recommend a printer

[TonyF]

I need one with all-in-one print/copy/scan/fax capability. Can anyone recommend something between $200 to $400.

Doesn't have to be network ready or wireless.

Doesn't need to be "photo printing" oriented.

Thanks.

[Glocker]

Hi TonyF,

There are as many good choices in all-in-one's these day's as there are in gun choices. This Brother all-in-one is fairly decent, and will probably meet your needs without costing too much. There are better ones out there, but this one is not too bad. I recently recommended it to my parents.

Good Luck!!!!




Brother MFC5460-CN Color Inkjet All-In-One Printer
Model #: BRO MFC5460CN




Customer rating: 4.9


Based on 2 ratings
• Up to 30 ppm
• Up to 6000 x 1200 dpi
• Super G3 fax• 48-bit color scanner
• PC-free printing
• Ethernet interfacePrice was: $159.99
You save: -$10.00




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You pay: $149.99





Product description
Brother MFC5460-CN Color Inkjet All-In-One Printer
Features

All-in-one with networking: Fast print speeds combined with high-resolution printing and scanning creates the perfect all-in-one solution for the small office or home office user. Plus, the Ethernet interface allows you to share it with others on your network.

Fast and quality printing: This speedy all-in-one prints at speeds up to 30 ppm black and 25 ppm color at resolutions up to 6000 x 1200 dpi.

High-speed faxing: Send and receive faxes with the built-in 33.6K bps Super G3 fax modem that allows color or black-and-white faxing—no computer necessary.

Color scanner: Scan color and black-and-white documents in 48-bit color depth and an optical resolution up to 1200 x 2400 dpi.

PC-free printing: The media card slots and Pict-Bridge interface allow you to print photos directly from your digital camera’s media card or from your Pict-Bridge-enabled camera—without a computer. Compatible media cards include: Compact Flash®, Memory Stick®/Pro®; xD-Picture Card™ Type M/H, Multi Media Cards and Secure Digital™.

Ethernet interface: The built-in Ethernet interface allows you to share your printer now or in the future. Just plug it into your wired or wireless router and share it to print, scan, PC Fax and access to the digital camera media cards.

Automatic document feeder: The ADF holds up to 35 pages for unattended fax, scan or copy of multi-page documents.

Four-cartridge ink system: With four separate cartridges for each ink color, you only need to replace the color that's empty.

Optional high-yield cartridge: Reduce your running costs with the optional high-yield black ink cartridge. It prints up to 900 pages at 5 percent letter size page coverage.


Specifications
Brother MFC5460-CN Color Inkjet All-In-One Printer
Printer
Printing method Inkjet
Black and white print resolution Up to 6000 x 1200 dpi
Color print resolution Up to 6000 x 1200 dpi
Black and white print speeds Up to 30 ppm
Color print speeds Up to 25 ppm
Network connectivity LAN network
Scanner
Optical resolution Up to 1200 x 2400 dpi
Scanner type Flatbed
Fax
Color fax capabilities Yes
Page memory 480
Copier
Copy resolution Up to 1200 x 1200 dpi
Copy speed Up to 22 cpm
Color copy speed Up to 20 cpm
Reduction/enlargement range 25%-400%
Convenience
LCD screen No
Paper
Automatic document feeder Yes
Document feeder capacity 35
Inputs and outputs
USB port Yes
Parallel port No
PictBridge-enabled Yes
Photo printing
Photo printers Yes
Photo print size Standard-width
General features
Note: Print speed is dependent on computer and document printed.
UPC 012502615903
Manufacturer's part number MFC-5460cn
Dimensions
Height 8.9 inches
Width 17.3 inches
Depth 15.5 inches
Weight 19.6 lbs

[LorDiego01]

I caught this article online the other day, how apparently there is a class-action suite against the printer makers, because they've worked it out so you are paying...

$8,000 a gallon of ink.

And THAT's the reason why I don't have a printer.

I'd say go laser, they seem to last longer and after a while it'll pay for itself. But then again, I hate printers and know not much about them.

[Glocker]

I caught this article online the other day, how apparently there is a class-action suite against the printer makers, because they've worked it out so you are paying...

$8,000 a gallon of ink.

Wow Anyone want to go into business with me selling ink?

I am in the wrong profession

[DaveM55]

Wow Anyone want to go into business with me selling ink?

I am in the wrong profession

I work for a company that makes commercial grade printers. These are not used except in a manufacturing/packaging environment. We mark on boxes, plastic extrusion, concrete, wood, metal, paper, everything. We make our money on the consumables (ink). There are several companies who sell pirated ink and it screws up our print heads all the time.

Do you have any idea how much a gallon of ink costs to make. You'd never begin to understand the EPA guidelines we have to follow. Don't even mention OSHA.

