Printer Minefield - Asking for help

[DrJones]

Hello all,

This thread is likely to help many many people that happen across this forum. I hope that it prompts discussion and exploration of a question that many households have.

I am looking for a AIO colour printer for my parents (in their 60's) - maybe 20 pages a month.

Reliability - ease of use - and cost of compatible/non oem inks - are our main concerns. We have no issues with refilling cartridges.

They prefer to print photos at the supermarket - rather than at home. They do mainly office printing - borderless printing would be a nice plus (but is by no means a dealbreaker).

Below is the impression I currently have after my research. Please clear up misconceptions - and provide your opinion.

Canon - easy to clean print heads - very cheap ink costs - build quality has taken a dive for 2016 models - print quality is very good - software is difficult to use - noisy - refilling is easy - no dust proof cassette for A4 paper.

MG5750 / MG6650 / MG6750 / MG6850

Epson - Good prints - Print heads tend to clog and are (comparatively) harder to clean - build quality is better than the cannons -firmware updates tend to block compatibles - non oem inks are issue prone.

HP - Mediocre print quality - instant ink is cost effective - print heads not a problem - software easy to use.

We're just looking for a solution for a good home AIO (don't need fax) - but don't want to fall in the "cheap printer - expensive cost of ownership".

I'm happy to spend up to a couple of hundred pounds (~$260 U.S) to find a solution that can be easily maintained - cheaply run and basically hassle free. After messing around with malfunctioning printers and service visits with previous choices - we just want something that provides as little headache as possible.

What would you recommend?

Thanks in advance for any contributions your are willing to provide,

Dr. Jones.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

you are right with your list of particular problems with printers, but please be aware that there are no valid statistics whereever how often these problems occur - happy users don't frequently report that. And with the majority of these reports it is not easily possible to see whether that's a hardware malfunction or related to some handling issues or other 3rd party pieces specifically when it comes to refill, necessary head cleaning etc. If the ink is not flowing because of a bad fitting cartridge but the user thinks it is a nozzle problem he will run excessive cleaning cycles without success and complain about the printer or blame the ink supplier

I think you should draw up a list of options which are a must for you, or nice to have , like duplex printing, duplex scanning, WLAN, all that, what is your typical usage cycle, regular or irregular, high or low printing volume overall, borderless printing and good photo quality, refill capability etc, other requirements like size, and that can be a base for comments or recommendations. When it comes to lower volume printing you just may not consider refilling because the savings would not be significant then, and you would avoid lots of hazzles. When it comes to low volume printing you can print 1 page a day , or 20 at once in a month. You may ask whether it is possible to bridge longer idle periods by printing something small in between on a regular base like every week, or you even may think to switch to a small laser since borderless photo printing would not be a prime requirement. So when it comes to irregular longer idle times a laser printer may be the preferred choice. I don't know whether you are close to an electronic store, they typically run special offers for the popular models by HP or ....

 

[The Hat]

Hi @DrJones and welcome, unfortunately all inkjet printers have an Achilles' heel and that has to includes their owners too, but that’s what makes them irresistible to most.

There is one printer that you might consider, its a Canon Maxify, because it covers most of your wish list and would be ideal for anyone from 8 to 80 years old, see if Argos still have them on sale at a discount prices, there are several models to choose from with different specifications...

 

[DrJones]

Hello Ink Stained Fingers & The Hat,

I appreciate the input.

In terms of my parents needs -

A) Duplex - the more parts in a device the more complex it is - the more things can go wrong - so happy to flip the paper over by hand instead.

B) Scanner necessary (duplex not a deal breaker) - but accuracy and quality of output is important.

C) A4 size and lower - Unless you can recommend an A3 printer that does good office prints (The brother A3 printers seem to suffer from comparatively poor print quality?)

D) Irregular usage - maybe 3 pages every 4-5 days (max 20-30 pages per. month). But if ink can be obtained cheaply - then this will increase two fold.

E) Photo printing are done at the supermarket - so not necessary for home. To be used primarily as an office machine - to give reports directly to clients - therefore decent print quality is a requirement - *on normal office paper*.

F) Borderless would be a bonus.

G) Cheap ink - critical. 5 year investment if lucky, two year minimum (warranty covers 2 years). Don't want to be fleeced for ink - so am willing to go for compatibles - or refills to achieve this (I will help them with the refills).

H) Wireless not a deal breaker. Wireless printers have been known to represent a vulnerability to home networks if the firmware is poorly implemented. Most wireless printers come with an Ethernet port anyway.

