which brand of printer do you use?

[Puck]

what are your experiences with inkjet printers?

i have been using computers since around 1993 and a home computer from around the end of 1996. the first printer i bought was a canon bubblejet 240. it just happened to be the cheapest so i bought. later i realised that the cartridges were extremely expensive. around 2001 i bought another canon, this time a model s520. i had started running a business from home by now and needed a lot of printing done. laser printers were still very expensive at this time so a printer that took very cheap cartridges seemed like a good option. after copious amounts of printing (around 100 pages of text and colour per week) i simply wore out that printer! towards the end of 2004 i bought a canon i865. this was the most expensive printer i had ever bought at over two hundred pounds but the reason for purchasing it had been that it took exactly the same 'dirt cheap' cartridges as my previous printer. this was much faster, a little quieter and even came with the option of printing cd/dvd covers.

one of the common problem with canon printers is the 'waste ink tank' full message that you get after two or so years of extensive use. the waste ink tank is basically two pieces of solidified sponge that soaks up the ink when cleaning the printheads. i had to clean mine today. now it seems to be printing with a renewed zest. the following is a set of instructions to clean out the waste ink tanks that others might find useful. do note that this is only for canon printers and model specific.


Lift the lid so the print head unit moves to the middle and then pull out the power cable to stop it moving back to its home position.
Then look inside to the right and there are 2 small grey rectangular pads, about ½ inch long. With a very fine flat blade screwdriver,
these can be carefully lifted out, and then cleaned using kitchen paper. The area they fit into can be cleaned with cotton buds, being
careful not to damage the rubber membrane round the sides. be aware that you will get inky, so make sure any desk area is covered
(old newspapers come in handy).
i needed a small torch as well, just to see in.
The whole process took me around ½ an hour. Not really difficult, just fiddly.

Hope this might be of help to you.



----------------------------

This is the correct code for the S and I (like i960) series of printers. (M series below this)

*

1) Power off printer
2) Hold RESUME button then press and hold POWER. (The beeper MAY sound once, or may not depending on your model.)
3) Hold POWER and Release RESUME.
4) Press RESUME twice then release both POWER and RESUME buttons.
5) When the indicator lights steady, press RESUME 4 times (for the S900, 3 times for the 8200 apparently).
6) Press power to set data.
7) Print away!

For other codes for other printers and more info go here to this big forum (but try the above first) Fix Your Own Printer Generally many of Canon's models use exactly this same code, the i models use the same code, all the s models use the same code.



Now, for the PHYSICAL CLEANING OF THE WASTE TANK PAD....

*

1) Figure out how to open the printer by removing the side and inside top plastic panels. Just look at the thing and use your brain. Its all pressure clipped in place, no screws (at least on the S900 and similar models, probably still the same on this years models.) Look for slots and triangles on the 960.
*

On the i960 you'll have to remove the power buttons assembly on the front- take out the two screws, unplug the internal white electro connector plug CAREFULLY, then you can undo the last clip that holds the top in place.
*

2) No need to remove the ink cartridges in this process- so don't. The mechanism is held down in place in the case by two screws at the very bottom on the outside bottom of the metal chassis inside. Remove these screws then lift up the mechanism. It should lift out fairly easily, but remain attached by wires-- just place it on the top edge of the case.
*

3) You'll see the blackened (from waste ink) felt pads on the bottom. WEAR GLOVES-- this is skin indelible ink, the only thing that will get it off your hands is CLOROX. Period. There are two skinny pads that sit on top of a larger pad. Note how they fit together.
*

4) Lift the pads out and rinse out thorough in a sink until very little or no ink comes out. There's no need to use chemical or soap cleaners, just use plain water from the tap and the spray nozzle. Keep rinsing and squeezing the pads, but don't twist them like a towel, squeeze and fold in half however to really get the ink out.
*

Lay flat in the sun for a few hours to dry. Use a hairdryer to get the last bit of moisture out then replace in the printer, and put everything back together.
*

5) RESET the printer electronics, so you won't get the stupid "waste ink tank full" message any more. Do an online web search if this doesn't work for your model, although this works (or slight variations0 for many, including the 8200, the S800, and S900, and the i-series like the i869, i950, i960, etc.Two main buttons on the top of the printer- Power and the Resume:

If you've reset the code first, then cleaned the pad, you're now ready to print again.

