Please recommend a printer for me!!

[kmarketing]

I am looking to buy a new printer, but have no idea what would be best with mac. I'm thinking canon because of the low ink costs and their reputation for good printers. Do you have any recommendations?

Many people say the all in ones are not too good, but what do you think? Is there a particular model that offers good quality and will have full mac os capability?

Finally, I was hoping to be wireless with the printer so that it could be in another room. Do I have to get a specific wireless printer for that to work, or will any do?

Here are some more of my details:
under $150 preferably under $100
Low ink costs
no issues with compatibility
medium print needs, with some photos

My systems: g5 1.8 running panther, and powerbook 1.33 running panther.

Please let me know,
Thanks!!

 

[Cooknn]

I recommend the HP Deskjet 5850 Wireless Printer. It's sleek and inexpensive and it's compatible with your Mac. I've got one at home with my Power Mac G5 and at the office on my PC - I also installed one on a friend's new iMac G5 the other day...

 

[JasonL]

In my experience HP ink costs are very high, something he's not looking for.

I'd recommend doing a quick search, I seem to remember reading a very similar thread recently and there were a number of good suggestions.

 

[Solafaa]

I always use all-in-ons (except for my bedroom), they are great. They are not the "best" but you cant tell the diffrence between them anyway. I dont think there is an all-in-one printer that is less then $100 so your best bet is to get a a normal printer.

I would recomend you get either an Hp or a Canon there both great, I recomend you get a Canon i560, its less then $100 (amazon) and it has good specs.

 

[cluthz]

I got a Canon pixma 5000 a few days ago, and its great!
Its speedy, two-sided prining(!), two paper feeder (both on top + a cassete under!)
It replaced an 3 year old Epson 760 (had two of them, first one died after a year, never liked them at all..)

As said, I've only had if for a few days and maybe printed about 20 pages.

 

[AuPhalanx]

I own a Canon printer, scanner, and digital camera. Am I a huge Canon fan? Not initially. When I was researching said peripherals, I found that in the price range I wanted, Canon always got excellent reviews. They may not have always been the best, but they always scored in the top three. Using them has been great, too. No problems here. Installing the drivers can be a bit wonky, but once you install them, you forget them.

I have a Canon i860 printer. It works well with my wireless. It prints photos GREAT and does ont seem to be too much of an ink hog. I have found that when it notifies me to replace an ink cartridge, I can just reinsert the same "used" cartridge and get a BUNCH more pages from it.

The Canon I have plus the USB cable cost a little more than $160 or so. In my opinion, though, Canon stuff is excellent and even their $100 model should be a real winner.

Have fun... Tony.

 

[neut]

i second a canon. the new PIXIMA (sp?) seems cool... i've got an i860 that came with a USB cord for just over $100 at CompUSA. low ink cost. great printer.

epson = really nice (but expensive)

hp = ok, but way overprced (ink)... trust me, i know what goes on in that place.


peace.

 

[jaw04005]

I've worked for a local photographer over the past three years, and from my perspective each company has their own unique specialty.

Epson for high-quality photographic prints that will last many years.
Printer cost ranges from relatively cheap (C82) to expensive (2200), $$ cartridges.

Canon for "fast" good-quality photographic prints that are not guaranteed to last. Printer cost ranges from relatively cheap (i Series) to expensive (i9900), $ cartridges.

HP for business-quality color prints. Printer cost ranges from relatively cheap to medium priced, $$$ cartridges. Printers don't usually last more than 2 years. HP's business line of printers are another story, love their LaserJet series.

Lexmark for low-quality color printers. Initial printer cost is super cheap, $$$ cartrdiges. Printer's dont usually last more than 1 year, shotty printer drivers. I would avoid this brand.

It all comes down to how much money you have initially, and what you plan on doing with your printer. You should keep in mind your TCO, having to purchase expensive printer cartridges will add up fast (HP/Lexmark).

I personally own a Canon S9000 wide-format printer, love it. Printer cartridges are $9.99. However, my printer has 6 cartridges (CMYK,PC,PM). Also, most Canon printers require all cartridges to be "useable" before allowing you to print any document. Even documents that do not contain color. The Epsons we use at work don't require that.

 

[parrothead]

I use the Epson CX 5200. I have been very happy with it. One thing I really like is that it has relatively large ink capacity, so I dont have to buy more very often. The print quality has been very nice (I have printed many of my digital wedding photos) and I really like the way it can be used as a copy machine, this saves MUCH hassle by not having to go to Kinkos.

 

[kiwi-in-uk]

As I have said before on other threads, I have not had any problems with Canon printers - perhaps not the the finest print quality (if that's what you want) but they "just work" and are more than adequate for business - and presumably student - use. I have had problems with Epsons. No recent experience with HPs, although those that I had in the 80s and 90s were fine.

 

[Converted2Truth]

I have an epson CX6400 and it rocks. Borderless 8x10 ! Hot damn, i love it. Works great once you get the recent drivers and software! Fast too.

 

[neut]

I have an epson CX6400 and it rocks. Borderless 8x10 ! Hot damn, i love it. Works great once you get the recent drivers and software! Fast too.

canon will also do borderless (AND edge to edge printing... )


peace.

 

[iGary]

I'm a professional photographer, and I produce excellent (sellable) prints on my Canon i960. Just make sure you get a profile done if you are going to be doing that type of printing.

Comes in at your budget, ink is fairly inexpensive.

Sold.

 

[kmarketing]

Hi,

Would you say the i860/i960 line is comparable/better/worse than the pixma line?

What are the advantages if any of the pixma line?

Thanks!

 

[Alexandernap]

Canon i960

I have had all the major brands of printers and I have to say the latest Canon i960 is the best one yet. Photos come out better than anyone I have seen. It prints very quite and has very good ink costs. I printed 8x10s of probably 100 photos and spent $22 on ink afterwards. As far as longevity of photos I believe it uses the proper dyes for lasting a long time. My HP5650 does not compare. For printing text however I would say the HP is better.

 

[Artful Dodger]

I have a Canon i960 and an Epson R300. The R300 is for my cd/dvd printing only since I don't like its print quality for photos. I much prefer the Canon and it doesn't cost much in ink replacement. I must say that I didn't use their program for borderless photos and learned the hard way. Now I print using their program and it is true borderless every time Now my friends come over and chip in for ink and only print what they want.
Hope this helps.