I) Main thing - When things go wrong - I should be able to fix them myself at home using youtube videos or forum advice. I am a computer builder - so I understand that from time to time there will be issues, however, some machines that are easier to maintain and repair than others.

J) Second most important requirement - software should be easy to use. It should be intuitive and not an uphill struggle (I seem to be hearing the cannon my image garden interface is a headache from beginning to end???)

So not much really - the earth, the sky, the sun and the moon for about £200 ($250 U.S).

Not much of a big ask?

Dr. Jones.

 

[palombian]

When your parents don't print photo's they won't need my image garden.
For office work the printer is mostly driven from the applications, installing the printer driver is enough.
When they do not need color a cheap B/W laser is maybe the best solution.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Let me come back to the ink issue - cheap... you should be aware that you are loosing the manufacturer's warranty when using such inks, that's the same with all printer manufacturers. It's an easy calcuation - would you save more with 3rd party inks than the unit price within the warranty period to make that an attractive approach - I wouldn't think so. I would stay with originals with that low print volume. If you are really into using loose inks you may look for Epson Ecotank models - ET.... which have built-in ink tubes supplied from externally mounted ink containers - a CISS, you buy with these models the ink supply for the next several years, and if one fill-up lasts more than 1000 pages ... or you look for those Maxify models already mentioned, they use larger cartrides than typical home use models. There is one core element with using an inkjet device - it should print - not really frequently but somewhat regularly, something with all colors, a small picture or else. You may get some idea about an ET2550 here, Epson has some other models available.
http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/expression-et2550.11018/#post-92732

 

[turbguy]

Hello Ink Stained Fingers & The Hat,

I appreciate the input.

In terms of my parents needs -

A) Duplex - the more parts in a device the more complex it is - the more things can go wrong - so happy to flip the paper over by hand instead.

B) Scanner necessary (duplex not a deal breaker) - but accuracy and quality of output is important.

C) A4 size and lower - Unless you can recommend an A3 printer that does good office prints (The brother A3 printers seem to suffer from comparatively poor print quality?)

D) Irregular usage - maybe 3 pages every 4-5 days (max 20-30 pages per. month). But if ink can be obtained cheaply - then this will increase two fold.

E) Photo printing are done at the supermarket - so not necessary for home. To be used primarily as an office machine - to give reports directly to clients - therefore decent print quality is a requirement - *on normal office paper*.

F) Borderless would be a bonus.

G) Cheap ink - critical. 5 year investment if lucky, two year minimum (warranty covers 2 years). Don't want to be fleeced for ink - so am willing to go for compatibles - or refills to achieve this (I will help them with the refills).

H) Wireless not a deal breaker. Wireless printers have been known to represent a vulnerability to home networks if the firmware is poorly implemented. Most wireless printers come with an Ethernet port anyway.

I) Main thing - When things go wrong - I should be able to fix them myself at home using youtube videos or forum advice. I am a computer builder - so I understand that from time to time there will be issues, however, some machines that are easier to maintain and repair than others.

J) Second most important requirement - software should be easy to use. It should be intuitive and not an uphill struggle (I seem to be hearing the cannon my image garden interface is a headache from beginning to end???)

So not much really - the earth, the sky, the sun and the moon for about £200 ($250 U.S).

Not much of a big ask?

Dr. Jones.

If I were to avoid photo printing, I would choose an AIO color LASER printer. They are MUCH more reliable, and cost per page is lower...

The problem with Inkjet AIO's is, if the printer has a problem (say, low ink), NOTHING works. No scanning or other operation...

 

[Vorkolor]

I have the MG6650, which uses PGI-550/CLI-551 cartridges. I use refillable aftermarket compatibles with autoreset chips, and inks from Octoinkjet. I had some setup issues which I now think were user error rather than printer problems, except for two cases of cyan contamination in the magenta channel. In each case it went away after a few nozzle checks, and it hasn't happened again after I replaced the cyan refillable cartridge.

An issue with my refillable cartridges is that they drain faster than the ink monitor thinks, so I have to watch them manually and refill well before they indicate empty, so the ink level shown on the printer display/printer driver is mostly fiction. I don't know if this is common or just me being unlucky.

I think photo prints with aftermarket inks look fine (but I'm not very picky, no professional colour calibration or anything), though they tend to fade quickly on my cheap photo papers if not protected. I use the printer mainly to spit out draft after draft of my thesis, and it's fine for that purpose, if not particularly fast.

The pigment black isn't too good at solid black areas. It makes distinct stripes of varying intensity of black, but text looks fine. Again, I don't know if this is a quirk of my printer or if they're all like that.

