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I use an Epson Stylus Color 800 from the late 1990's to print black and white and color documents. It's loud, goes through a self cleaning cycle often and requires a special parallel to usb adapter that has to be plugged and unplugged each time you print, but it keeps on ticking and produces very good quality prints. There are two ink cartridges and I usually buy them for $5 each. I see new compact all in one printers being being advertised in the hot deals section for around $50. What are the advantages and disadvantages of these printers vs mine?
In short, if your printer is working fine for you, then I wouldn't bother with a new printer.
However, new printers can connect wirelessly, scan, copy and fax, can print faster and quieter, and are compatible with newer computers and operating systems. Which may be a problem for you down the road.
Though, ink for newer printers is expensive (although coming down a bit) and software (bloatware) and use can be a bit more complicated to manage and use.
In the end, if you don't need any of those things that I listed, then stick with what you have.
New printer -
Pros - USB, new system compatibility, faster, it's new.
Cons - cheap printer means expensive ink. Sometimes, very expensive. Run the numbers before committing.
The old printer is paid for already and as long as it's still working, just keep using it.
Our mainstay for B/W is an HP Laserjet 1200 that I had to buy a print server for so it would be seen on the network. I'm guessing this baby will live longer than me.
No color, no copy, no scan, no fax, just a very long expected lifespan and great printing. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
On the other hand we have five printers we use... and two in a closet just in case.
Our mainstay for B/W is an HP Laserjet 1200 that I had to buy a print server for so it would be seen on the network. I'm guessing this baby will live longer than me.
No color, no copy, no scan, no fax, just a very long expected lifespan and great printing. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
On the other hand we have five printers we use... and two in a closet just in case.
I've got one of those (1200) at work. So far, I've had to put a toner cartridge in it. It will still be working well when I retire.
It seems that pretty much all new printers are crap, regardless of manufacturer. My newest is an HP OfficeJet Pro 8500 wireless, which I really only use for scan/copy/fax. The printer portion of it is pretty crappy. My workhorse printer is a LaserJet 4100 from 2002. It's built like a tank.
It seems that pretty much all new printers are crap, regardless of manufacturer. My newest is an HP OfficeJet Pro 8500 wireless, which I really only use for scan/copy/fax. The printer portion of it is pretty crappy. My workhorse printer is a LaserJet 4100 from 2002. It's built like a tank.
I disagree. I have the HP OfficeDet Pro 8500A Premium. This thing is a workhorse and the ink is cheap. I love that it can scan doublesided documents automatically and it prints really fast.
I don't print much, but it works. I've had it for 3 months and have printed 16420 pages according to the counter.
It seems that pretty much all new printers are crap, regardless of manufacturer. My newest is an HP OfficeJet Pro 8500 wireless, which I really only use for scan/copy/fax. The printer portion of it is pretty crappy. My workhorse printer is a LaserJet 4100 from 2002. It's built like a tank.
I have a networked 4000N at work which is practically the same printer as the 4100. The only thing that went wrong on it has been the heater element thing. I replaced that part from a spare we had and it's working better than ever.
It's from 1999.
The only thing I have problems with (rarely) are on the software side, and that's only because I need to use universal drivers because of SAMBA/CUPS working between Ubuntu and Vista.
Otherwise it's a great printer!
Last edited by harhar; 03-22-2011 at 03:22 PM..
Reason: clarity
I love that it can scan doublesided documents automatically
That's my favorite feature.
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