My Printer Just Took A Sh#$. Anyone Recommend A Nice Printer?

TheMoneyShot · 05-19-15, 09:58 AM

I have a photosmart C309... pulled it out of the closet. Now I remember why it's there. Ink dried... tried to clean it using youtube videos. Thought I cleaned the printer head properly... Ink looks perfect on paper... but I keep getting alignment errors and ink system errors. Gotta love HP printers.

MoMoneyMoVaughn · 05-19-15, 10:07 AM

Buy brother printers.

Swinging Johnson · 05-19-15, 11:06 AM

I'd suggest you buy one that doesn't defecate.

jjgold · 05-19-15, 11:17 AM

Printers are such a scam now because of the cartridges never ever buy a color printer because the cartridges will cost more than the printer

downsouth · 05-19-15, 12:59 PM

Originally posted by Swinging Johnson

I'd suggest you buy one that doesn't defecate.

I've had brother printers in both home offices and neither has defecated to my knowledge. This us even after sticking knock off ink cartridges in them for a while now.

PAULYPOKER · 05-19-15, 01:22 PM

HP Deskjet 1512

Ink lasts forever and its pretty cheap.

I had a Lexmark before this .
It was an Ink hog..
And the ink was expensive..

SharpAngles · 05-19-15, 01:27 PM

Whichever canon inkjet fits into your budget will be your best bet. Best ratio to quality and price per print. Be aware that things have changed in the last 12 years and more than likely the clone ink carts will not work thanks to all the manufacturers adding RFID chips to ensure "genuine" ink aka to ensure you pay their prices for ink.

TheMoneyShot · 05-19-15, 04:25 PM

Originally posted by PAULYPOKER

HP Deskjet 1512

Ink lasts forever and its pretty cheap.

I had a Lexmark before this .
It was an Ink hog..
And the ink was expensive..

I'll look into it. Thanks Pauly

Originally posted by SharpAngles

Whichever canon inkjet fits into your budget will be your best bet. Best ratio to quality and price per print. Be aware that things have changed in the last 12 years and more than likely the clone ink carts will not work thanks to all the manufacturers adding RFID chips to ensure "genuine" ink aka to ensure you pay their prices for ink.

Wow! Never knew this! Thanks for the post! Damn... would of walked right into a trap. Unreal these companies.

GUMMO77 · 05-19-15, 06:01 PM

Go with Sharp mentioned and always stay away from anything HP these days.

thunderous · 05-19-15, 08:57 PM

Originally posted by SharpAngles

Whichever canon inkjet fits into your budget will be your best bet. Best ratio to quality and price per print. Be aware that things have changed in the last 12 years and more than likely the clone ink carts will not work thanks to all the manufacturers adding RFID chips to ensure "genuine" ink aka to ensure you pay their prices for ink.

You do know there is difference between Clone and re manufactured right? Aftermarket chips are easily available in the market. Check out Static Control....kicked Lexmark in the nuts after Lexmark sued them for producing aftermarket goods like chips, rollers, toner etc. The reason you don't see new chips on the cartridges bought off of Ebay (cheap chinese made product and clone) is because those fukkers dont want to spend 1$ for the chips. Go to any quality re manufacturer and you will find better product then OEM. If you check out Office Depot or Staples they stock more product from after market compared to OEMS. The only reason Staples wasn't carrying HP remans was because they had a deal with HP for a few million dollars not to carry HP remans which has since expired.

As for OP's original question. Go for a laser printer lots of cheap options but if you want color then there are some inkjets like the HP officejet 8600 (8610, 8620, 8630) series where even the original inks wont break the bank. Just make sure you buy the XL inks. Go to a local Cartridge World and you will find good product but just ask them if they refill their own or buy from Clover Technologies. As long as the store has not refilled on their own you are good. Tell them you are friends with a CW owner (me) but it doesn't make sense to have inks shipped from NJ.

