PC Peripherals Suggestions for a Printer

Apex

Skilled
Hi

I have a 7 Year old EPSON Stylus COLOR 460 printer which went kaput mainly due to irregular usage. In fact, it was in idle state for the last one year or so. Now I need to print some 200+ pages urgently and I've the following options -

1. Get them printed from a local print shop. Cost - Rs. 1,000+

2. Get my old inkjet printer fixed (if possible). Cost - Unknown

3. Get a new value for money laser printer. Cost - Rs. 5,000+

Please help me decide what to do. I'm not sure if (2) is possible due to the time factor involved. Also, getting a laser printer for that price will mean I'll have to say bye-bye to color printing. If I go for a new printer, my budget will be around 5k. Also, the running cost is important to me and should not be too high. If you think I should get a new printer, plz suggest models. I need to make a decision ASAP.
 
Samsung MLP-1610 - Laser printer (monochrome) - Rs.4250/- SMC intl.

Canon Pixma - i1880 - Inkjet printer (black/color) - Rs.2100/- SMC intl

HP - Laser printer (monochrome) - Rs. 5800/- SMC Intl.

hope this helps.
 
print at local shop and decide slowly if you need a new printer.. not sure why 200 pages is going to cost you 1k ? is it color prints ?
 
There are few specific places where you can print them cheaper but here in Delhi most local places ask for Rs. 5 per page. Black and white.

One specific place will be Katwaria Sarai, lots and lots of cybercafes and due to competition and many educational institution close by they will print it for Rs. 1/2. Though i havent been there for the last 1-2 years, so dont know whether they are still there or not.
 
ApeX, the sane thing to do wud be to get the prints from a DTP center. Normally they charge about 50 paise for each page and Re.1 for each paper with double side print. SO it shud cost u about 100 bucks, not 1000.

And color prints as said above cost about Rs.5 per page.

Get ur printer serviced man. :p
I still have my Stylus 480C running in office (put it there as a spare when i 'upgraded' to HP PSC 1410. With Amkette black cartridges costing about 100 bucks, and getting about 200 prints from that, i aint complaining ;) Of course the print quality and printing time cud be better :p
 
The problem is that here they charge Rs. 5/- for a B/W print and Rs. 10/- for a color print. Talk about insanity. :p

I'll need a few of those pages in color and and the rest in B/W. My estimate is that it will cost around Rs. 1000/-

I am sure I'll need a printer but can't decide on which one to get. Getting a laser printer will mean no more color prints. I usually need 5-10 printouts every month and get it done from cyber cafes' but since the numbers this time is on the higher side, I'm considering a new printer.

BTW, I had a difficult time figuring out whats wrong with my old printer. I found out that the cable was faulty. Replaced that cable but both ink cartridges were running dry. Bought a new AMKETTE black cartridge for Rs. 80/- and installed that. Then I'd to waste a good 1 hour or so trying to get my printer to recognize the new cartridge and then get Win XP to recognize the printer.

Finally, its all done but a big prob still remains. The printouts are not as sharp as it used to be. They're mis-aligned through out the page and also skipping a few lines. I ran printer utilities which cleans the printer head and re-aligns the prints more than once but the prob still exists. The printouts look very cheap now and I dunno if its because of the AMKETTE cartridge. Original EPSON cartridge costs Rs. 740/- :S
 
Get the HP Deskjet D4168 or the Deskjet D2360.

D4168 is 3.5K and D2360 is 2.2K.D4168 is as fast as a Laser,30ppm black,23ppm color but has slightly expensive ink cartridges than D2360(Rs200 difference)
 
ApeX said:
The problem is that here they charge Rs. 5/- for a B/W print and Rs. 10/- for a color print. Talk about insanity. :p
Send me the file (word/PDF) and i'll make sure u get the prints in 48 hours :p

ApeX said:
I usually need 5-10 printouts every month and get it done from cyber cafes' but since the numbers this time is on the higher side, I'm considering a new printer.
Cyber Cafes are expensive re. Try any DTP centre. U'll find them mostly near or spread close to Engineering colleges. Ask any of ur Engg/college friends where they get their Project Reports printed.

