New printer suggestion requested

[bk13]

Windows 11
I need a new printer. This one is an HP Office Jet Pro, model 9125e. The ink is horribly expense and it will not print postcards. Every time it is started, or the paper bin opened, it goes through a long startup, maybe testing itself, and sounds like it is beating things against the stops.

I expect something up to maybe $300, and with refillable ink tanks. It must be able to print postcards with a simple change of paper size and/or paper type.

Any suggestions?

 

[W. Fisher]

If I were looking to buy another printer (I have six already!), I'd get the Epson Ecotank ET-8550 which is on sale for $599 at my local Office Depot from the normal $800+ they had it at.

Couple it with Qimage's "Print Prism" ($35) which it works with, and you can use its onboard scanner to make profiles for any paper you want to run through it for better and faster color. That will save you a lot of wasted paper and color issues. And the ink is cheaper too given it is in bottles, and it lasts a long time in the printer.

Explained here:

I have the SilverFast 9 AI scanner profile maker and the cheaper Print Prism gets me much closer than SilverFast which is about $350 plus the $70 IT8 reference image to make a profile off it. I have never been happy with the SilverFats profiles, even trying to use their profile edit feature. It was a big waste of money and paper and using my $600 Espon scanner too. Imho, of course.

 

[bk13]

Thanks for the reply. A bit out of my range. The majority of my printing is letters to politicians. Plain B&W. But sometimes I need color so will pay for that.

 

[thebestcpu]

You might want to check this one out:
https://www.usa.canon.com/shop/p/pixma-g3270?color=Black&type=New
I don't know a lot about this one for all specs as I don't know all of your requirements yet it seems to fit the bill for what you mentioned and a good price right now
John Wheeler

 

[bk13]

hello thebestcpu, That looks pretty good. But, I don't know how to find out if it really prints postcard. Mine should do it. But when I try to print the postcard does not look like the preprint image. For one card, it printed only the right 2 inches of the text. I must print a dozen cards making minor adjustments to get it right. Changing anything just blow it away.
I could ask the Best Buy electronics salesman but that is way too much detail to expect from even a very knowledgeable salesman. My searches result in almost all sponsored results.

 

[thebestcpu]

hello thebestcpu, That looks pretty good. But, I don't know how to find out if it really prints postcard. Mine should do it. But when I try to print the postcard does not look like the preprint image. For one card, it printed only the right 2 inches of the text. I must print a dozen cards making minor adjustments to get it right. Changing anything just blow it away.
I could ask the Best Buy electronics salesman but that is way too much detail to expect from even a very knowledgeable salesman. My searches result in almost all sponsored results.

Here is a link to the online manual about the ability for the 3070 series (which includes the 3270) to print postcards:
https://ij.manual.canon/ij/webmanual/PrinterDriver/M/G3070 series/1.0/EN/PPG/dg-c_hagaki.html?

As for the incorrect printing on the postcard, that is likely a software and setup issue, not a limitation of the printer itself. That might be a separate discussion than recommended printers.
Hope this helps
John Wheeler