As for HP and Canon, let me tell you there is no difference in because Canon makes the engine then HP assembles it and sells the printer but this true only for Laser printers not Inkjet printers. Similarly Lexmark used to make printers (inkjets) for Dell and Xerox makes Laser printers for Dell. Oh and I remembered from Xerox....you can get Xerox manufactured HP, Brother and Canon toner cartridges in the market. Basically Xerox is also in the remanufacturing business and its for the simple reason that there is such a hugh market for HP cartridges that even a company like Xerox does it.

SharpAngles · 05-20-15, 12:39 PM

Originally posted by thunderous

You do know there is difference between Clone and re manufactured right? Aftermarket chips are easily available in the market. Check out Static Control....kicked Lexmark in the nuts after Lexmark sued them for producing aftermarket goods like chips, rollers, toner etc. The reason you don't see new chips on the cartridges bought off of Ebay (cheap chinese made product and clone) is because those fukkers dont want to spend 1$ for the chips. Go to any quality re manufacturer and you will find better product then OEM. If you check out Office Depot or Staples they stock more product from after market compared to OEMS. The only reason Staples wasn't carrying HP remans was because they had a deal with HP for a few million dollars not to carry HP remans which has since expired.

So Epson, HP, Canon and every other major manufacturer don't have defenses against chip reseters now? You go buy a new Inkjet and see how the refills work out for you. I'd bet you get around 40% success rate. IME Epson is the stingiest in this regard followed closely by HP then Canon which doesn't seem as determined to stop reman carts.

And LOL at Cartridge World. If you like getting charged more for crap ink in junk carts go ahead but that's not for me. The best was the first time I went in to see about getting my epson t087 carts filled and the joker there told me how bad the genuine ultra chrome ink is and that they only fill with their blend which is so much better. That shit was so bad it clogged my head and the gloss optimizer bled some of the colors

Gave the benefit of the doubt and gave them another shot for my canon i1800 and it took 3 trips to get a cart with a properly reset chip. Last time I mess with that place.

thunderous · 05-20-15, 02:20 PM

Originally posted by SharpAngles

So Epson, HP, Canon and every other major manufacturer don't have defenses against chip reseters now? You go buy a new Inkjet and see how the refills work out for you. I'd bet you get around 40% success rate. IME Epson is the stingiest in this regard followed closely by HP then Canon which doesn't seem as determined to stop reman carts.

And LOL at Cartridge World. If you like getting charged more for crap ink in junk carts go ahead but that's not for me. The best was the first time I went in to see about getting my epson t087 carts filled and the joker there told me how bad the genuine ultra chrome ink is and that they only fill with their blend which is so much better. That shit was so bad it clogged my head and the gloss optimizer bled some of the colors

Gave the benefit of the doubt and gave them another shot for my canon i1800 and it took 3 trips to get a cart with a properly reset chip. Last time I mess with that place.

Bud I own a Cartridge World so don't ask me how a refill will work. If it were getting 40% success then I would have been out of business 5 years ago. Epson has a very small market so yeah Epson does try the most to make a refill fail because their success is based on the ink they sell whereas HP is so huge that it didn't really care until now. But now with clones entering the markets (basically knock offs) they are trying to protect their product. Take a guess and tell me how much $ worth of ink HP sells annually....their market is upward of 25 Billion dollars! Do you think HP cares if re manufacturers take away 100 million dollars worth of their business?

As for your personal experience there are 2 things. 1) The Ink. All manufacturers have their own Ink....I can't put Epson's ink in your cartridge. Where do you think I will get it from? So all major Ink producers make their own ink whether they are an OEM or a aftermarket manufacturer. As for your print heads clogging its not because of the quality of the ink (the chemical properties are same whether its Epson Ink or HP Ink or a 3rd party ink) but lack of use. Buy a brand new Epson printer, print 20 pages and shut it down. Turn it on again after a month and tell me if it prints a page. Why do you think Epson printers have a cleaning system in them? Its not because they think you will use refills and mess the printheads its because they know that even with their own ink the print heads will get clogged and to use the printer properly the consumer will need to do cleaning.
2) The Chip. If you are using a Canon or HP cartridge you don't need to reset the chip because you install a new chip which is worth 80 cents but somebody might be cutting corners and I can see how you could have had a problem. This is the reason I wrote in my original post that if a Cartridge World has refilled in house then its not good but if its bought from our authorized vendor then it will work without any problems.