If you've cleaned the pad first, go back and reset the printer, and then print away.



It is NOT recommended to continue printing (although you could for a while) after just resetting the code, because you will over-saturate the waste tank pad, and eventually destroy your printer.

[Spitfire_x86]

Canon ip3000. It's quite economic for B/W and Grayscale prints with the black cartridge. I can't print only when the cartridge empty message is shown 2-3 times. I simply ignore the cartridge empty messages until missing lines start showing up in the prints. Between this happens and 1st empty cartridge warning, I still manage ~200 perfectly fine prints.

[Bancan]

I use a brother. Its not bad. But gives me problem every now and then.Using it for 3 years. Used a cheap Canon for 8 years before that.

[Tehsin]

I stick to HP for home use. Gave me very little trouble. For extensive users, may not be a great choice because HP ink cartridges run anywher from $17 (black) and up.

[ammark]

I've had an Epson LQ-300 dot matrix as my first printer back in 1996, then a cheap Canon ink jet BJC-255SP from 2000 onwards. The Canon's life ended a few months ago, and I needed a cheap printer to replace it, so I settled for an HP Deskjet 1460. In Canada I had an HP Deskjet 920C which was by far the most reliable printer I've owned. Of all the three my mother was most comfortable with the Canon, while I personally prefer the HPs. But that tells you which one is idiot-proof and easy to use.

Personally I find the printing from the big-assed, high volume spitting, laser printers at my college to be the best option for taking out very crisp, smooth and excellent quality prints. Too bad they didnt do colour.

[sbsash]

I don't have any printer but my favorites are Cannon,Lexmark and HP.

[Puck]

Originally Posted by sbsash
I don't have any printer but my favorites are Cannon,Lexmark and HP.

have you used any of these brands in the past?

[MohammedC]

Originally Posted by sbsash
I don't have any printer but my favorites are Cannon,Lexmark and HP.

Originally Posted by Puck
have you used any of these brands in the past?

Puck he is only eleven.

As for me I have been using HP Deskjet F380 for past 2 years. Did not had any problems yet but as Tehsin Bhai mentioned the cost of Print Cartridge is bit high.

[Sovik]

Originally Posted by MohammedC
Puck he is only eleven.

[Zunaid]

The two best consumer (and reasonably) affordable brands are Epson or HP. I had used umpteen versions of both brands but for the past 5 years have been only HP users. We usually have a few working printers in the house for different needs. Both Epson/HP provided good quality but for Epson we had to buy special ink-cartridges for each of our printers. HP printers on the other hand use the same cartridges.

Now that color laser printer prices have dropped considerably, we recently moved our day-to-day printing to a networked HP laser printer. The cost per page is cheaper than using an inkjet printer. We have the 2600N (a tad bit slow but eminently affordable) and we are quite hapy with it. We also have out to pasture our photo printers since with the advent of all those online photo printing sites it is cheaper to do photo printing online.

[PoorFan]

If the requirements are ...

1. Home use / small business
2. Few pages of print per day
3. Low price ( up to 300 US$ or so )

I suggest ( inkjet Multi Function ) Brother color printer ( printer, copier, scanner, fax, tel, photo printer etc. ). I find its performance very reasonable, and without functional trouble so far. As I hear form other, Epson has functional trouble too often, but dont know for fact.

Also single function color laser printer seems pretty reasonable ( around 600 US$ ), if the requirement is higher than above( though I am not using )

[Antora]

HP all daaa way

[Kabir]

I've used Epson, HP, Cannon, and Samsung.

