Need Some Suggestions Here

[Mike S]

For many years I have owned nothing but HP printers .... when HP went to the chip-in-the-cartridge technology (I understand they all have that now) ..... I felt it was time to change as the cartridges were way to expensive ..... and as I was considering a CISS system my present HP all-in-one would not work with it ..... so I changed and went with a Cannon MP-258 .... went right from the store (PC Quick Buys ... SM Cyber Gate) to the CISS vendor around the corner and had the CISS installed ..... now one year later I have had enough .... 1 month after my original ink cartridge ran out the CISS system quit working ..... the black ink kept running back down thew the tube to the reservoir and I had to keep priming the cartridge .... what a pain-in-the-a*s ..... this happened at least once per week ...... when I went back to complain they told me to bring it in and they would (the CISS people) fix it ..... they cleaned the heads and told me I needed to print something at least 3-4 times a week and color once per week ...... WTF ...... and also next time would be a charge ..... and further more they told me the ink cartridges in the MP-258 were a piece of crap ..... well I had the tech come to my house 4 times (he did it on his time and I paid him 250p for gas money) it would last maybe up to 2-3 weeks and then right back to the same crap ...... always the black ink

Now I do a bit of printing monthly sometimes using a whole package of paper maybe every other month .....

I did a lot of research (or thought I did) before I bought the Cannon ..... Epson is OK except it has a separate print head which must be replaced when it goes bad and it has individual ink cartridges and cost 380p per x 4 ..... the Cannon costs 340p black and 380p color ..... the HP cartridges are similar to the Cannon in price ...... oh and the price for the cartridges for the MP-258 are 720p black and 950p color ..... and I need both right now ..... can't see paying 1675p for 2 cartridges when I can buy a new printer for 2000p more and it will have 2 new cartridges ..... and I have tried the fill it your self style of ink replacement with my old HP ..... to messy and not really worth it .... IMHO

I need an all-in-one because of the scan and copy feature ....... fax and other crap don't matter ..... I know there are tons of different models out there for each unit and the sales girl told me they change models about every 4 months ..... (just to keep us ignorant a*s-holes confused :hystery: )

I am looking for something under $130 ..... or around 5590p

Oh and by the way I have had to rethink my using PC Quick Buys in SM due to lack of knowledge on their products and grab-a*s attitude the sales boys have :angry: ..... and have gone to the parent company for PC Quick Buys which is right around the corner ...... Thinking Tools ..... I talked to about 5 different people (each sales person has a specialty .... most of the time it is printed on their shirts) and was very pleased with their knowledge and help ...... I used them before but their prices for the same items is sometimes a bit more expensive then PC Quick Buys (go figure) ..... but the interaction is well worth it ......

So any help or info will be greatly appreciated ..... a couple of the models I'm currently looking at are ..... I am happy with Cannon ... just their ink prices on the model I have is ridicules ...... (almost like HP used to be)

Cannon ..... E500 .... 4495p ........ or the new MG 3170 ..... 4495p ....... it has WiFi ..... (maybe my first choice)

Epson ...... ME 340 ...... 3550p (as last resort)

Have nothing on the HP yet as their stock was completely depleted due to the sales they have on HP .....

Edited June 12, 2012 by Mike S

[MikeB]

After I plugged my 110v Epson to a 220v outlet I went to Ayala several weeks ago and bought an HP Deskjet 2060 for p3700 at the HP shop. The cartridges are sold all together for p350. It does copy and scans only, no fax. They had it in the bottom floor of SM for the same price. It can't do fancy copies but works great as a basic printer.

[Jollygoodfellow]

What is a CISS ?

Anyway might be interesting reading here to fill in your night. http://www.pcworld.com/article/192471/printer_buying_guide_major_printer_types_explained.html

[Mike S]

Hey JGF ...... Continuous Ink Supply System ..... CISS ........ damn .... don't know what is going on but tried to attach a file with a picture of one but the advanced uploader would let me .... the regular one did though ...... you lucky devil you ..... :hystery: :hystery:

Thank you for the link sir Tom ,,,, I'll check it out .....

Thanks Mike ..... I'll read the specks on that unit ....

Edited June 12, 2012 by Mike S

[i am bob]

ok, I gotta admit that it might be harder to do this there but...

Usually when I run out of ink, I will check the stores around to find out who has a good special on... I usually look for discontinued and clearance models. I presently use a Brother DCP-130c for my AIO Ink and a Brother HL-2140 for my monochrome laser. This DCP cost me $22 Cdn and a previous one cost me $35 Cdn... The laser cost me $18 as the original power cord had been stolen out of the box - they threw in a generic one from stock for free. Both were brand new (not refurbs) and were discontinued stock clear-outs at the Source. Yes, the ink for 2 colors will cost more than the printer and a toner cart is way more too so why not?

Is there anywhere you can get deals like that there? Discontinued and old stock? Factory refurbs? Slightly warm to the touch?

:mocking:

[OnMyWay]

Yes, it is all about the ink and cartridges, and their cost!

