Recommend me a home printer?

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sidefx

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#147244 13-Jun-2014 11:51

Currently at home we have a cheap HP inkjet all in one. The kids and Mrs seem to go through ink like crazy though (and said printer is playing up a bit) so I'm considering a new printer and looking at laser options. Anybody have any recommendations or seen any good prices of late? I'm currently considering this one if anyone has any experience with it:
http://www.thegoodguys.co.nz/nzonlinestore/Brother_Colour_Laser_Printer_HL3150CDN

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#1064802 13-Jun-2014 11:59

This: http://www.warehousestationery.co.nz/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/WSL-B2C-Site/en_NZ/-/NZD/ViewOfferDetail-Product?ProductRef=215610@WSL-B2C

Its not colour but do you need colour? Its cheap, $149 and then a $50 cashback so $99. It scans, copys and prints. USB only. No Network. Comes with 700-1000 pages of toner. New toner is $80 and does 1000 pages. Free 3 year onsite warrenty upgrade when you buy genuine brother toner

We just got one and its great!

Special ends in a couple of days

sidefx

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#1064823 13-Jun-2014 12:14

Thanks, that does look quite good. Personally I could live without colour, but it's viewed as a must have by the rest of the family.

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Yabanize

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#1064835 13-Jun-2014 12:28

sidefx: Thanks, that does look quite good. Personally I could live without colour, but it's viewed as a must have by the rest of the family.

What do they print in colour?

timmmay

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#1064861 13-Jun-2014 13:09

Epson Artisan with a RIHAC ink kit (about $150). Each ink tank is 100ml, around 10x larger than an Epson ink tank, and that's 6x100ml. An extra set of inks is $50 or something from memory, though I got one I think by mistake when I got the system as I only ordered the black and got all the colors. I've had it a couple of years and the first set of inks is still half full, and I've done a fair bit of printing. Recommended.

Rihac make CIS systems for many printers, but if you go that way check their site before you buy a printer. I've had three Canon inkjet printers and they all crapped out on me within a couple of years.

hairy1

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#1064866 13-Jun-2014 13:13

Maybe have a squizz at this thread which is very recent:

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=73&topicid=146986

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TinyTim

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#1064888 13-Jun-2014 13:31

sidefx: Currently at home we have a cheap HP inkjet all in one. The kids and Mrs seem to go through ink like crazy though (and said printer is playing up a bit) so I'm considering a new printer and looking at laser options. Anybody have any recommendations or seen any good prices of late? I'm currently considering this one if anyone has any experience with it:
http://www.thegoodguys.co.nz/nzonlinestore/Brother_Colour_Laser_Printer_HL3150CDN

A bought one of those a month or so ago. My first non-HP. The kids have always loved creating things to print out: notices, signs, tickets etc, and they love the colour. I haven't examined the quality closely but photos seem ok - colours appear accurate. (Not sure how it compares with inkjet though. Naturally not as bright as photographic quality paper.) It's also nice having duplex and an ethernet port. Prints quite fast. Seems robust and solidly built. Dead easy to set up, including putting in the cartridges and setting up for Google Cloud printing.

But it's quite big and heavy, and a bit ugly - a big box - you probably wouldn't make it a showpiece in the study. The display is very small - essentially gives you a single word status. But that's ok; you just get the details via your browser.
Overall, I thought it was good value for money.

Edit: PS it's an LED printer, not laser. Not sure if that makes any practical difference though.

sidefx

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#1065345 14-Jun-2014 09:24

TinyTim:
The kids have always loved creating things to print out: notices, signs, tickets etc, and they love the colour. I haven't examined the quality closely but photos seem ok - colours appear accurate.

Yup, this is pretty much exactly the age my kids are, and why I want something cheapish to run, with colour and doesn't need much of anything else, though networked would be nice. Doesn't need great colour performance or anything for the kids, but decent mono performance\quality for the rest of the time.

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timmmay

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#1065359 14-Jun-2014 10:02

sidefx:
TinyTim:
The kids have always loved creating things to print out: notices, signs, tickets etc, and they love the colour. I haven't examined the quality closely but photos seem ok - colours appear accurate.

Yup, this is pretty much exactly the age my kids are, and why I want something cheapish to run, with colour and doesn't need much of anything else, though networked would be nice. Doesn't need great colour performance or anything for the kids, but decent mono performance\quality for the rest of the time.

This is why I suggested a midrange inkjet printer along with a cheap ink system.

1101

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#1067346 17-Jun-2014 11:37

Ive read of many NZ horror stories with addon Continous ink systems... not working properly, leaking all over the floor.

Whatever you consider, look its cost of toner/ink & just how many pages per ink/toner cart....especially color as they are often smaller than blk on inkjets
Also, many printers only give 'starter' cartridges ,that hold much less ink than normal, so you could be in for a full set of new carts very soon : this happened with my Canon inkjet.
That could be costly if the color laser only has starter carts .

You can also consider refills or aftermarket ink carts. These are almost never as good as genuine, but Im sure the kids wont notice .

jonb

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#1067351 17-Jun-2014 11:46

We've been using a Brother multifunction printer for the past couple of years for this purpose and it has been fine. Bought a 2nd hand one of trademe for $20, and then some refillable aftermarket print cartridges for it. At the same time bought 2x bottles of black ink, and one of each coloured ink bottles. Total cost was about $100 I think, and haven't used up all the ink we bought. Fairly light usage, going through about 3 packs of paper a year.

timmmay

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#1067404 17-Jun-2014 12:57

1101: Ive read of many NZ horror stories with addon Continous ink systems... not working properly, leaking all over the floor.

That's worth considering. I've not had it happen, and the reviews I read didn't mention it. The only time ink has escaped is when I forgot about the CIS, picked up the printer, and had the ink swing underneath - that left a nice red stain on my red carpet. Ink is really difficult to get out of carpet, fortunately it was brown carpet and most came out.

jonb

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#1072429 23-Jun-2014 10:41

Printers on sale at PB tech this week, with some good cashback offers

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=7c710122-9caf-4a24-92f3-976a74655844&c=f1af5fa0-b4a6-11e3-b4fc-d4ae52843dc7&ch=f308fc30-b4a6-11e3-b50a-d4ae52843dc7

toyonut

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#1072568 23-Jun-2014 13:21

Just picked up a brother DCPJ4110DW printer from that PB sale, seems nice, works fast, print quality is not the best though. fine for our needs and great for $100 after cashback. They have some colour lasers at that PB sale as well for not crazy money.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

raytaylor

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#1073807 24-Jun-2014 23:59

+1 to this
http://www.thegoodguys.co.nz/nzonlinestore/Brother_Colour_Laser_Printer_HL3150CDN

I like brother printers - especially the network ones. So very easy to set up on a network.

if you ever get the urge to go for an HP inkjet multifunction - stay away from them. the scanner<to>pc linking constantly dies on them over a network.

Ray Taylor

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pinkbellbird

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#1075859 28-Jun-2014 00:07

I know your wanting recommendations, but I have to tell you to STAY AWAY from the HP Photosmart series! not sure if they still do these. But I got so sick to death of mine, constant networking issues with it over wireless, conflicting IP issues, eprint cock ups & online issues, printer would go offline at random.

I was gona try selling it though, still have a set of new cartridges. maybe someone else will be ok with it, idk. But I got sick of having to trouble shot it every few months.

Ive since bought a Canon Pimxa MG6460, and liking it alot so far, its a little slow to start printing over wireless, but I dont care, it prints when I need it to & works! lol

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