I am not here to campaign for Cartridge World (there must be 1000's of angry customers and many rightly so) but my business is doing well and its because we don't cut corners, we pay premium price and get quality products. We stand by our product and warranty it for a full 90 days. If it doesn't work we take it back without any questions. Try returning an original HP or Epson cartridge and see what they make you do (and yes original cartridges fail too!!).

SharpAngles · 05-20-15, 03:16 PM

I didn't know CW were franchises and a cheap owner may explain my problems. I wasn't tryin to sh*t on anybody, just sharing my experience as a freelance designer who owns Epson, HP and Canon machines and spends a ridiculous amount of money on ink every year.

As for your personal experience there are 2 things. 1) The Ink. All manufacturers have their own Ink....I can't put Epson's ink in your cartridge. Where do you think I will get it from? So all major Ink producers make their own ink whether they are an OEM or a aftermarket manufacturer. As for your print heads clogging its not because of the quality of the ink (the chemical properties are same whether its Epson Ink or HP Ink or a 3rd party ink) but lack of use. Buy a brand new Epson printer, print 20 pages and shut it down. Turn it on again after a month and tell me if it prints a page. Why do you think Epson printers have a cleaning system in them? Its not because they think you will use refills and mess the printheads its because they know that even with their own ink the print heads will get clogged and to use the printer properly the consumer will need to do cleaning.

Trust I'm well aware of printer maintenance and the effects of substandard ink. This CW ink was garbage even compared to a few chinese clones I got to work in my r1900. I wasn't expecting perfect blacks and reds like the ultrachrome but all the colors were ridic bad, I got maybe 10 prints before the banding started(from a freshly cleaned head) and the gloss caused the reds to bleed. I see now though that it was more than likely a case of bad store management and not a representation of CW as a whole. I recently upgraded to a CIS for the epson so hopefully never have to deal with those expensive t087s again.

TheMoneyShot · 05-20-15, 05:38 PM

Just picked up a simple Canon printer at walmart moments ago. They have a 15 day return policy. I needed this printer to do a few court documents "hassle free". I didn't have time to review and make an accurate choice for a new printer. I usually spend around $300.00 for a printer... I also understand that prices came down a bit in the last 12 years or so. I usually get printer/scanner/fax all in one. I hardly use color in my prints.... I heard rumors that even though you select the "black only" feature for your printer.... small amounts of color are still used. Don't quite understand??? But... I did a test years ago. I installed a new color HP cartridge a while ago... maybe I did 5-10 colored prints.... 98-99% black only..... and the damn indicator said the color was low please replace. Then, the printer wouldn't work unless you changed out the "color" cartridge. To me.... that is the biggest bullsh#$ around!

That's why I'm thinking about investing in an all black laserjet printer. I was wondering if that would fix all the typical overspending bullsh#$ with ink?

The worst printer ever is any HP Photosmart in the C309 series... or compatible models to the 564 ink cartridges. FUK U HP! Constant Ink error messages. Major write ups everywhere about that printer line... all negative reviews. Forcing people to leave HP and go to a different company.

thunderous · 05-20-15, 06:15 PM

Originally posted by SharpAngles

I didn't know CW were franchises and a cheap owner may explain my problems. I wasn't tryin to sh*t on anybody, just sharing my experience as a freelance designer who owns Epson, HP and Canon machines and spends a ridiculous amount of money on ink every year.

