Looking for a new printer.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

My old Epson 780 printer that I've had for about 20 years has just about had the biscuit.  It is harder and harder to get ink cartridges for it and the feed mechanism for single sheets is now getting very confused and likes to take big bites of paper (four or five sheets at a time), so I guess I am on the hook for a new colour ink-jet USB connect printer.

 

Looking in some local catalogues, everybody wants to sell me a wireless colour laser printer at a horrendous price.  I don't need a laser printer.  I use my printer maybe once a week to print a shopping list or occasionally fo print out some other document that I have to carry around on paper.

 

It would be nice if the new printer was as good with photographs as my old Epson (CCYMMGK), but apparently Epson is out of business or has withdrawn from the consumer market.  I am looking for a good reliable printer with single sheet feeder, at least  CYMK, cheap ink cartridges, all under $300 and no further away than London, Ontario.  It also needs to fit in the footprint of the E780 which I don't think will be a problem.

 

When I get my new printer, the old one will go to the great recycle bin in the sky (the land fill site) where it will be undoubtedly sent to the far east to be converted into other things.  I have enough old gear now to make the trip to the land fill worthwhile.

 

By the way, I am told by the local garbagers that optical disks in any quantity just go in the garbage.

 

I am open to suggestions, but please no wireless and no laser units and no all-in-one units.

[Nesral Sredna 62]

I'm not sure how comfortable you are with online shopping, but I took a quick look at Staples.com and did a search for inkjet printers for home use. I think this link should provide the same results that I got: http://www.staples.com/Printers/cat_CL167883?fids=4224931353|4224928473|4224922538 . That gives 2 printers below 100$: The HP Offiejet 6100 ePrinter and the Canon Pixma iP7 220. Both are USB and seems good to me, though I can recommend the HP as these printers are supposed to have best driversupport for cranky OS'es like Linux, and I had very good relation to custommersupport when my first was DOA(dead on arrival)

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

That's Staples U.S. site.  Not much use around here but thanks for the effort.

[Sabretooth78 808]

Not sure it fits exactly what your looking for (or the availability north of the border) but I've had a couple of the Brother MFC units that work quite well for what I need - the occasional print job on top of shipping labels for my wife's home ebay business.  They also include copy, scan and fax capabilities.  We use ours' wireless connection, but it also has a USB plug (you have to provide the cable).  It is a tray feeder, however.

 

I think our current one is a J430W.  My brother now has the one I originally bought (marriage tends to result in some consolidation of toys) with no problems I'm aware of.  Both of ours were from OfficeMax I believe, and under $70 US.  Ink is reasonable compared to some others on the market and is widely available (online and in-store).

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Thanks.  I was wondering about Brother.  Do you recommend them?  Printers today are so throw-away.

[Sabretooth78 808]

I would say so, assuming it fits your needs.  Seeing as "both" of mine are now 3-4 years old, I'm probably not quite up on the feature set.  But they do seem pretty solid and well-built, and I've yet to have a problem with quality or flaky cartridges, even after long periods of no use.  Ideally I would have one without the fax features (have never used it nor do I even have the capability) and the attendant button clutter, but that's a fairly petty complaint.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Thanks.  I'll certainly have a look at them.  I really want what amounts to a stand alone colour printer with no other features.