I print photos so photo quality was my main concern when I purchased my last two printers. I had the Canon i960 and it printed beautiful photos. I only stopped using it because I bought a Canon MP 600, with scan and copy, no fax. Fax would be good to have but most of the time you can scan and e-mail. I am happy with the MP 600.

I used an ink refill kit with the i960 and the photos were still very good. It is a bit of a pain but it can save you a few bucks over time.

My next printer might be a large format Canon so I can print larger photos. They are a bit pricey and the paper/ink adds up. I'm not sure it is worth it.

[Mike S]

Well just an update with my printer canvassing ...... as the majority of you have said the FIRST thing to look at is ink cost per page ....... forget about all the reviews and bells and whistles or at least get close to what you want and then check ink costs ..... they can vary form p350 to p950 per cartridge for the newer models .... older models can be a bit more ..... keep in mind that the newest models may take a lot of digging and currency converting before you can determine the cost of the cartridges ..... one good sourse I found for price comparing in pesos is .............. http://www.villman.com/ ....... located in Manila but have on-line ordering

Now as to models ..... here in the Phils believe it or not you aren't gonna find refurbished .... last years models or fire-sales ..... most of the computer stores in the malls like Cyber-Zone in SM have fairly new models or can get them .... I think it's because they don't stock up as the models change ..... like the salesgirl said every 4 months ...... so they don't want to get stuck with older models they can't sell ...... unlike stores like NewEgg .... Tiger Direct and Amazon that have huge stocks of older and left over models...... now this is MY THEORY ONLY :hystery: ...... now as to new technology ...... that is a whole different story .... my sound the same to you but believe me it is different .....

Also searching on the internet for these new models can be flustering as many of the reviews for them can be outdated and the info no longer accurate ..... I like to use some of the side-by-side comparison sites but many have models from last year and very few if any of the ones now being offered ..... the same with ink ..... so it is a guessing game that takes many many hours of searching till you find what you want .....

I found the best way is to do a search for new printers ... like on Google or get brochures from the stores and then if you find something close go to the manufactures website and see what they have that is newer ..... in fact you may find they they don't even list your model number on there site except in the archives ..... all this takes time .... a lot of time ..... just don't get frustrated ..... just remember if you don't live here yet it will be good practice for you when you do ...... not getting frustrated that is ...... :mocking: .....

Anyway all that hogwash being said I have narrowed my search down to two brands ..... Cannon and HP .... and of those two down to 2 HP and 2 Cannon ..... mostly on the cost of the ink and also I would like wireless so my asawa can print from her laptop and not have to bug me all the time to store her stuff on a thumb-drive and transfer it to my desktop for printing .....

The printers are as follows .....

HP ...DeskJet 2060 ...... cost p3700 ..... ink .. 2 cartridges at p350 each ........ but no wireless

HP ... K 510a ....... cost p7999 ..... ink .... 2 cartridges at p390 each ...... first model that has WiFi

Cannon ..... Pixma MG 3170 ...... cost p4495 ...... ink ........ 2 cartridges at p558 each ...... first model that has WiFi

Cannon .... Pixma MX 437 ....... cost p5995 ...... ink .... 2 cartridges at p558 each ..... WiFi and lots more features than the MG 3170

Just threw this in but not really serious

Epson ME Office .... 900WD .... cost p9995 ..... ink ... 4 cartridges at p520 each ....... first model with WiFi and plenty of features

So where do my thought lie ...... right now with the Cannon .... Pixma MX 437 ....... but I ain't done researching it yet ...... as they say "it ain't over till the fat lady (or in my case boy) sings ....... :hystery: :hystery: :hystery: :hystery:

I still welcome your advise and or suggestions ...... :tiphat: :cheersty:

Edited June 15, 2012 by Mike S

[Mike S]

Well that didn't take long ....... both the Canon MG 3170 and the MX 437 have now been eliminated .... reason ..... ink is p720 b&w and p950 color ....... the p558 came form trying to get the price from to many currency conversions ..... RM's to US to pesos .....

Back to the drawing board ...... ho hum .... keeps me off the streets ..... :hystery: :hystery: :hystery:

[Jack Peterson]

http://www.amazon.co...r/dp/B000GE2N4Q

Well that didn't take long ....... both the Canon MG 3170 and the MX 437 have now been eliminated .... reason ..... ink is p720 b&w and p950 color ....... the p558 came form trying to get the price from to many currency conversions ..... MM to US to pesos .....

Back to the drawing board ...... ho hum .... keeps me off the streets ..... :hystery: :hystery: :hystery:

http://www.amazon.co...r/dp/B000GE2N4Q Mike did you look at the HP C3180 all in one scanner / printer, the updated model has fax facility too. mine has been fantastic only uses 2 cartridges a 336 tricolour and a 352 Black, worth a look. i think Amazon is out of Stock but you may be able to source locally. Happy Hunting.

Jack P. :tiphat:

[Mike S]

Thank you Jack ...... I'll check it out and see ...... ink seems to be cheap enough .....