ApeX said:
Finally, its all done but a big prob still remains. The printouts are not as sharp as it used to be. They're mis-aligned through out the page and also skipping a few lines. I ran printer utilities which cleans the printer head and re-aligns the prints more than once but the prob still exists. The printouts look very cheap now and I dunno if its because of the AMKETTE cartridge. Original EPSON cartridge costs Rs. 740/- :S
Forget the original cartridges. They wont give u much better results anyway :p

Ur best best wud be to buy a Print-Scan-Copy from HP for around 4,500 bucks. Once the original ink gets over, get it refilled ;) ur running cost will be very much economical. 150 bucks refilling will get u 150 prints in Fast Normal mode (Fast Draft being the least in quality, then Fast Normal, Normal, Best).

7 years is way beyond the life of a printer. It may still work but with not ur desired results.

merve_extreme said:
... or the Deskjet D2360.

.... D2360 is 2.2K.
In that case stick to the D1360. Both are the same printers (i am told) and teh D1360 costs about 1700 bucks.
 
Thanx for the offer Masky but I won't even have 48hrs turnaround time after the formatting/editing of document is completed and even if I had, it would be too risky with the current weather situation. :p Though I'll look out for DTP centers and see if someone can get me those prints @ Rs. 0.50 or even Re. 1/Rs. 2 per copy. :D

If I've to buy a new printer, what do you suggest - AIO or Deskjet? If its AIO, which models etc. to search for? and why only HP? aren't those by canon, epson, samsung any good? :p If its a deskjet - HP D1360 or Canon i1880? I'm confused. I'll have the entire day today to decide so plz help me out. :)
 
ApeX said:
If I've to buy a new printer, what do you suggest - AIO or Deskjet? If its AIO, which models etc. to search for? and why only HP? aren't those by canon, epson, samsung any good? :p If its a deskjet - HP D1360 or Canon i1880? I'm confused. I'll have the entire day today to decide so plz help me out. :)
Not sure of other make (Canon / Epson). Havent seen them in action. HP's present entry level AIO (or PSC) model is F380. Price is around 4.2k

If u sticking to Deskjet (printer alone), then buy the cheapest. :p
 
yeah...I'm more inclined towards getting a Deskjet. for one it must be cheap (if not the cheapest) and as compact as possible. :p

I've heard HP models are pretty good but I want to know how many pages i can expect per cartridge? 250-250 shud be fine. Also, if I use AMKETTE cartridges in place of originals, won't it spoil the printer?
 
@Apex : If you are looking for AIO then go for HP or Canon.

Masky and I both have HP ones it has been replaced by new series called F3xx.

Canon is being used by wraith here and its good.

The advantage of AIO with your requirements of (10 prints per month) is that you get decent quality scanner with it and also you have copy function attached with it. (even though costlier sometimes you may not have time to get the copy done from outside).

If you dont want a AIO then go for Canon entry level printer because cartridge cost of HP is extremely insane even if you go for compatible ones and refilling does not give repeatations. While Canons are relatively cheaper.
 
ApeX said:
I've heard HP models are pretty good but I want to know how many pages i can expect per cartridge? 250-250 shud be fine. Also, if I use AMKETTE cartridges in place of originals, won't it spoil the printer?

buddy.. i normally print all my reports an stuff in fast draft (except whn i hav a pic to print ) an my hp 3940 (prob an old model now) gives me anythin between 300-400 prints on 1 cartridge. Plus now iv been using refilled cartridges.. an have absolutely no prob yet (been usin ta printed since more than a year)
dont have an idea about amkette cartridges though..
an yr u worryin bout the printer gettin spoilt.. even if it does after a couple of years jus trash it. At the current cheap prices it wont hurt to buy a new entry printer every couple of years.. jus think of it as buyin a new set of original cartridges.. :eek:hyeah:
 
Thanx everyone for your replies. :D

TheMask said:
If u sticking to Deskjet (printer alone), then buy the cheapest. :p

medpal said:
If you dont want a AIO then go for Canon entry level printer because cartridge cost of HP is extremely insane even if you go for compatible ones and refilling does not give repeatations. While Canons are relatively cheaper.

I don't really need a AIO for now..guess I can save a few bucks for a better investment. :p

In that case Canon Pixma iP1880 seems to be a safe bet. At around 2k, its well worth a try. :)
 
If you dont want a AIO then go for Canon entry level printer because cartridge cost of HP is extremely insane even if you go for compatible ones and refilling does not give repeatations. While Canons are relatively cheaper.

can you tell me where to find compatible cartridges for canon .I have checked th e Amekette website and all the cartridges are not available for example cartirdg for CANON MP160 is not available it is MFD with scanner

or can you suggest in any AIO or MFD for budget of 5.5 k and with cheap printing cost ( relatively !)

Thanks
 
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