Getting ready to Purchase a new printer, need help!

[directcurrent]

Hello every one, I was refereed By TSF forum to contact you for help.

I have a X1185 Lexmark that has stop indicating the color. So I have to buy a new printer in the near future. Now I am disabled so excuse my writing, but I need a print that can handle copying/faxing/ and scanning. I need to be abled to refill my print cartridges at a reasonable price because of my income. I do a lot of printing to deal with credit/ panio/guitar/ accounting and writing books or E-books for income and art . I need a fairly good printer but reasonable price one to buy

Can you folks guide me in the right direction.

I welcome all suggestions no matter what

God Bless those who read my topic and resond. DC.

 

[ghwellsjr]

The best printer to meet your needs is no longer being manufactured but fortunately, there are a lot of used ones coming on the market from people who don't know what they have. I refer to the Canon MP780. I purchased four of these from eBay and Craig's list last week for between $40 and $54. Several of the sellers wanted a new printer simply because they wanted wireless capability!

The reason this printer is so ideal is that it is the last of the Canon printers that does not use chips in the cartridges to make refilling difficult. And most of the newer printers are not as solidly built.

I would recommend that you check Craig's list in you area every day for a Canon MP780. Even though I bought some on eBay, I do not recommend going that route unless you can arrange local pickup and unless you can get the seller to guarantee a perfectly functioning printer that you can examine before taking it.

Make sure that it can do a perfect nozzle check that should look like this:

In the top section of grid lines, make sure that there are no missing segments.

And for the rest of the nozzle check, you do not want one that looks like this:

Notice that the top half of some of the blocks of color are lighter than the bottom half and that there are gradations in the shade of some of the other ones.

Also, make sure that the printer has installed in it genuine Canon cartridges. This will indicate to you that the seller has taken good care of the printer. Ask the seller to open the front of the printer and lift up the cover so that you can see the cartridges. They should look like this:

If you find one of these printers, let us know and we will tell you how you can refill the cartridges for about $1 or $2 a shot.

 

[directcurrent]

Thank you very much for the recommendation, I might look aroun for one, this are that I live is very then when it come to computer stuff.

 

[ghwellsjr]

That's why you have to look every day. You want to be the first one to make the call.

 

[websnail]

All good advice...

BTW.. a few things to watch out for...

1. Whether the printer comes with a printhead... (if not, why not? Did the printhead fail? if so, avoid it may be the printer logic board has gone too).
2. Whether the printer powers on or not (Avoid any that do not power up as they are likely blown).

Sounds daft I know but there are a few unscrupulous folks who might try to palm off a dead unit as "lain unused for X months, but it used to work (before it died)"


Oh and if in doubt you can always check with folks on here if something feels a bit wrong...

 

[directcurrent]

That is what I crossed last night. The printer bid started at 14.00 It is ovious that something is wrong with the printer and below the caption , it says no returns. Hmmm............. I also found one, said brand new in the box 299.00 but it also said no returns. No thank. I have one breaking down, don't need another.LOL DC

 

[ghwellsjr]

I really don't recommend buying a printer through eBay or a printer that has to be shipped. You need to see the printer working and doing a nozzle check before you commit to buying it.

Even if the printer was working perfectly when the seller puts it in the box, it can be damaged by ink migrating throughout the print head and when you first turn it on, it gets zapped.

And you don't want to buy a printer with the cartridges removed from the print head because ink will dry out in the print head making it very difficult or impossible to unclog.

And I wouldn't recommend buying a new all-in-one that has been in the box for many years because the vapors given off by the styrofoam will deposit a visible film on the inside of the scanner which you will not be able to clean without taking the printer all apart.

And make sure the seller has a full set of original Canon cartridges in the printer. I don't mean they all have to be full of ink, I mean that every cartridge is original Canon, not compatibles.

 

[embguy]

I really don't recommend buying a printer through eBay or a printer that has to be shipped. You need to see the printer working and doing a nozzle check before you commit to buying it.

I agree. I prefer to buy printer from Kijiji and craigslist. The reason is less competing buyer. But you may have to wait longer for the right printer. I love those printers which are out of ink. Average user will add the cost of a new set of ink cartridges. It usually costs more than a new printer which is on sale. I may be the only one interested in the printer. I take time to negotiate the price down.

I always bring my own cartridges to test the printer.

 

[ghwellsjr]

And don't forget to bring your own paper.

 

[nche11]

MP780 is a legendary multifunction printer. But for some reason it started out at $250 a piece. But one day it became $200, then a week later $150 then $100. I disliked its printing speed although its fax and scanner are terrific. If you only need a printer, not a multifunction look for an ip4200/ip4300. They are much faster than mp780.