Need some help choosing a $100-$200 inkjet printer.

[Sukhoi]

This will mostly be for text printing, though I still need the color capability. Photo quality doesn't matter a whole lot to me as I don't even have a digital camera.

I'm currently looking at the HP 932, though I'm considering the whole 932/940/952/960 line. They all seem to use the HP78 color cartridge, but the black cartridges are really confusing me. I want a printer that uses the HP45 print cartridge, not that ripoff HP15 25 ml cartridge. From what I can tell, the 932 uses the HP45, the 940 uses the HP15, and the 952 and 960 use the HP45. Can someone confirm this for me? If the above is true, then I guess it looks like the 932 is the best printer for my needs.

Are there any non-HP printers I should be considering? I want a printer with the print heads on the cartridges, so I think that narrows it down to HP and Canon.

Thanks!

Edit: Has the 932 been discontinued or something? I can't find it at Staples or OfficeMax.

 

[Susan]

Yes, the 932 is discontinued as well as the 952.

The 15 cartridge (25 ml) is a total rip, but it also does not offer 1200 DPI printing like the the 45 (42 ml) - only 600. Text is much better with the 45.

Actually the biggest rip is the 78 cartridge, but since you aren't planning to be doing lots of color printing, it doesn't matter.

The 920 and the 940 both use the 15 cartridge, and are essentially the same guts with different cases. Go for the 960 because that has better speed and the 45 cartridge.

The only printer that I can think of that comes close to the 960 would be the Epson C80 because it is also economical with the ink. Downside is that all cartridges need to have ink in them in order to print anything at all. For instance, if the yellow is empty, you can't even print in black.

HP should be coming out with a whole new line within the next couple of weeks. 4800x2400 with separate printheads.

 

[Sukhoi]

HP should be coming out with a whole new line within the next couple of weeks. 4800x2400 with separate printheads.

Very interesting..what exactly do you mean by separate printheads? Are they finally going to separate color cartridges? Or is HP integrating the printheads into the printer instead of the cartridge?

 

[skeletal29]

I just bought a canon s450 for text printing and color and its kicking reall ***.
THe main reason i bought it is because the ink is very cheap .I print alot and its very good quality too adn the speed is ok too.


CANON S450 all the way bro!

 

[Susan]

As far as the new HP's, they may not have all separate ink tanks, but the printheads should all be separate. Very similar if not the same as what you see now on their newest all-in-one machines - the d135, d145 and d155. One black tank, one color tank, but four different printheads. It keeps the costs down for the ink and does a great job printing. Print heads will need to be replaced after some time, but I think the black alone has a life of 32,000 pages.

Canon is good, but the print quality under normal printing is not as high dpi as the HP. ( I forget the specs right now) The Canon really does great when you set it for glossy photo paper, though. Nice print. Cost per page is good, also.

Of course, one of the worst cost/page is the Lexmark. They have some new models out that also have the 4800x2400, but the cartridges will make you go broke.

 

[Sukhoi]

I noticed that the S750 is about the same price as the 960C, so I'll check out the S750 too.

Susan, any idea if HP will be lowering their ink prices now that they are moving to separate print heads? Staples brand print cartridges for the 960C are around the same price as the Canon cartridges for the S750, and I think I'd rather have the print heads on the cartridges since I probably won't be printing a whole lot. I also don't really know if any of the features on the new HP line will really matter to me since I'm not doing any photo printing.

 

[EXman]

Make sure you look into Lexmark's printers the Z43 is like under $100 and 14ppm

I have a Z52 and it works Great! pretty high resolutions too in comparison

 

[Sukhoi]

Sorry, I'm not really interested in Lexmark. I'm pretty sure their ink prices are insane.

 

[hungrygoose]

actually, the lexmark cartridges have great yields.....i've had my Z52 since april 2001 and haven't had to replace the cartridges but once....not bad to me.....the black print speed is great and the color quality is surprisingly great as well.......the Z65 i believe it is does 20ppm black and has a max resolution of 4800dpi!....worth a look i would say.....steer clear of hp's with the 15 cartridge, it has exactly half the ink of the 45 and cost the same......also, don't be sold on the whole "Photo-Ret" technology that they advertise....you can't see the difference compared to lexmark or epson or even canon....epson have some great printers out now too

 

[RossMAN]

I know it's a model you're not currently interested in but you may want to consider the Epson 820. Bought my sister that printer two days ago, the speed and quality is phenomenal, bought it for $80 from my local Staples B&M after $20 off $100 printable coupon.

 

[ChefJoe]

For home use? Go in on the Epson 820 and, provided you don't print out that much stuff, you can consider it disposable in 3 years or so. Print heads of it are built into the printer, makes the ink carts cheaper but they eventually clog.

 

[chansen]

I think Canon's new S line of printers are pretty intelligent, in that the print head is separate from the cartridges, AND the printer.

I bought the S500 in December and am quite happy with it. I use an old laser for most of my printing to keep the cost down, and have yet to replace a Canon cartridge.

New models can print edge-to-edge on the page, I believe.

 

[Sukhoi]

Yow, too many printers!! I'll check out those other models you suggested and see what looks best. I've had an HP 870Cse for 5 years with no problems (other than a little one that was replaced under warranty), so I'm sorta leaning toward HP since I've had good experiences with them.

 

[patrickc]

there is a noticable difference in speed between the 932 and the 960...but the 932 wasn't bad by any means...

had trouble using the 932 with W98 boggin down on parallel and getting it installed on USB, switched to ME which helped *tremendously* but on a couple of other machines, still have the occasional "how come it's not printing"...using a 960 on W2k USB no problems...

the case on the 932 is a bit better built than the 960...not sure what I did taking the 960 out of the box, pushed down on somethin and from day one the paper doesn't quite eject quite right...

ink is a definite bummer...almost switched brands when they dropped the amount of ink for the same dollars...if cost isn't a factor, you might want to wait and see what the deal is with the new models...but it looks like the prices of both the 932 (if you can find'em) and 960 and dropping fast...and from the for what it's worth dept...if you do have occasion to print a photo or two, get the good HP gloss and you will be quite happy...if they are coming out with something even better, that will be very interesting to see photo wise...anywho...good luck...

p.

 

[Aquaman]

I have a Canon S600 since October and have been printing very regularly......... I just got the alter that my colour carts are running low and my black cart is still 1/2 full

Cheers,
Aquaman