Epson: Long-lasting. I don't remember the model, but I remember turning it on after 3 years of sitting around...and the ink was PERFECT.

Cannon: worth the money, but the problem is with their refills. You can't easily refill them.

HP: The worst I've ever used, and the best I've ever used. The worst ones will ALWAYS give you trouble, with everything. In fact, one that I had earlier would always print a test page as soon as I turn on the printer. Lousy is th word I was looking for.

Samsung: it's a lazer printere that I used for just a little while. It's a quite poor quality printer.

All of the above were no more than $50 to $120. If you want a good printere that actually works, you gotta spend about $200+. Those printers you'll have no complaints about.

[Tigers_eye]

Why don't computers come with printing capabilities?

You all like Universal remotes right?

[Kabir]

That's the worst idea you've ever come up with, Mijan bhai.

[Tigers_eye]

Originally Posted by Kabir
That's the worst idea you've ever come up with, Mijan bhai.

So you don't like universal remotes, cell phone capable of doing blah blah blah, watches with GPS/calculators/N-S-E-W directions, swiss knife etc.? Hope you don't own any of the above things and/or use it.

[Kabir]

Originally Posted by Tigers_eye
So you don't like universal remotes, cell phone capable of doing blah blah blah, watches with GPS/calculators/N-S-E-W directions, swiss knife etc.? Hope you don't own any of the above things and/or use it.

Lol...you're correct. I don't have a universal remote, a cellphone that's capable of doing blah blah blah, watches with gps/calculators, and a swiss knife.

My cellphone is a 3G phone...has all the capabilities that anyone would ask for. Do I use it for those purposes? No.

[Tigers_eye]

Originally Posted by Kabir
... Do I use it for those purposes? No.

Why are you wasting money bro? I take cashier's check only.

[abdulw11]

I've only had 2 printers ever, and they have both been HP. My latest one is the 3 in 1 HP Deskjet F4180 which has a printer (duh), scanner and photocopier. The photocopier comes in very handy, now I don't have to walk to or pay the damn Post Office every time I need something copied. Very cheap too, only £40.

[Puck]

my personal experience as outlined above had always been with canon printers and i have used 3 models. i have shared a house with others who used epson and hp. epson a4 usually comes well recommended if you need cheap ink refills. canon printers, uptil the i series were replaced could take cheap compatible cartridges. this is why i don't intend to replace my i865 until it disintegrates. i can buy cartridges as cheap as uk pounds 1.33 per colour. the cheapest cartridges are the worst culprits in causing clogging of inkheads etc, but that had not deterred me in the past! the new canon printers have cartridges which contain an inkhead. this means third party branded cheap cartridges are not available. however, you might want to check out your local printer recycling shop (if you live in a large city in uk or usa) as they might be able to chip the cartridge so you can refill it ten times!)

hp, from what i have seen seem to offer the very best print quality at a4 budget printer league. the cartridges are expensive but you get what you pay for. yes there might be horror stories, but there appears to be less of them compared to epson which does seem to suffer from ink clogging problems a lot.

when you get to a3 printers epson rules! if it is photographs you intend to print at a3 level, while there are a few hp and canon alternatives available, epson is clearly the market leader in the photographic community. i appreciate that most consumers are quite happy with their 6 by 4 prints and at best 7 by 5 developed from a specialised home photo printers or from a cheap lab, however, if you need to blow up your prints above 8 by 10 (this would require an excellent exposure, resolution and sharpness in the first place), then the various brands of epson a3 printers would be the way to go. as and when i have some money (we are talking over 800 pounds) i would love to buy a specialised black and white a3 printer for photographic prints!

[Nocturnal]

own two printer before-
lexmark- good print quality but expensive cartidge.
canon - not that good print quality but cheap and easier to replace cartidge.

atm don't own any printer, so need to go good old Nilkhet (which is 3 mins from my place) to print and their print quality is pretty decent - b&w 3 tk./page, colour 4 tk./page (if you print lot you will get a deal like photocopies!! )