I've had an Epson CX4200 printer/copier/scanner for several years; it was "free" at the Apple store when I bought the PowerBook G4. It doesn't owe me anything, but it appears the printheads have deteriorated and now neither the print nor copy functions work properly. So I'm ready to replace it.

Manufacturer and/or model ideas welcome. So far Canon Pixma 490, HP Photosmart premium and Epson Workforce 310 are on the list.

Any other better ideas? I'm not high volume dependent, and generally not high quality dependent, but I use all 3 functions regularly.

AMProf,
     Consider the HP Officejet J4680 All-in-one Printer
Seán

Dell has its V313 AIO printer on sale for $59.00 with free shipping right now:

http://accessories.us.dell.com...il.aspx?sku=224-6614

Jeff/CompGuy

I got an HP C4795 a couple months ago for a good price at Best Buy that I'm still pretty happy with.
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Stephen

Thanks Sean, Jeff, Stephen.

The Dell has a very desirable feature, the inclusion of OCR software for scanned documents. I have some projects that would be much easier to contemplate with that option.

I've been using Professor Ink for my Epson CX4200; 4 cartridges for $20, and the monitor identifies them as Epson manufacture. Have not had an ink issue at all. The Professor doesn't list the V313 among its bargain inks, so it looks like a $60 or $70 bill every so often.

I may just have had a faulty sensor on one of the cartridges for the Epson, since changing all of them out (way before the monitor would have kicked in) restored the print function (but not the copy function).

The Dell printer got good reviews:

http://reviews.dell.com/2341/224-6614/reviews.htm

If the printer with ink costs $59 delivered, why consider paying $60-$70 for ink cartridges? Buy a second printer instead. (Even Dell doesn't charge that much for its ink, BTW.) This is a new printer. I'm sure the usual discount ink suppliers will list it with compatible cartridges in a few months.

Jeff/CompGuy

I think I read something a little while back which said that printer makers were countering this purchasing strategy by not including full-sized cartridges with new printers anymore. I don't know if it's started yet, or how prevalent it may become, though. AFAIK my new printer still came with a regular cartridge set.
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Stephen

quote:

I think I read something a little while back which said that printer makers were countering this purchasing strategy by not including full-sized cartridges with new printers anymore.

I think in some cases that has always been true. My old HP printer came with the "A" (subscript) cartridge that held much less ink than the standard cartridge.

quote:

I'm not high volume dependent, and generally not high quality dependent, but I use all 3 functions regularly.

That makes a difference. If you said the opposite I would suggest a Kodak printer which I am considering. It is a photo quality printer. They do cost more but their ink is very cheap. They had been advertizing it for the cheap cost in ink. A black replacement is only $9.99 and color for $14.99. It would not take all that many replacements to make up for the slightly higher costs of the printer.

They have a number of printers, some with photo editing software and a built in screen so you can print and edit directly from a flash card. The models differ in scanner quality (dpi) and speed in printing. I haven't checked for wireless.

But the low cost ink is a consideration and is what Kodak is using to try to compete as it transitions to digital.

Thanks, Doug for the feedback. I'll look into the Kodak. My youngest son has a Kodak photo printer and seems satisfied.