Trust I'm well aware of printer maintenance and the effects of substandard ink. This CW ink was garbage even compared to a few chinese clones I got to work in my r1900. I wasn't expecting perfect blacks and reds like the ultrachrome but all the colors were ridic bad, I got maybe 10 prints before the banding started(from a freshly cleaned head) and the gloss caused the reds to bleed. I see now though that it was more than likely a case of bad store management and not a representation of CW as a whole. I recently upgraded to a CIS for the epson so hopefully never have to deal with those expensive t087s again.

No problem bud and I never took offense and that's why I mentioned there are pissed off people and rightly so because not all owners are doing business the correct way and as a result we have many that complain about our product.

Yeah for certain specialty printers we don't even sell remans specially if it for someone's business. But then again all are not the same...some other owner would see more gross profit from a single sale while I see a long term relation in selling the original Epson and making just a dollar/cartridge (yeah thats how ridiculous low our margins are when selling OEM cartridges).

SharpAngles · 05-20-15, 06:22 PM

Black only will drain your color carts faster fyi. Only way to get true black is adding the CMY from the color cart and imo its a little game the manufacturers play to trick people. Theres an efficency setting or something similar depending on your make and thats best to use if its simple documents.

Laserjets are great for docs and will be cheaper over the long haul. Toner carts are still expensive but you'll be replacing them less. If you dont care about color then return the Canon and put that money towards a laserjet. If you want a nice all in one get ready to drop at least $300 or around $150 for printer only. Dont go cheaper because it will be loud and probably need to be junked in 2 years. I'm partial to canon but have used some good brothers, ricohs and believe it or not Dells.

thunderous · 05-20-15, 06:28 PM

Originally posted by TheMoneyShot

Just picked up a simple Canon printer at walmart moments ago. They have a 15 day return policy. I needed this printer to do a few court documents "hassle free". I didn't have time to review and make an accurate choice for a new printer. I usually spend around $300.00 for a printer... I also understand that prices came down a bit in the last 12 years or so. I usually get printer/scanner/fax all in one. I hardly use color in my prints.... I heard rumors that even though you select the "black only" feature for your printer.... small amounts of color are still used. Don't quite understand??? But... I did a test years ago. I installed a new color HP cartridge a while ago... maybe I did 5-10 colored prints.... 98-99% black only..... and the damn indicator said the color was low please replace. Then, the printer wouldn't work unless you changed out the "color" cartridge. To me.... that is the biggest bullsh#$ around!

That's why I'm thinking about investing in an all black laserjet printer. I was wondering if that would fix all the typical overspending bullsh#$ with ink?

The worst printer ever is any HP Photosmart in the C309 series... or compatible models to the 564 ink cartridges. FUK U HP! Constant Ink error messages. Major write ups everywhere about that printer line... all negative reviews. Forcing people to leave HP and go to a different company.

It is true that even while printing in black only you will use some color and that is because those color inks are used as a coolant and lubricant. for example in the 564 series even if you are printing in black all 4 inks and their individual printheads are moving back and forth...if the color printheads are not lubricated then it would cause friction and as a result malfunction.

For under $200 you will get an excellent laser printer and you will not have to deal with expensive inks and the headaches that come with it. One toner cartridge and you will be set for at least a year or more and this I am talking about a low output toner cartridge. And the $200 I am saying would be for an all in one Laser. Look into brother MFC printers, excellent value and your cost of printing will under 5 cents. I suggest return the Canon and get any laser made by either HP, Canon or Brother.

dogkatcher · 05-21-15, 02:06 PM

Have a cheap Brother Laser printer, love it so far (1 year)
fast, prints both sides, ebay cartridge $15-$20, very happy
camper. Good Luck

TheMoneyShot · 05-22-15, 12:59 AM

Thanks for all the posts. Much appreciated.

So I was looking at Brother's Printers. You have to purchase a toner and drum for your laser printer?

Is this for all laser printers or just Brother's?