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View Full Version : What Brand of InkJet Printer Do You Own?


Jason Dunn
04-23-2004, 12:03 AM
A quick survey because it's something I'm curious about. Please only answer the survey if you have an inkjet printer. Thanks!

dartman
04-23-2004, 12:27 AM
If you mean for photos, I have a Canon I960. I love it.

I also have an HP 970 for general color printing. I like it because the quality is good and it prints on both sides of the paper. Good for those long pdf manuals and documents.

I also use it for color coded source program listings.

dart

Jason Dunn
04-23-2004, 12:32 AM
I didn't want to get too specific and say "photo printer" because that means different things to different people. Just colour inkjet-based printers, that's all I was curious about. :-D

Suhit Gupta
04-23-2004, 12:36 AM
I would loved to have known how many people actually own a color laser printer as well. I can't wait for those to drop down in cost.

Suhit

Jason Dunn
04-23-2004, 12:39 AM
I would loved to have known how many people actually own a color laser printer as well. I can't wait for those to drop down in cost.

Maximum PC had a shoot out between an inkjet printer and a colour laser, and while the laser was great at everything, the inkjet produced better photos. I've never really been impressed by colour laser output, but I might not have seen the really nice ones. :-)

Ed Hansberry
04-23-2004, 12:54 AM
I didn't want to get too specific and say "photo printer" because that means different things to different people. Just colour inkjet-based printers, that's all I was curious about. :-D
Oh, now you say color inkjet. I answered Canon because of my beloved Canon BJ200e.

SassKwatch
04-23-2004, 01:04 AM
I voted for what I have currently....a rather old(?) HP952C. But hopefully, that will be replaced later this year...probably with an Epson 2200, but if I don't upgrade the digicam to DSLR this year, it *might* wind up being the Epson 4000 series.

Tim Williamson
04-23-2004, 01:33 AM
Lexmark Z11 for me! The ink cartridge costs more than the printer, yeah baby! :lol:

This is one thing I might upgrade eventually, but right now I pretty much just view my photos on my PC or Pocket PC, no need to print 'em out.

ctmagnus
04-23-2004, 02:44 AM
Deskjet 970, bought specifically for the duplexing module.

ryaninc
04-23-2004, 03:47 AM
I find HPs dominance in this poll slightly disturbing. Are they really that much better? 8O

SassKwatch
04-23-2004, 04:08 AM
I find HPs dominance in this poll slightly disturbing. Are they really that much better? 8O
IMNSHO, a lot of it is marketing and product accessibility. You can find HP printers *everywhere*. Not always the case with other mfrs. My 952c has been a good introductory device to photo printing and I like it well enough, but I don't think it's that much better than equivalent models from other mfrs. And these days, you could find any number of devices of at least equal (probably better) quality for a third the price I originally paid for this one.

Gary Sheynkman
04-23-2004, 04:18 AM
Wow...did not expect that much support for HP.

I used to have a Canon but I find my HP to be FAR more economical and better built.

Jason Dunn
04-23-2004, 04:27 AM
Are they really that much better? 8O

Market share and quality are not always related. Remember that Beta was technically superior to VHS in many ways, but it lost the marketing war. And that's why we have Sony memory sticks today. Really!

Doug Johnson
04-23-2004, 08:21 AM
I find HPs dominance in this poll slightly disturbing. Are they really that much better? 8O
Having owned several HPs, Canons, and Epsons, I find that the Epson printers I have had have far and away had the best output. The HPs were the worst. And the Canons the least reliable, one dying after only printing about 50 pages. No trouble at all with any Epson so far.

possmann
04-23-2004, 04:10 PM
I've never had any luck - over a period of time - with the HP printers. I find Cannon and Epson more reliable and better for price/quality and long term use. Last thing I want to do is replace my printer every year - geesh.

James Fee
04-23-2004, 04:57 PM
And the Canons the least reliable, one dying after only printing about 50 pages. No trouble at all with any Epson so far.
I've had the inverse. I used to have some old Epson printers that were great, but the last 2 I got were crap. Both died right after their warranty was over. The quality is great, but their build quality is so much worst than my new Canon i960. I can't speak to older Canon's because I never owned one (well if you count my old Apple Stylewritter II I did own one), but the current models are far better than the Epson Stylus Photo 925 that I thought was going to be a great printer (till it stopped responding). I looked at both the Canon i960 and the Epson Stylus Photo R300M, but I great tired of replacing the printer every 3 months.

Andy Manea
04-23-2004, 06:44 PM
Lexmark Z11 for me! The ink cartridge costs more than the printer, yeah baby! :lol:

Oooh, I got a Lexmark printer for free with a computer I bought (I think the same model number) and besides it being a piece of crap the cartridge costs were driving me nuts, so I ended up giving it away. :devilboy:

Andy Manea
04-23-2004, 06:55 PM
Right now I am using a Compaq printer/scanner/copy machine, that I got for an additional 100$ when I bought my Compaq laptop - back in the golden days of HP-less Compaq.

