's cheaper to do it that way. Ink is expensive, it's sloppy and it's hard to maintain. Unless you HAVE to have it, I'd stay far far away. That laserjet ought to keep going for quite awhile (I've seen the m2727, which has the same internals, up over 100,000 pages and going strong). Toner is easier to milk every page of yield out of it and overall more reliable. I'd steer clear of re manufactured or refilled toner cartridges, unless you don't care much about your print quality, then they are cheaper, but less reliable.
The math is rough and I assumed ALOT of things to get it written quick, but the idea is still the same. Unless you've got to have ink, you're much better off with toner, even if that means going to a more expensive unit. Again, please don't focus on the exact numbers, they're a very rough estimate off the top of my head, but the idea is sound. Shoot me a pm if you've got questions on anything specific and I'll run it through the spreadsheet to give you a little more detail.
~joey
First of all, I'd stay away from inkjets period, I'll explain that in a second. If you HAVE to have an inkjet, from what I've experienced, the canons and HP's have a bit better QC when it comes to their lower level stuff. Kodak/epson/brother/xerox don't do cheap stuff well (maintenance wise).
Inkjets in general, are expensive, no matter which was you slice it. They aren't meant to print a lot. The machine may be cheap, but the Ink itself is incredible when you look at it on a cost per page basis. If you don't continuously print then the cartridge heads dry up and you're out that cartridge despite how much you've printed (this seems to happen pretty quickly if you just let it sit. I've seen them go back in <1 week).
Basically, without going WAY to much in depth for it, it looks like this for ink machines:
$75-150 for the machine, $20-25 for a blank cartridge, $30-35 for a tri color cartridge, or another $15-20 per color cartridge. Generally, those mono cartridges put out around 4-500 pages before they crap out, if you can milk them for everything they've got. That puts you around $.05 per page if it's only black. Color wise it's a bit trickier with the math. If it's a tri color tank, you're probably in the neighborhood of 500-600 pages per tank, which puts you at <$.08 per page color, which isn't all that bad. If you've got individual colors, the price goes up per page. These are cheap tanks too, trust me, I've seen some in the neighborhood of $.30 and $.40 per page prints in color.
With a toner machine, if you can get away with mono only, then you've got a good bet. As an example, and FWIW I'm not a fan of this machine, but most businesses overdrive them. If you don't, you should be fine:
HP Laserjet M1212 AIO - down at best buy - is $159.99. Toner cartridges work better than ink, and truth be told in a desktop sized machine, 80% of the moving parts are in the cartridge. So if something breaks on the machine, you're not totally screwed, just replace the cartridge. I just happen to know the exact cartridge that goes in this is an HP CE258A. Best buy has them at 67.99 and yields 1,600 pages. That's $.042 per print, which is stupid expensive for toner.
If you went inkjet and say you print, 500 pages a month (300 of which are color). $99 for the printer, plus $10 for black pages, plus ~$25 a month for color pages.
If you do the same with that laserjet, 500 pages a month. 159.99 for the printer, plus $21 a month for prints.
The idea here is that you spend more upfront on a better machine, and then less per page later. Yes machines are expensive, so is toner, but on a price per page basis it's cheaper to do it that way. Ink is expensive, it's sloppy and it's hard to maintain. Unless you HAVE to have it, I'd stay far far away. That laserjet ought to keep going for quite awhile (I've seen the m2727, which has the same internals, up over 100,000 pages and going strong). Toner is easier to milk every page of yield out of it and overall more reliable. I'd steer clear of re manufactured or refilled toner cartridges, unless you don't care much about your print quality, then they are cheaper, but less reliable.
The math is rough and I assumed ALOT of things to get it written quick, but the idea is still the same. Unless you've got to have ink, you're much better off with toner, even if that means going to a more expensive unit. Again, please don't focus on the exact numbers, they're a very rough estimate off the top of my head, but the idea is sound. Shoot me a pm if you've got questions on anything specific and I'll run it through the spreadsheet to give you a little more detail.
~joey
