Oregon Mortgage News: HELP!! I need a New Printer!!

Larry,   Our office has a couple of HP Officejet 7410 xi All-In-One models and they seem to be pretty reliable for all-round applications.  No single application is outstanding but for a multi-task product it gets it done.  Good luck.

Check out my blog on this very subject.  I went through 2 HP's and settled on a Canon which has been infinitely better.  You can see my review here:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/171246/Going-Paperless-Scanning-Documents 

Bill - Thanks. Looks like a decent machine, but I think my wife would go crazy having to switch print cartridges to make color pictures, but we'll see.

Adam - Great machine, but I need color and picture capability and a smaller footprint.

The thing I have found is that being able to get ink/toner quickly is as important as the overall quality and ease of use.  For those of us who have bought a top rated printer/scanner/fax/copier or other tech device and later found out that getting supplies and parts for them are tough to obtain...car create a sick feeling for sure.  My recommendation is buy something mainstream and something you can get serviced locally and if there is a service contract especially on the higher priced products certainly explore them.  I bought a Canon CLBP 360PS (higher end color laser printer) and later learned that the parts for it were discontinued...guess what I have...a $10,000 door stop and I am sitting on a bunch of supplies I can not use.  HP does not always have the absolute best quality but when I need ink/toner I can go to just about any Staples, OfficeMax and they have them in stock.  I have an old HP Laserjet Series II that I bought is 1988 that is still running and is now our envelope printer and I can still get supplies for it.  If you did not need color printing I would recommend the HP Laserjet 3330 because we have 3 of them and they work flawlessly.

I have an Epson CX11NF color laser multi function machine. It is awesome and inexpensive. I liked it so much at the office, I bought one for the home as well.

I've been very happy with my Brother products. I've had two all-in-ones from them, the first one stopped working when I dropped it after three years. I don't advise you try that, they don't work very well afterward.

But, their customer service was easy to work with and the install program took less than 3 minutes and I was on my way to scanning!

I ended up with a reconditioned HP C6180 All in one. I did a lot of research and this came in rated very high, except everyone kept having problems getting it to scan. I found one review where a techie type took this on as a challenge and eventually found an inside tech who isolated the problem with Comcast's Mcafee Firewall. He was able to successfully reinstall and get it to work. He made a comment that there were probably thousands of these that had been sent back to the factory as not working with absolutely nothing wrong.

The next day, Fry's had a phenomanol sale. I picked one up with a 3 yr warrenty for around $200. So far, works great and isn't an ink hog.

My only complaint is taht I couldn't find a reasonable all in one that would scan  and save as a .pdf or scan legal size. The .jpeg scan's I can live with. I just print them as a .pdf or e-fax them. The legal docs just get faxed over my home line. If needed, I can fax them to my e-fax.

I second the Brother all in ones. WE have had several. They aren't perfect, but the company has replaced (very quickly) 2 that conked out under warranty. They scan well, fax, copy, connect wirelesly, AND they use the separate color cartridges, so you don't have to replace everything if you are out of one color. WE also use generic cartridges which we buy for $5 or less (yes, I know it is supposed to void the warranty- we keep the Brother cartridges that came with it just in case. No I don't feel guilty about it- the generic cartridges work just fine, and are not damaging the machines).

Hi Larry,

I understand your space limitations pushing you to an AIO.  Just understand they are compromises in every way They don't really do anything well, just acceptably.  And if one part breaks you still have the whole thing sitting taking up space and still needing to buy something else.  Individual, dedicated components give the best performance in the long run and are cheaper to replace if they crap out. This is why they don't make console TVs anymore.  (Gotta keep it cause the stereo still works)  If most of your printing is B&W, a dedicated laser is the lowest cost per page.  Usable inkjets for color are a dime a dozen.  Just focus on the cost and availability of ink replacement.  The supplies will eat you alive, not the printer cost.  Check out www.LDPrinting.com for good pricing on toner and ink.  It's what I use and I print a lot.  I get toners in bulk (6 at a time) for half what the singles cost from HP.

Inspector Dana 

Overall I think the HP's are the way to go.  I'm not a big fan of their entry level models but when you get above the $300 price point, the are tough to beat.  

I don't have a color all in one but I have a Samsung all in one that scans in color.  I use a HP for color so I really have two printers.  I went that way because I already had the color printer and they aren't that much and the black and white laser print costs are much much cheaper.  It more then pays for itself over the lifespan.  I have had the HP for over five years and the Samsung for 4 years.