Which printer?

[deaglan1]

I wish to purchase a printer with the following attributes:

Either an All in One (printer, copier, scanner) or just a small stand alone Printer that:

Can use a simple refillable ink system (cartridge(s) or otherwise) or non-OEM cartridge(s) that will be recognised consistently by the printer as being compatible.
Printer can be new or older model. Does not need to be WiFi. Main purpose is straight b/w & colour printing on paper of essays, letters, notes. So no need for anything fancy BUT consistency of accepting refills or remanufactured cartridges is the number one priority.
Any thoughts would be most welcome.

 

[ghwellsjr]

I recommend the older Canon printers that don't use chips in their cartridges. The i850, i860, iP3000 and iP4000 are small stand alone printers and the MP780 is an all-in-one that also has fax or you might be able to find an MP750 or MP760 which don't have fax. I find these on Craigslist all the time in the Los Angeles area. Where are you located?

 

[deaglan1]

Thank you for that reply - I am afraid Craig's list is out for me - I live in Europe - I will try ebay etc to see if any of these printers might come up a little more locally. If I were to find one of them and decided to do my own refills, are there really differences in ink quality that can adversely affect cartridges? I read somewhere that ink quality should be seriously considered but I fail to understand how ink can affect the cartridge.

 

[ghwellsjr]

There are two issues with regard to ink:
1) You don't want to mix pigment ink with dye ink. Some cartridges need pigment and others need dye. If you mix them up, it won't hurt the cartridges but it may clog the print head or result in reduced performance.
2) There are two basic kinds of printer technology; Epson printers use a mechanical pump to expel ink out the nozzles while most other inkjet printers heat the ink to a boil to eject it. Therefore, you don't want to use one kind of ink of the other kind of printer.
These issues shouldn't be a problem for you since there are lots of different kinds of inks available almost everywhere.

If you do find a printer on eBay, request that the seller post a nozzle check so you can assure that the print head is in good condition. Then if you buy, ask the seller to remove the cartridges and do two deep head cleanings to drain all the ink of the print head so that it will not contaminate the electronics in the print head and cause a short when you power up the printer.