Printer For Students

[chrisjg]

The reason I've titled this 'Printer for Students' is because, as a student, I do a LOT of printing and so buying a printer that will endure the years of printing throughout my course and also purchasing replacement ink is a continual issue.

So far I've used both a Canon Ip8500 and an Ip4500 with mixed opinions. When I bought the Ip4500 I didn't realise that the cartridges come chipped so you can only use their own brand of ink which, for a student, aint cheap.

So my question is what printer would you recommend purchasing based on...
*how easy it is to buy new cartridges?
*how good the quality of printing is?
*does it print CD/DVD's?
and any other factors that make a printer worth buying.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[GoCubsGo]

I have no experience with Canon printers. I have an Epson R1800 and I've considered a number of times to buy a continuos ink system (CIS). This is not to be confused with ink refills or off-brand cartridge replacement. I would look into that for the Canon. The brand of choice is usually Lyson.

 

[chrisjg]

I've actually bought and tried fitting a CISS to both my printers which turned out to be an absolute nightmare. I found it incredibly difficult to set up and ended up wasting about the same money as it would cost me to by a new printer.

 

[peskaa]

One fact about inkjet printing is that no matter who makes the ink, it'll be expensive and best results will come from first-party replacements. Case in point - refilling the Epson 4880 at work costs nearly £500. My Canon at home costs about £40-50.

As such, my recommendation is to go for quality and features over ink costs, as they all cost a bloody fortune to run. I'd look for a printer that has a separate black ink cartridge for photos and plain text (something I know some Canons do), as well as things like CD/DVD printing.

Other things that can be useful includes WiFi (less wires, printer doesn't have to be next to the computer), card readers and duplex printing.

 

[dlegend]

i highly recommend getting a laster printer for all of your B&W needs and keep one of your canon's only for when you need it. I had a $100 HP laser printer in college and it was great.