Printer reviews?

[GNEP]

My mother is looking to buy a new printer - anyone know any decent review sites where she can read up on the things? When she was looking for a digicam I pointed her to dpreview.com and she liked that... so something comparable is good.

To give you an idea, she is currently considering the Lexmark Z815 for £49.90 ex VAT at Costco - so that is the sort of market she is in... she will print the odd photo (probably on ordinary paper but might buy better paper occasionally) and otherwise use it as a v. small office/home printer for documents. Not high usage at all. Although separate cartridges might be a good idea for colour/BW printing...

Price (as you might have guessed) is important.

TIA

G

[Dr Mordrid]

Consumer Reports just published a digital products review issue that's still on the stands and it has a bunch of printer and multifunction device reviews.

FYI I've found Lexmarks to be less of a bargain than they appear. First off they have use a form of "protection" in their cartridges, meaning that if you refill them at the least the ink levels won't show up in their desktop tool and at worst they'll refuse to mount properly. They're also bloody expensive.

My wife bought an HP PSC 1210 multifunction device for her office at work and it's working GREAT after 6 months of pretty regular use. Very decent B&W and photo print quality & scans (including OCR), especially for its price point, and small as a breadbox. It can even operate as a B&W or color copier (actual size of print or zoom to full page) without involving the computer.

It also scored a "Best Buy" from the Consumer Reports editors.

They're running about $78 USD in Sams Club, so Costco should be similar but with an appropriate price adjustment for the currency. Walmart, CompUSA and others are also carrying it

There are also higher end versions of this device with either a digital camera cable (PSC 1315) or a set of card slots (PSC 1350) for a bit more.

Check out the 1210, 1315 and 1350 models on this page;

HP 1210 multifunction family....

Another plus is that stores like Walmart are carrying generic versions of the HP 56 and HP 57 cartriges the PSC 1210 and PSC 1350 use at about 2/3 the price.

The PSC 1315 uses HP 26 and HP 27 cartriges, but I haven't checked on the availability of generic versions of them.

Dr. Mordrid

[GNEP]

Thanks Doc. Problem is that Costco over here carries a pretty limited line (ie this is almost it) and the price for the same thing at online stores (let alone high street) is £20 higher... so I think I have my work cut out persuading her that it's worth shelling out for something better. Happen to agree with you though (although to be honest I've been spoilt for too long by printers of any sort I want at work).

George

[Wombat]

Just show her ink costs. Lexmark usually loses big time in this area.

[GNEP]

I know. But she is a *really* low ink user...

[Wombat]

Which means her ink heads may dry out.

If nothing else, make sure she gets a printer where the print heads are on the cartridge.

[GNEP]

Ah... good point. Has happened to me in the past and had to dump the printer. Which brands have the heads on the carts?

[Dilitante1]

HP