Which Colour Printer is the most economical?

Question

It is possible to buy some very cheap printers these days but then you spend a fortune on ink. Is it worth paying more for a printer to save on ink in the long run, and if so which one to get?

I don't need it for high quality photo printing. It is mostly for the kids printing things off the internet and things like that

Answer 1

Printer Repair Tech Chiming In -

Go with a color laser rather than and inkjet/bubblejet machine. Granted your outlay is going to be higher initially but you buy a machine thats made to last many years not, a couple months past the warranty. In addition you will save around 30 to 40 percent on the consumables cost per page. When you look at how long an inkjet machine last and the total cost you put out including supplies over the life of that inkjet machine you will quickly see that your paying huge by cheaping out. Investing in the better equipment will return your investment with the savings.

Inkjet machines ORIGINALLY were never designed to become such a popular style of machine. Their original intent was to introduce color into the market to create a demand for color laser. As it ends up they because a highly lucerative thing for the manufacurers due to the low cost to make the machines and low cost to make the supplies. Today, your paying for the privedge of printing in color with a low front end cost by the manufacture charging you much more on the supply side. Notice how when your ink is out it is just expensive enough to make you question the worth of the machine but just cheap enough so that you buy the cartidge instead. THAT'S BY DESIGN.

If your looking to maximize your investment, I would recommend either the HP Color LaserJet 1600 or 2600 Series for home use. Remeber the more your investing in a solid machine, the more you will end up saving over time. It just works that way in the printing industry.

INKJETS & BUBBLEJETS ARE FOR THOSE THAT KNOW NO BETTER. Those in the know ALWAYS go laserJet for black or color.

My company and home both run on HP LaserJets and HP Color LaserJets.

Answer 2

Yeah, ink for printers is like outfits for a Barbie doll. I have to get 3 cartridges each time. I guess that's standard for color printers, so at $45 per refill times 6 refills will exceed what the printer cost in the first place. The thing is, for large color glossy photo prints, you're going to eat up a lot of ink. For everyday printing, you just mostly use the black cartridge, which is pretty cheap to replace.

I don't think a "cheap" printer would help in the quality department of your color prints. If you're not printing glossies of all your great digital camera photos, then maybe a cheap printer is the way to go.

Answer 3

I have an Epson 320 (its a photo printer...so..) Then again, I pay 40 pence a cartridge. Thats FORTY PENCE, or less than £1.00 for two.
I'll come clean... I have a "Continuous Ink System" on my Epson, and buy ink 600ml (43cartridges worth) at a time for £20.00. The whole kit, including 600ml of ink is £45.00. If your mental 'rithmatic is good, you have worked out that you buy the kit, use the ink, thats about £200 (£240 less £45.00) in your pocket... the cost of 2 printers!!!! The 'source link ' guys are very, very good.

Answer 4

That relies upon upon how a lot you want to spend on a printer. between the most affordable ink jets is an HP company inkjet1200.. The cartridges are huge there are 4 of them at about $30 each and four print heads at about $40 each, besides the undeniable fact that each cartridge is sturdy for about one thousand pages and each print head for about 12000. The printer also prices about $500. in case you do not favor to spend that a lot, bypass with the KODAK. typically HP makes a negative product today. Even the biggest ink tanks are small compared to the tanks they were realeasing many years in the past.

Answer 5

If you're in Britain, DO NOT BUY LEXMARK.

They may be cheap tp buy, but the ink is the most expensive of all the desktop inkjets.
It may be the most cost effective option for ink in the States, but over here you might as well be buying Unicorn Piss when you see the price they charge for 5 mils of the stuff.

Buy a Canon, HP, or Epson, and get your inks from Tescos. Buy Tescos own brand compatible cartridges.

Answer 6

I would say yes if you print more than about 30 A4 colour sheets a week.

I does depend on what you print but I hate throwing away a colour cartridge when only one colour has been used so I have a Cannon i6500
that has 3 separate colour cartridges.

Expensive to buy but you have to try and look long term.

I goes without saying to check out eBay for a printer and your ink

Hope this has been helpful, and worth 10 points

indiandy

Answer 7

I used to like Lexmark printers but I think they have some quality issues. I have a HP 1310 right now and it seems to be working great and the cartridges are not too expensive to replace..

The most economical printers would be Epson with the separate cartridges for each color that way if you are out of one color you don't have to replace the whole color cartridge.

Answer 8

Most economical to operate is a color laser printer. Cost a lot less per page than an ink jet, but the intimal cost is much more.

Answer 9

Ink is terribly expensive, I'm not sure why it is though. I have been thinking about getting a laser printer. The toner in a laser printer lasts forever and a day...sure, you'll pay more up front, but I think in the long run it would be more economical.

Answer 10

Lexmark - Any models.
The Ink Cartridges are cheap, the printers are cheap..
It's all cheap.
Printers are cheap - $30 or so
Cartridges - $18 Black, $20 Color - and they are 30ML, unlike most other Printer companies.

(Prices are approx)

Check out Lexmark.com
or Even check cnet.com and what they say about Lexmark.