Printer Recommendations

[durkada]

Inkjets piss me off. I like the technology -- I just hate the many problems of clogged heads, etc. At least, they used to piss me off -- is there a good one?

I'd love to hear recommendations from all the tree killers out there, as to which printer is best.

The things I would like from a printer:

Has decently knock-off ink available for it (20 ink cartridges are out -- 2 dollars carts are ok).
Prints decent photographs (doesn't have to be a high-end Epson quality print, but simply appealing to the eye).
Prints directly to CDs (I love the inkjet printable surfaces)

Thanks,
Jon

[racketboy]

If you didn't need color, I'd say get a Samsung Laser Printer for $100 or less.
I've had mine for about 5 years now and have only had to replace the toner twice and I print stuff every day.
I talked my brother into getting one for his first printer and he's been happy with it as well.
Just don't get HPs. I can't count how many HPs I've pulled my hair out over during the last decade.

[marurun]

HP Laserjets are usually good, solid printers, but try to avoid the very cheapest lasers from them and their inkjets.
Avoid anything Lexmark unless you like being bent double and taken from behind. Even their hardware quality is crap.

Frankly, you can't get good, or even half-decent photo prints from $5 ink cartridges. It's just not going to happen.

The cheapest brand to go with for both printers and mfg ink (if you want color and photo quality) is Canon. At least, that's how things used to be.

What I would really recommend, however, is a cheap laser from Samsung for black and white and just take your images on a memory card to a photo kiosk and pay the 15 - 25 cents for color/photo prints. If you just want color prints and aren't worried about photo quality get a cheap Samsung color laser and just suck up the fact that toner will cost you money. Even with the color you probably won't have to replace the cartridges too often.

[racketboy]

HP Laserjets are usually good, solid printers, but try to avoid the very cheapest lasers from them and their inkjets.
Avoid anything Lexmark unless you like being bent double and taken from behind. Even their hardware quality is crap.

Frankly, you can't get good, or even half-decent photo prints from $5 ink cartridges. It's just not going to happen.

The cheapest brand to go with for both printers and mfg ink (if you want color and photo quality) is Canon. At least, that's how things used to be.

What I would really recommend, however, is a cheap laser from Samsung for black and white and just take your images on a memory card to a photo kiosk and pay the 15 - 25 cents for color/photo prints. If you just want color prints and aren't worried about photo quality get a cheap Samsung color laser and just suck up the fact that toner will cost you money. Even with the color you probably won't have to replace the cartridges too often.

That's what I do. I should have mentioned that.
Shutterfly or whoever will print cheaper than you can do it yourself and the quality will be better.

[fastbilly1]

Laser-wise I would go with an Oki-Data 3500. It may be somewhat expensive, but it is by far one of the best printers on the market.

None laser would leave me with the Canon Pixma Pro 9000 - Alittle pricey, but very good.

[extrarice]

Epson inkjet printers are my pic. Their color quality is fantastic. I'm using an Epson Stylus Photo 220R currently. Usually the ink pigments are separate in their own individual cartridges, so you don't have to throw out the magenta when you run out of cyan, so you save some money that way. However, you have to buy each color individually, so the money saved doesn't amount to much.

As for cheap cartridges, I've been using PrintPal for three years and haven't had a problem yet.

[durkada]

Well thanks everyone for the suggestions.

I was really hoping for an excellent inkjet printer. I print out labels to alot of CDs, but am really sick of the maintenance involved with my present inkjet. Lines missing, clogs, misalignments -- its just a pain. I don't want photographs to look museum quality, just pretty -- so, knock-off inks are fine.

So, how much work is it to maintain the r200? I'll read up on Canons.

Curiously enough, my oldest printer is an HP 6P which I've had for... wow, almost 10 years? Still works beautiful.

The shutterfly idea is a good one -- specificly, I'd love to get some nice prints of various covers (from the cover project, etc.). I like the idea that they are apparently tied-in with Target for easy pick-up.