The scanner is probably slightly out of register - I got a one-pixel wide band of color where there should have been sharp black/white transition on a scan, suggesting that the RGB channels don't quite line up, but I haven't examined it in detail since I have a better flatbed scanner for photo work.

Can you still get the MG6650, though? It's not for sale in Norway anymore, it's been replaced with newer models that take the CLI-571 cartridges.

 

[DrJones]

Thank you to each of you for sharing your wisdom on this:

Let me come back to the ink issue - cheap... you should be aware that you are loosing the manufacturer's warranty when using such inks, that's the same with all printer manufacturers. ... or you look for those Maxify models already mentioned, they use larger cartridges than typical home use models.

In the UK - the manufacturer has to prove that the compatibles were the cause of the damage to the printer - and canon are quite reasonable about this. Also - there is a retailer here in the UK - John Lewis - that provide a very good warranty for 2 years with each printer purchase as standard. So I am not worried about compatibles causing issues - the main thing is I want low hassle and cost over the period of ownership. The Maxifys get very very mixed reviews on amazon.co.uk , amazon.com, canon usa & John Lewis website- and this is why I hesitate with the canons - that in previous generations had fantastic reviews.

If I were to avoid photo printing, I would choose an AIO color LASER printer. They are MUCH more reliable, and cost per page is lower...

The problem with Inkjet AIO's is, if the printer has a problem (say, low ink), NOTHING works. No scanning or other operation...

You're quite right - but border-less is hard to find with lasers - and there are health considerations related to laser toner usage.

I have the MG6650, which uses PGI-550/CLI-551 cartridges. I use refillable aftermarket compatibles with autoreset chips, and inks from Octoinkjet. I had some setup issues which I now think were user error rather than printer problems, except for two cases of cyan contamination in the magenta channel. In each case it went away after a few nozzle checks, and it hasn't happened again after I replaced the cyan refillable cartridge.

An issue with my refillable cartridges is that they drain faster than the ink monitor thinks, so I have to watch them manually and refill well before they indicate empty, so the ink level shown on the printer display/printer driver is mostly fiction. I don't know if this is common or just me being unlucky.

Can you still get the MG6650, though? It's not for sale in Norway anymore, it's been replaced with newer models that take the CLI-571 cartridges.

This will help:

http://www.precisioncolors.com/Maintenance_Canon.html

The 6650 isn't available in the uk anymore.

I want a canon - but I keep hearing about build quality issues - colossal ink waste - the 'ink reservoir is saturated' problem - and the problem with paper jams and the poor build quality.

Refilling the cannon carts will be second nature - especially if I have two full sets on standby.

One serious irk I have - is the lack of proper paper cassettes with the canons - It would be nice just to be able to press print and not worry about paper/dust etc.

I have ruled epsons out completely - I just wish there was a cannon that was free of so many negative reviews regarding reliability and hassle.

 

[The Hat]

In the UK - the manufacturer has to prove that the compatibles were the cause of the damage to the printer - and canon are quite reasonable about this

Let me pick your bones for a few minutes please, Compatible cartridges and Canon are not compatible and it doesn’t matter how big a warrantee you have.

If you return a printer that is not functioning properly and you don’t use OEM cartridge as standard then any or all warrantees are null and void, (Read the small print), Canon will fix the printer but not under warrantee.

I have ruled epsons out completely - I just wish there was a cannon that was free of so many negative reviews regarding reliability and hassle.

The second thing is your knocking the hell out of all Canon printers on the say so of mixed reviews from owners that probably don’t know one end of a bus from the other, reading them is one thing, but believing them is another.

I want a canon - but I keep hearing about build quality issues - colossal ink waste - the 'ink reservoir is saturated' problem - and the problem with paper jams and the poor build quality

Again your reading too hard into these reviews that are mostly make by whingers whom most likely have an axe to grind and are not factual whatsoever, you should really get advice from knowledgeable guys who use these printers every day and would give you an honest and unbiased answer.

The 6650 isn't available in the uk anymore.

On the availability of the Canon 6650
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-MG66...TF8&qid=1471204776&sr=8-1&keywords=canon+6650

For most compatible inks in the UK try here: - http://www.octoink.co.uk/

To purchase a good printer, look for one that will do what you want it to do, but if you buy cheap then the running costs are steep, and bigger dearer printers are far more reliable, less wasteful and costly to run, you should also check to see if the printer can be easily refilled if you don’t want to use OEM inks.