Which is the best home inkjet printer?

[paulabell]

I would like to buy a new printer. Iam having two childen. one studying in 10th standard and other in 8th. My son in 10th has many projects and so pictures and cover pages to print. he also may have to print other pages for school. my daughter in 8th also prints pictures and articles.I myself also will print articles and forms.

 

[turbguy]

Given your description of intended use, you may want to consider a color laser printer. They are far more reliable then inkjets, and cheaper to operate. But they are not quite "Photorealistic" in quality.

Wayne

 

[jondave]

'Best' is a relative term - from what you've indicated you seem to be concerned with printing cost, so a color laser printer would be the way to go.

 

[The Hat]

I would like to buy a new printer. Iam having two childen. one studying in 10th standard and other in 8th. My son in 10th has many projects and so pictures and cover pages to print. he also may have to print other pages for school. my daughter in 8th also prints pictures and articles.I myself also will print articles and forms.

I wouldnt consider a colour laser printer as an option where kids are concerted useless you can afford to buy new inks by the truck load..
A mono laser would be a far better and cheaper option even then you would still have to use third party cartridges to keep your costs down..

 

[IPexpress]

Difficult to vote the BEST Inkjet Printer, but my family all use the Canon PIXMA iX6550 A3+ Colour Photo Printer which does seem to do most things quite well. Photos seem to come out really true!!!

 

[OutOFtheinkwell]

My choice is an Epson Artisan model,( I have a 725) which I paid $99.00 for. It prints full color pictures up to 8 1/2 X 11. I then bought large bottles of ink and a one time purchase of refillable ink cartridges,(dampers) with a RATF chip bar, ( Refill All To Full). It's a 6 color printer and 6 (240 mil) size inks cost me about $70.00 and the refill kit with a bar chip that takes the place of Epson cartridges with the chips attached cost about $39.00 plus the shipping which is nominal. I think several places sell this basic set up and I used InkJetCarts as my source, I think Ink Republic also sells the same set up and others as well. There are dozens of online tutorials on their web sites and they also recommend external waste ink tanks which cost me $4.50. Compare that to over one hundred dollars for just 6 OEM Epson refill cartridges that last just a short time and then need to be replaced at over $100.00 each time. My resulting prints have all been excellent and I just refill through the flip top Cartridges( they call them dampers) for pennies each time. You will see just how good this set up is with an Epson if you look into it online. Happy Printing.

 

[jondave]

My recommendation for mums with kids is still a colour laser printer because of overall printing cost per page, less maintenance, no fuss over refilling cartridges, good print quality for pictures and especially text, and longer printer life.

Don't mistake cheap inkjets and cheap ink refills as providing good value - if you add all these costs up over the number of pages you've actually printed, the seemingly expensive laser printer and refilled toners will still be cheaper. And that's not even factoring in the time, effort, and fuss that goes into maintaining an inkjet printer.

 

[turbguy]

I concur with a color laser printer as your BEST choice. UNLESS you need photographic quality prints.

 

[The Hat]

I will have to take a different point of view than you guys on that and I am sorry if refilling an ink cartridge is somehow considered by some
to be time consuming difficult or even stressful for that matter, I found the opposite is the case.

Now Ive not seen kids let loose on a colour laser before but I have seen grown Adults (children) use them
and the actual cost of their exploits would put any inkjet printer on OEM inks to shame.

I use inkjet printers extensively for pleasure, work, charity and school events and at no time
could I ever contemplate switching to colour lasers as a cheaper alternative, there not.

An inkjet using 3rd party inks leaves colour lasers for dead with its print size variety, outstanding quality
and low running costs on many different paper surfaces not to mention the pure pleasure one can get out of the experience.

The best all round print solution is a mono laser for home projects, school work and internet printing,
and if colour pictures are really needed then they can do them at a friends house or the local shopping mall.

It is long recognised that mono lasers are the most economical and lowest cost printers to maintain on the market today
unless you name happens to be Mr. Epson or Mr. Canon Inc..

 

[jondave]

Now Ive not seen kids let loose on a colour laser before but I have seen grown Adults (children) use them
and the actual cost of their exploits would put any inkjet printer on OEM inks to shame.

I think you're confusing the total cost of their exploits with the actual cost per page. I highly doubt inkjets on refills can beat a color laser on refills on actual cost per page.

I use inkjet printers extensively for pleasure, work, charity and school events and at no time
could I ever contemplate switching to colour lasers as a cheaper alternative, there not.

Yes, but your preference doesn't mean that inkjets are cheaper, unless you've actually owned a color laser printer and know what its running costs are.

An inkjet using 3rd party inks leaves colour lasers for dead with its print size variety, outstanding quality
and low running costs on many different paper surfaces...

You're saying this based on what? Last I heard the only thing color lasers can't do well is print professional-quality photos.

The best all round print solution is a mono laser for home projects, school work and internet printing,
and if colour pictures are really needed then they can do them at a friends house or the local shopping mall.

It is long recognised that mono lasers are the most economical and lowest cost printers to maintain on the market today
unless you name happens to be Mr. Epson or Mr. Canon Inc..

How come mono lasers only? Refilled color toners cost the same.


I don't mean to start a debate here, but us die-hard inkjet printer owners and cartridge refillers might be mistaken to think that this pleasure can be shared by everyone. I have a color laser printer and the only effort I exert to use it is to press the power switch. Whereas I can't count the length of time I've spent refilling carts, running cleaning cycles, and clear the ocassional clogs from my inkjets. Not to mention making sure to keep away my syringes, solvents, and ink bottles from the kids.