Time for a new printer & scanner...suggestions welcome!

[Tullphan]

I presently have an HP Photosmart 7760 and an older RadioShack (Visiontek?) scanner.
Since upgrading to Vista last year, i've had no scanner as Vista wouldn't recognize it.
In the past few days i've been printer shopping & believe i'm going to go with Canon.
I was looking at the MP970 since it has the scanner built in, but it was suggested to me to go with individual components.
If I went that route, i've seen the LiDE 100 for ~$55...is that a good scanner?
One of the reasons i'm going with certain model Canon's is due to the ability to refill cartridges myself.
I don't do alot of printing...mostly documents, some photos. The copier would mainly copy documents...some for PDF conversion.
Would the 970 be my best bet or should I go the individual component route?
Thanks!

 

[rehardwick]

I suggest you consider the Brother MFC 240C Color Ink-jet - Fax / copier / printer / scanner. There are other Brother products you might consider as well. You can go to their web site for all the specifications. The important thing is that their cartridges are not chipped and there are plenty of 3rd party suppliers of ink cartridges for these printers. I buy them from http://www.atlanticinkjet.com/ink-products-brother.asp

Regards

 

[Tullphan]

I suggest you consider the Brother MFC 240C Color Ink-jet - Fax / copier / printer / scanner. There are other Brother products you might consider as well. You can go to their web site for all the specifications. The important thing is that their cartridges are not chipped and there are plenty of 3rd party suppliers of ink cartridges for these printers. I buy them from http://www.atlanticinkjet.com/ink-products-brother.asp

Regards

May I assume you're a Brother owner?
How's the print quality (both photo-wise & other) compared to the Canon?
The fax would be useless to me as I don't have a landline phone, though.

 

[rehardwick]

I bought a Brother printer and 3rd party inks for my niece. She is very pleased with the printer. She uses it to print picts of her son and is well experienced in photo printing.

Years ago, I used to use Epson printers (and prior to that HP printers) and was unhappy with the fact that they seem to fail right after the warranty expires. At the time, I bought my ink cartridges from http://www.tylermartin.com/ They told me they were switching over to Canon and recommended them. I bought a Canon ip3000 and have been using Canon ever since.

When Canon went to chipped ink cartridges, I contacted tylermartin again and they said they were switching to Brother. I started noticing reviews on inkjet printers and saw that Brother printers are very highly ranked. They can produce 1.5-picoliter sized ink droplets. I personally do not use Brother printers, but do free consultation to friends.

As long as I can refill the cartridges for my Canon printers, I will continue to use them. I respect the results of the reviews I read and note that Canon and Brother are ranked somewhat equally and considering that Canon is taking a nosedive in quality, I believe that Brother is a better buy.

 

[Tullphan]

I'll check into this & if I can find one cheap enough, i'll give it a try.

 

[Kefp]

Since you had an eye on MP970, I have to say that I like my MP970 a lot: print quality, scan quality. The ability to scan slides and negatives is a plus if you need it.

 

[avolanche]

If you get a separate scanner,be sure that drivers are available for your computer's OS.Vista does not support many scanners.

 

[Tullphan]

If you get a separate scanner,be sure that drivers are available for your computer's OS.Vista does not support many scanners.

Yeah...that was my problem this time around. Three different scanners & Vista didn't support any. For that matter, until SP1 came out for Vista, it wouldn't fully support my Photosmart 7760!
I see you're from east TN...whereabouts? Me & the wife go down to the Smokies at least once a year.

 

[Tullphan]

Well, I got me the Brother MFC-240C off eBay for $69 shipped. I was told it was in excellent condition & the cartridges were about a month old.
I hope it works out!

 

[avolanche]

If you get a separate scanner,be sure that drivers are available for your computer's OS.Vista does not support many scanners.

Yeah...that was my problem this time around. Three different scanners & Vista didn't support any. For that matter, until SP1 came out for Vista, it wouldn't fully support my Photosmart 7760!
I see you're from east TN...whereabouts? Me & the wife go down to the Smokies at least once a year.

Live in Knoxville.The Smokies are great.....just hate the traffic!