🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <NYn0UsnstoF8EwBN@pigsonthewing.org.uk>, on Tue, 11 Dec 2001, 
Andy Mabbett <andy@pigsonthewing.org.uk> wrote
>Father Christmas is going to bring me a printer (or, rather, cash to 
>use when buying one).
>
>I have managed two years without one on my PC, so, as you can deduce, 
>won't be using it heavily when I do have one.
>
>I will mainly be producing b&w text prints; the ability to make the 
>occasional colour print would be a bonus. Photographic quality is not 
>required, but wouldn't be refused.

I would have said a laser (all inkjets these days - and for the last 
quite a few years - are colour), but for only occasional use, the warmup 
time could be irritating. (_Colour_ lasers are really nice, but very 
expensive [including to run], somewhat large, and also slow.)

Among inkjets, the best resolution (photo quality etc.) tend to be the 
piezoelectric, rather than resistive, ones - which means EPSON. These, 
however, have the head as part of the printer, which means it's riskier 
trying to refill the cartridges (if it goes wrong, it's a repair bill).
>
>It is important that the printer can handle labels and envelopes.
>
>It must have easily available refills; not excessively over-priced.

For a real workhorse that will continue to last for years, and can be 
fed with anything, an old dot matrix will run indefinitely for nothing: 
if you figure out how to prise the cover off the ribbon cartridge, three 
or four drops of stamp pad ink will revitalise it for several months. 
(Not colour, of course, or at least only one colour!) You may find 
people who'll more or less pay you to take them away! They can do 
reasonable quality, too (get a 24-pin one - if EPSON, and that's 
probably easiest to get drivers for, LQ part numbers rather than LX or 
the original FX); just a bit slow, and, of course, rather noisy (but you 
said not much use).
>
>Any suggestions, or tips?
>
>Dixons currently have a Lexmark Z13 colour inkjet at half price, GBP 
>24.99, on their website. It seems to compare well to printers of more 
>than twice that price, in terms of speed and dpi (the latter being 
>1200x1200).

AVOID - I don't actually know anything about that one, but I'd basically 
suspect anything that cheap is a loss leader, expecting to recoup LOTS 
of money on the ink cartridges. (It can't be _that_ well made, either, 
surely!)
>
>My budget is higher than that, but I can always spend it on something 
>else! How does the Lexmark perform? Is 1200x1200 capable of producing 
>readable and presentable letters?

For letters, yes, 1200x1200 will be excellent (for black/white; as 
another poster has said, the colour resolution - apart from the three 
basic ink colours - is a lot less than the stated, due to the need for 
dot _patterns_ to make the colour. 1200x1200 will produce reasonably 
nice colour pictures, though, too).
>
>I understand that the Z12 can have either black, or three-colour- ink 
>loaded, but not both at the same time. Is that drawback also true of 
>the Z13?
>
Single cartridge (either black or three-colour but not both) printers 
are a pain if you want to print something containing both black and 
colour (e. g. a web page), as you have to do it with the colour 
cartridge, which is three times as slow for the black, and also of 
course uses up the (expensive) colour inks (expensive because it uses up 
lots of all three, and they're obviously only 1/3 the size to start 
with). If you really don't expect to do much colour printing, such a 
single-cartridge printer may suit - my brother has one (HP 400 series) 
and is reasonably happy with it - but I'd still check the cost, and 
availability, of replacement cartridges.
>
>OTOH, a colleague has recommended a Cannon S400, which has different 
>refills for each colour; that appeals from both a miserly and 
>environmentally- friendly PoV!
>
Even more miserly/environmental is to refill the cartridges yourself; 
I've seen ink for 8 to 10 pounds or so for 250ml at computer fairs, 
though get a (more expensive) refill _kit_, including the necessary 
syringes, a few _small_ bottles of ink, and - most important - some 
instructions, for your first attempt.

Consider where the printer will _go_; I personally like the HP series, 
as they seem quite solidly built, and the paper comes out the same side 
it goes in, which is significant - you can put them against a wall, 
unlike some models where it goes in one side and comes out the other. 
Most of the HP (500 series are very cheap if you can still find any, 600 
not much more, 800 and 900 more but better [quality and speed]) are dual 
cartridge, i.e. black and tricolour for most of the time, but the black 
one can be replaced with a different three colour one - making six 
colours in all - for the occasional very fancy colour reproduction. 
(I've never actually tried this out on my 590.) They take envelopes etc. 
no problem - though I _suspect_ most printers around now do anyway.

For any inkjet, run it at least once a month, and probably once a week, 
if not more; otherwise the ink tends to dry and clog the heads. You only 
need print a few lines.

(I may miss newsgroup followups, though I try not to; I _do_ read email
though.)
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J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL(+++)IS-P--Ch+(p)Ar+T[?]H+Sh0!:`)DNAf
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