Advice on scanner/printers wanted!

[Jean McEwan]

Hey All

My inkjet Lexmark x75 printer, 10 years old, is proving pretty rubbish for getting decent quality prints for my zines. I definitely need to upgrade :+))

Can people offer recommendations pls? I am looking for a good scanner/bw/colour printer which will give good results and is not too hungry on the old ink cartridges!

Many thanks

Jean

[Jean McEwan]

Hi Paco

Many thanks for your post and the advice - its much appreciated. I hadn't thought of checking out Amazon reviews, but I will do so :+)) Thanks again!

[Paco]

Jean,

The scanner that I use is one that I've had for several years now. It's a Canon CanoScan N67oU. I've never been disappointed with this scanner, but I will be pretty sad whenever it gets too old to function. It has been a great tool to have.

There's really nothing fancy about it, but my favorite feature about this scanner is that there's only one cord to connect. The power to the printer runs through the USB connection cable. I wish that all peripherals were designed like that.

Along with the Canon scanner, I used to have a Canon printer. It was a replacement for the exact same model printer that had died right before the 1-year warranty ran out. Beautiful prints, cheap ink, but a major disappointment in terms of longevity.

I was trying to stay with the Canon brand due to my love of the scanner. and the reasonable costs on ink replacement. But I did some serious research before buying another, and went with a used Hewlett Packard printer on eBay.

The printer I have now is an HP7960. I never imagined that I would buy a used printer, but it was one of the smartest things I could have done.

The main reason I decided to go with a used model was that I needed something that could interface with both my old Mac G4 -- which my 15 year old desktop publishing software is on -- as well as my new(er) Mac Mini.

Of all the reviews I read, particularly on Amazon, the one I bought seemed to be a standout in terms of print quality, reliability and the ink replacement cost. I really don't know if I've ever been happier with a printer than I am with this one. After nearly two years I still honestly find myself amazed at how beautifully it prints. I don't at all mind spending money on ink either, since it seems to last quite a while.

Though I can't make recommendations on actual hardware, I can offer one valuable piece of advice: read reviews.

Once you start narrowing down the list of possibles, look for those models on sites like Amazon, which may be the best place just for buyer reviews. The comments left by people who already own what you're considering buying might really aid you in finalizing your decision. The information I found there was a tremendous help to me.

Good luck,

Paco