Network Printer Advice?

sean.ferguson

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I have a pretty good setup at home, with a total of 4 computers connected to my broadband connection via my Netgear Wireless Router. I had a Lexmark All-In-One Inkjet printer, which was connected to the main PC however its running costs are terrible and it would end up being cheaper buying a new printer.

I am now looking at a network printer, so that I can simply plug it directly into the Netgear Router and therefore give all connected PC's the ability to print to it.

What I am looking for is some recommendations, the printer naturally must be Colour. However, I am wondering whether its worth considering a nice Colour Laser printer? How is Colour Laser printers toners, do thy last well? Furthermore, how (in)expensive are they to maintain and run?

I would really like something that is relatively cheap, reliable and cheap to run. Any suggestions will help me out - thanks in advance.
 
I've got an HP5800 color deskjet. Great for my home use and it can connected to either an wired or wireless LAN. I got it probably 8 months ago so there is probably something newer and nicer out there. At work we've got a couple of color laserjets. They are awesome but HUGE and probably expensive.
 
BouncingSoul said:
At work we've got a couple of color laserjets. They are awesome but HUGE and probably expensive.

Yeah, Laserjets would be nice. But I really think I will need to make do with a good quality InkJet for around £200. Never used HP before - how has your experience been with your printer?
 
We've used printers from Canon, HP, Epson, and Lexmark at home, and from personal experience, if you're going for an inkjet printer, I'd suggest one from the Canon PIXMA series. They're the least of the ink-guzzlers and the photo prints come out beautifully on the mid-range and high-end models. HP would be my second choice if you find something better from them.

Then pick up one of these: http://www.netgear.com/products/details/PS121.php
It's a USB print server that plugs into your existing router. You connect the printer to the print server using a USB cable and it can be shared over the network. We use the PS121 at home, and it works "as advertised" :)
 
Well, looking into that I can see a PIXMA iP2200 with that Netgear Print Server - all which is easily affordable. Kunal I know you have mentioned that Canon PIXMA is easy on the Ink, but in real terms how are Canons with their ink?

[edit] correction, the 4200 is nicer ;)
 
I've only used HP at home & they are great for what I need it for. Decent speed, good quality printing. I can't say how they are on ink since I don't print tons of stuff. I've never had problems with them not lasting though, and they have good utilities for monitoring your ink levels and such. The big downside is how expensive HP ink is, I mean its expensive throughout the printer industry but HP is super expensive.
 
There's a HP2575 we're selling in Currys at £149.99 at the moment. Looks quite decent, with photo quality prints. 28ppm black. Ethernet ready.
 
HP has the print head built into the print cartridge which makes it the most expensive for ink, but you will never loose a printer because the head could not be cleaned.

Canon or HP make good printers. Canon has fairly cheap generic ink cartridges available.

Stay away from Brother, my 4 in 1 is quirky as hell for just printing and uses more ink during head cleaning than for printing. It also leaves about 20% of the ink in the cartrdiges and says they are empty.

Epson I was not impressed with. The epson I had was quirky, used too much ink and died on me very early compared to the Cannons and HPs I've had..

Laser printers are worthless for photo's. Stay with inkjets if you have photo work. Toner cartridges cost an arm and a leg and the ones that come with many printers are mini-cartridges and run dry fast.

As for model, I won't recommend one because they change them every 6 months.

Make sure whatever you get doesn't use proprietary ink cartridges with smart chips in them. You end up throwing away 1/4 of the ink and they are way over priced.
 
Thanks for the advice, I'm going to have a shop around later tonight and the weekend before I return to work. Hopefully I can see something that is suitable.
 
Have to agree with NetRyder re Cannon Pixma. Have tried all sorts, and this is by far the best quality for a printer within this particular price range. The ink seems to last much longer, and the cartridges dont break the bank (plus the non standard cartridges with chip are VERY cheap.

Only downside is the warning on low ink tends to come on quite early, which i suppose allows you to go out and buy refills - I must admit I did prefer the Epson chips that tell you levels all the time, not just when low.

So my vote is the Cannon Pixmaip3000
 
tibboh said:
I must admit I did prefer the Epson chips that tell you levels all the time, not just when low.

HP printers also have ink level indicators on-screen. :)
 
While on the topic of ink levels, one nice thing about some of the Canon printers (including the PIXMA IP4000, which we have) is the transparent ink-tanks. You can actually see the amount of ink remaining if you look at the cartridges.

s800_inktank_empty.jpg


That's what it looks like when it's "low" on ink.
 
I prefer the HP color laser printers. Although they take up alot of space, I found that mine was very easy to network and had no troubles with it at all. Toner lasts for a long time, but costly when it needs to be replaced.

EDIT: color lasers are begining to come down in price, but still cost a buttload
 
I have a MP130 that does great photos on the right paper. The ink cartridges are cheap. But the only complaint is they are also small. However a 25% black flyer will produce 150ish pages on one black cartridge, at $5 or so prices here, for a ink cost of .03 per page. As opposed to a overpriced Lexmark, and the copier and scanner are decent too, don't expect the world in those departments.

All over all B+ for useability, TCO, looks and size. It has a quiet mode for scheduled prints late at night too.
 

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