[DM-MUG] Color/Photo printers? Best/Cheap

[Matt W]

Nothing color is inexpensive. Don't be lured by purchase price alone, 
factor in consumables (paper and ink) or you'll pay a great deal more 
over the life of the printer than you expect or realize. I've never 
come across a page/cartridge comparison, but if anyone knows of one, 
please share. AFAIK, they're all priced about the same with respect to 
ink volume/coverage and quality.

I don't have any specific experience with any of the current printer 
lines. With that said, I do not recommend *any* "low-end" models. 
Always look up a few levels and reliability and output quality 
generally goes up quite a bit. Any printer that has more ink tanks is 
less wasteful, but they likely hold less ink. Lexmark isn't on my list 
at all. Lexmark laser is okay, but I won't touch their inkjets.

Canon and Epson are perennial contenders. HP is more of a business 
inkjet and unless they've changed their focus, color accuracy hasn't 
been one of their strong points. HP does have excellent reliability 
though and I like the photos I print with mine.

Bottom line: Do a Google search for reviews of a couple of models that 
are in your budget range (e.g. "Epson 2200 printer review"). Don't take 
CompUSA's or Apple's word on any printer. Do your own research, you'll 
be happier with your purchase.

Matthew

On Nov 29, 2004, at 3:38 AM, kcrouch wrote:

> What's the best color/photo printers? I don't want to spend much but I 
> also need to place the printer on my home lan. I've given up on 
> Lexmark. Ink is too expensive and the current printer is the second 
> z65n that I've had. They already replaced it once and now it's dead 
> again.
>
>  I need inexpensive that makes good color photos.
>
>  Kendall