The Yaz
04-23-2004, 07:11 PM
I think the HP responce comes from the fact that they make average print quality printers at a fair price. I bought an HP Photosmart 7150 December 2002 at CompUSA. The original price was $199 but with all of the discounts and rebates (they offered $35 off and a $75 rebate if you bought a digital camera at the same time), my final cost was $89.

Maybe its not the best model, but it prints up to 4800 dpi and the two ink cartridges packaged together come to $60 a pop.

So I won't be upgrading this unit for a while. I'm sure its the same with alot of people. A printer is a peripheral that is not as cycle sensitive (I still use a 600 dpi laser for text printing) as the computers tend to be.

Steve 8)

Suhit Gupta
04-23-2004, 08:06 PM
I have the HP d145 all-in-one which is color inkjet. Though I also have an HP Laserjet 6MP (B&W) and I actually print all my papers there.

Suhit

Jonathon Watkins
04-24-2004, 10:28 PM
I used to have an Epson, but I *really* don't like their vertical paper loading mechanism. :x I want a tidy, flat stack of paper that does not crease or load sideways!

James Fee
04-25-2004, 04:43 PM
I used to have an Epson, but I *really* don't like their vertical paper loading mechanism. :x I want a tidy, flat stack of paper that does not crease or load sideways!
Really, you prefer HPs? The way Epson and Canon do it is better IMO because it doesn't bend the paper. It's a strait shot though the printer, much like professional printers do.

Jonathon Watkins
04-25-2004, 05:57 PM
It's a strait shot though the printer, much like professional printers do.

I used to have a lot of problems with paper skewing and not running straight - till I got rid of my Epson. :?

The bend is brief and I have no problems with it. The printer is then 'set and forget' and takes up a lot less space, can be stacked etc.

So, yes, I do prefer HP's way. :)

Then again, currently I don't own a colour ink-jet - just a B&W laser printer.

James Fee
04-25-2004, 07:05 PM
The bend is fine if you use ordinary paper or photopaper, but if you want to print on thicker paper, I've found the strait paths work beter. I've have not much luck printing on 68lb stock with HP printers.

I will agree with your comments on the Epson. I had an old stylus that I had to rig with a rubber band to get it to work right. My current Canon has no such problems.

Suhit Gupta
04-25-2004, 10:41 PM
I tried printing with 68lb paper on my HP and it printed it fine however the paper was a little bent because of the rolling. I, like Jonathan, prefer HPs (I have two of them as I pointed out earlier) but I can totally see your point that for card stock, one would want straight through printing.

Suhit

James Fee
04-26-2004, 04:02 AM
Oh there is nothing wrong with HP, its just not what I need. The path on a HP printer works for probably 99% of users, just not for me. The path is something to keep in mind though depending upon what you want to use it for. Our new laser printer at work has a strait paper path which makes it easy to use with thicker paper on it.

Just personal preference I guess...

gai-jin
04-26-2004, 06:36 AM
I own the epson R300. For what little bit of photo printing my wife occasionally does, it gives amazing results. The main reson I bought this printer though, was because of it's ability to print directly to cd/dvd media. It sure makes it easier to identify my backup cd's, boot cd's, etc, with a full color printed label on them, as compared to the old method of labeling with a sharpie, or worse, not at all.

Gai-jin

P.S. One downfall. . . I've had this printer for about 5-6 months now, and I find that it doesn't grab the cd tray like it used to... when printing cd's now, I have to exert a slight pressure on the back of the cd tray to ensure the rollers actually grab the tray and feed it thru. I've been meaning to call epson and see if they have a simple solution to this, but just haven't had the time.

rlobrecht
04-28-2004, 06:12 PM
I voted Canon. We have a i960 that we use exclusively for photos. We've only had it about 2 months, but really like it so far. For general color printing we have an older Lexmark Z52, and we also have a Lexmark E320 B&W laser. I really like the Lexmark laser, but the ink jet has some issues.

rfmtf
04-30-2004, 12:27 AM
I own an HP and it sucks!

encece
06-06-2004, 08:02 AM
I never had a printer at home as I have access to a ton of High End printers at work, including LARGE format printers that print 60" x whatever. :)

But I was just at CompUSA and picked up a HP Photosmart 7660. Not the best printer in the world, but it does the job. And I like the 4 x 6 photo output as well.

Suhit Gupta
06-06-2004, 04:24 PM
I never had a printer at home as I have access to a ton of High End printers at work, including LARGE format printers that print 60" x whatever. :)
Heh, me too :). In fact the only reason I have a printer at home now is because I inherited my boss' old broken printer (which actually isn't that old and which I happened to be able to fix).

Suhit

Rikostan
06-10-2004, 11:45 AM
I have a lexmark, an old HP 800 series and an even older canon that never did work right.