Printer Buying Guide (Summer 2016)
in Computer Peripherals ·
Hey everyone, I'm looking to pick up a printer for my kids for Christmas—they're seven-year-old twins. Nothing fancy at all; they’d just be printing school stuff, maybe some pictures from the internet or whatever. It won't be professional use by any means. We're talking a few dozen pages a month, tops.
So, I'm basically looking for what most people ask for: a cheap printer that also has cheap compatible ink. I noticed that wireddrifter34 suggested these two to someone else earlier:
1. Canon Pixma IP7250 - $176 over at Best Buy
2. Canon Pixma MG5750 - $190 at www.amazon.com
The first one doesn't do scanning or copying, while the second one does. Those features aren't my top priority, but hey, if the printer has them, great. But again—printing is the main thing! Given how small the price gap is, it seems logical to go with the second one. However, I have to factor in the replacement inks. From what I can gather (and I'm a total amateur here), I'll need to buy four cartridges (Magenta, Cyan, Yellow, Black). The first printer has compatibles for $4.00 each (over at a local tech shop), whereas this second one has them for $13 per unit (at www.walmart.com). That difference isn't exactly negligible $36 when you add up all four. But since I don't really know what I'm doing, it's hard to say how often I'd actually need to swap them out. That $36 might not matter much if I'm only replacing colors once or twice a year, but it definitely matters if I'm doing it every single month. Since I haven't really used printers in the past, I honestly have no clue how fast the ink runs out. I don't even know if these two printers consume ink at the same rate—maybe the second one is more efficient, which would mean the replacement costs aren't actually that much higher (like, if the ink lasted twice as long).
Basically, what would you recommend for the kids? (Again, usage will be low, probably anywhere from a few pages to a MAX of 40-50 pages a month). Printing is the priority; scanning and copying is a nice bonus, but cheaper ink is the biggest plus. Meaning, a multifunctional printer is only worth considering if it won't absolutely murder my wallet with ink costs. Of course, I'm not limiting myself to just these two; if you have suggestions for something else (budget is max around $110), please let me know. I only mentioned these two because they popped up in a couple of posts above.
Also, I'm open to the idea of refilling the ink manually—I saw you can get pretty cheap compatible ink in bottles on eBay. I'd only mess around with that if I absolutely had to. If I can get by cheaply enough with standard replacement cartridges, I'd rather not deal with the hassle of manual refills.
Thanks in advance!
So, I'm basically looking for what most people ask for: a cheap printer that also has cheap compatible ink. I noticed that wireddrifter34 suggested these two to someone else earlier:
1. Canon Pixma IP7250 - $176 over at Best Buy
2. Canon Pixma MG5750 - $190 at www.amazon.com
The first one doesn't do scanning or copying, while the second one does. Those features aren't my top priority, but hey, if the printer has them, great. But again—printing is the main thing! Given how small the price gap is, it seems logical to go with the second one. However, I have to factor in the replacement inks. From what I can gather (and I'm a total amateur here), I'll need to buy four cartridges (Magenta, Cyan, Yellow, Black). The first printer has compatibles for $4.00 each (over at a local tech shop), whereas this second one has them for $13 per unit (at www.walmart.com). That difference isn't exactly negligible $36 when you add up all four. But since I don't really know what I'm doing, it's hard to say how often I'd actually need to swap them out. That $36 might not matter much if I'm only replacing colors once or twice a year, but it definitely matters if I'm doing it every single month. Since I haven't really used printers in the past, I honestly have no clue how fast the ink runs out. I don't even know if these two printers consume ink at the same rate—maybe the second one is more efficient, which would mean the replacement costs aren't actually that much higher (like, if the ink lasted twice as long).
Basically, what would you recommend for the kids? (Again, usage will be low, probably anywhere from a few pages to a MAX of 40-50 pages a month). Printing is the priority; scanning and copying is a nice bonus, but cheaper ink is the biggest plus. Meaning, a multifunctional printer is only worth considering if it won't absolutely murder my wallet with ink costs. Of course, I'm not limiting myself to just these two; if you have suggestions for something else (budget is max around $110), please let me know. I only mentioned these two because they popped up in a couple of posts above.
Also, I'm open to the idea of refilling the ink manually—I saw you can get pretty cheap compatible ink in bottles on eBay. I'd only mess around with that if I absolutely had to. If I can get by cheaply enough with standard replacement cartridges, I'd rather not deal with the hassle of manual refills.
Thanks in advance!