[awkx]

I have an Epson CX 3200, and I'm fairly pleased with it. It doesn't do faxes w/o a PC, but a higher-end model in the same family probably does. The printer uses pigment inks ("DuraBrite") rather than dyes, so the colors don't bleed if water is spilled on the paper. A downside is that the pigment inks seem to clog more easily than the dye inks, requiring more (automatic but ink wasting) maintenance. Also, the pigment inks tend to not produce as good photos as dye inks.

I owned a previous model that apparently had a design defect, causing an irrepairable clog problem that rendered the printer useless. On the plus side, Epson took the printer back and gave me a new one (in an updated model) even though the warranty was a few months expired, and they even payed for shipping both ways.

As others have noted, the most expensive thing is the ink. If you plan to own the printer for a few years and make moderate-to-heavy use of it, definitely try to factor in the cost of the ink. I think some magazines like PC Magazine or PC World give approximate cost-per-page comparisons for selected printers.

[D-FENS]

I can't shed much light onto this subject. I work with a lot of Enterprise-grade printers and copiers but not on the home-office side of things. My mother does a lot of mailings and whatnot for their business. She has a couple of Brother all-in-ones and likes them a lot. She also says she gets great customer service from them. Take that for what it's worth.

I would highly suggest going with a Laser setup as opposed to ink. Ink sucks hard.

Here's Brother's lineup of smaller laser units.
http://www.brother-usa.com/mfc/BW_Mo...Multifunction/

I wouldn't buy through them though. I imagine they can be had cheaper. Let me know when you find something and I'll help you hunt down a good price.

[LittleRedToyota]

I need one with all-in-one print/copy/scan/fax capability. Can anyone recommend something between $200 to $400.

Doesn't have to be network ready or wireless.

Doesn't need to be "photo printing" oriented.

Thanks.

a few thoughts...

i've had good luck with HP, lexmark, and cannon for cheap printers and all-in-one machines (i've had good luck with xerox and epson for high-end printers, but i have no experience with their cheaper printers).

for the most part, if you go with HP, lexmark, or cannon, you'll prolly be fine. that is not to say there is anything wrong with other brands, though.

at any rate, to really dial in on what will be good for you, you need to ask/answer a few questions:

the key question is do you want color or black & white? you say you don't care about photo printing, but you still might want to be able to print in color.

it is actually easier for an inkjet to print a decent looking photo than a decent looking color chart (where different colors are sharply delineated instead of bleeding into each other like the do in a photo). and, since most people use cheap inkjet printers to print photos, most of the advertising for them are geared toward photos. so don't think a specific inkjet is overkill just because the box brags about how well it prints photos.

laser have different issues with color. it is harder for a laser based printer to print the subtle color gradiations found in photos. laser printers that do a decent job of printing photos tend to be pretty expensive.

if you don't care about color, i would go with a laser printer. if you want color, then, for your price range (and even if you increased your price range by a lot), you will be looking at inkjet.

cheap inkjets are generally OK for home use these days, though. they used to have issues with smudging, the ink fading after not very long, reliability, etc., but to a large extent these issues are things of the past.

laser pritners tends to be much faster, though. and laser tends to be cheaper in the long run (even though the initial cost of the printer tends to be less with inkjets).

inkjet printers are dirt cheap these days, but the ink is expensive and has a very finite shelf life. you can cut down on the cost of ink by refilling the ink cartridges yourself (you can buy kits that come with ink and a sort of hypodermic needle used to inject the new ink into the cartridge). my experiences with refilling inkjet cartridges is that it works fine for typical home/small office use. you can refill the cartridges a few times before they start to clog.

you can typically use cheaper paper with laser printers as well, though today's inkjets work much better with cheap copy paper than they used to.

also, cheap laser printers tend to last longer than cheap inkjets. and, though the reliability of cheap inkjet printers has come a long way, laser printers are still more reliable in my experience.

laser also handles higher print volumes better...and cheaper.

laser also tends to print sharper text, sharper graphs, etc. (due to "bleeding" of ink jet ink). this is not as much of an issue as it used to be, but if you use cheap paper in an inkjet and look closely, you can still see a noticeable difference.

basically, imho, if you don't need color, go with a laser based machine. if you do need color, go with an inkjet.

if i were looking to buy a black and white all-in-one machine today, one of the machines i would prolly look at is the HP LaserJet 3050 all-in-one (http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en...2-1140783.html)

if i were look to buy a color all-in-one machine today, one of the machines i would prolly look at is the cannon pixma mp530 (http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/co...&modelid=13371)

[Xringshooter]

I went to my local Office Depot and got a pretty good HP all in one (print, scan, fax, copy) for about $249. A lot of times they run specials too. I have everything plugged into one phone line. If the phone line rings the all in one will pick up to see if it hears the fax tone. If it does, it picks up in the fax mode and receives. If no fax tone, the answering machine (built into the phone) picks up and records the incoming message.

[normanvin]

http://www.salescircular.com/

this site will allow you to see whats on sale at most of the bigger stores.

for what its worth i have a lexmark all in one. its an older model. it still does what i want.