multifunction printer, scanner, and copier help
 

I think I’ll buy a multifunction printer, scanner, and copier. Can’t believe how the prices have come down. I’ve had problems with Hp’s software conflicting with my PC’s and the sheet feeders have been a problem on the older machines of theirs that I’ve used – LaserJet 1100. Still they have the flat scanner that I’m looking at. I rely on an old Panasonic dot printer. The program I use to produce my “Daily Worksheet” was written in Qbasic with a printer string pointing to the old Epson dot standard. Rewriting he program is not acceptable, but I’d like to use a newer printer – that old KX-P1124 has got to wear out sometime.
So one – are there any modern printers that will accept that old code? And two what’s a good durable multifunction machine that doesn’t have software that wants to rule my world?
Thanks in advance

i have an all in one HP 2175 and love it. it works great but i have no clue wheather it would work with your software..

There is a utility that converts basic and qbasic formats to work on modern printers. It's available on tucows. I can't remember the name of it though.

http://www.tucows.com/preview/240658.html

Here it is.

http://www.dosprn.com/

I had a HP 500 series all-in one, and finally broke down and bought a 2610 at Wal-Mart for $298. Very nice, and no glitches like I used to get. I highly recommend it.

I'm on my 3rd all in one printer.

Dell also makes a line of all in one printers, and they are doing their best to claw their way into market share. They make about the least expensive printers around. Cartridges are competitive too.

HP printers typically fail due to paper feed problems after a few years and several thousand pages. That is their path to planned obsolesce.

Currently due to the demise of support for Windows 98 and NT4 there are lot of new printers, which no longer provide drivers for computers running these operating systems. However, most HP printers will at least work with drivers for a LaserJet 2 or disk jet 500, providing, of course that the printer doesn't have paper feed problems...

I have a dell all in one, its not a fax but it is a printer scanner. It is actually made by lexmark.

Most of the dell branded printers I have seen were lexmark printers. I even matched up the cartridges with lexmark cartridges.

I've had a couple of lexmark printers in the past and they all worked well. Every epson I had was great for a couple of months, then just never printed great and were always super slow.

In anycase, HP to me makes good units apart from that laserjet 1100 that would suck in like 10 sheets at a time. damn sheet feeder, but my dad in his office had an old HP laserjet IID that worked great for 12 years, and has a 5si that has been working great for 6 years with one fuser replacement and roller replacement, which was an easy diy. And his office prints probably a few hundred thousand pages a year. Now they are getting some new copy machines that are also printers and scanners and can do crazy high volume printing.

Alon

The biggest thing with HP or Lexmark printers that use an ink jet print engine is you need to print weekly. If you don't print weekly the print heads clog up and the cartridge ends up needing to be changed before their time is up, costing $30 to #35 on average. The cartridge refill kits work well if you print alot saving you some money. For best results with these top off your cartriges when they are 2/3 down instead of empty. This way you will still have some factory ink in the cartridge.
my .02

The cannons are not a true ink jet. They are a bubble jet. Although I can't remember exactly what the difference is. Their cartidges are just ink tanks that feed their nozzles. This makes them alot less expensive, plus you get alot more ink then you get in the tri color cartidges. Another benefit is that if you print alot of red you can buy the one color.
With Lexmark and HP you are changing the print heads every time you change the cartridge.
I have only seen Cannon printers however. I haven't seen a multifunction device.

These devices exist for only one reason. That reason is to generate sales for highly overpriced ink cartridges. Given the current technology, if you're talking color, you're talking ink (at least in the soho market). My experience with inkjet devices of any kind is that they are universally junk.

Ask yourself if you really need to print color or not, I mean really? If the answer is no, I would look towards devices using conventional drum / toner printing process. You can find models out there from several manufacturers with conventional printing, fax, and color scanning. Initial cost will be higher but total cost of ownership will be about the same over, say, 3 to 5 years as the cost per page will be significantly less.

Just my 2 cents based on 37 years in the copier bidness, which, of course, has morphed into the printer bidness.

How about some recommendations? I have to buy a printer for my secretary tomorrow so that she can work out of her house. We really only need black ink, reasonably speedy printing (10 PPM) and durability as well as a large ink resevoir. I'd like to keep it to around $200.

LK1, it sounds like you are looking for a printer only, not a multifunction. For home use, I use an HP 1012, which can be found on sale at about $150. Perfect little printer (USB only though). For home office, I have an HP-1300, which has also worked perfectly. It was about $250 on sale. Toner cartridge is about 4000 pages for about $90. Cost per page on the 1012 model is considerably higher. The 1300 is no longer a current model and I know nothing about the replacement model, but I don't think you can go wrong with an HP laser printer.

Thanks

Actually, Canon, HP, and Epson are all "true" ink jet printers, they simply employ different technologies or variants of the same technology: HP and Canon both use thermal-based ink jets, with Canon using a slightly different spin on it (the "bubble" jet to which you refer), while Epson has piezo element based ink jets.

It is correct that with most HP's, you are changing out the print head (and hence the nozzles) with each combined cartridge; while this eliminates issues such as nozzles being clogged, or printheads being permanently damaged when driven with no remaining ink, it does add to both the cost and wasted ink when only a single color is nearing empty.

I have found Canon to be the most economical to operate, with no major printhead issues despite the embedded (though user-replaceable) printhead; Epson has very good image quality but almost invariably ends up with printhead issues over time, and at a much faster rate than Canon units with which I have dealt.

Thanks for all the input, but now I’m more up in the air than before. It’s amazing how I can ratchet myself up after I do a little shopping for something I get an idea about. Last weekend I rented a Ditchwitch to run a few hose bibs and an electrical line. I wound up with more than 6000’ of ditches for drip irrigation – I see a botanical paradise in my future. :)
The best don’t really seem like they’ll outlive that old dot printer, and if I have the sheet feeder fixed on my Hp-1100 I can put that back in the mix – it prints fine. Wal-Mart has a refurbished Lexmark 4in1 for $60.00. I’ll just pitch it when it needs a new $30 cartridge and keep shopping. Oops just thought – that cheapie probably comes with a cartridge that will only last a short while – back to one. :pukeface: