Multifunction thats going to be cheap to run!

Hi All

I just found out that my Epson printer which I have had for about 5 years has finally Died on me. Its been giving me issues for months.

I decided that I am going to invest in a multifunction printer and am interested in just colour inkjet printing/scanning but would also like network connectivity either with Wireless or ethernet.

One thing that did my head in with the Epson was it used to drink ink like there was no tommorow. I know now that you can get separate cartridges for each colour and have had experience of these where I work. At work we use HP and Canon and I am really impressed with the canon as they seem to be very good on ink cartridge costs. The HP is also good but have found the costs tend to be more expensive.

I don't want to buy another Epson and would prefer HP or Canon. Can anyone suggest a model that is multifunction, has network connectivity, is cheap to run and uses separate inks?

Also I have found that sometimes the new printers you can only use original cartridges with, I would prefer if I could buy compatibles because of the price differences. Could I do this with both HP or Canon?

If anyone suggests another brand that would be welcome.

Thanking in advance for any advice anyone can give me

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Originally Posted by ranj

I decided that I am going to invest in a multifunction printer and am interested in just colour inkjet printing/scanning but would also like network connectivity either with Wireless or ethernet.

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You're probably looking at something like the HP Officejet Pro L7500, at around £200. Takes separate ink cartridges (no. 88s) and has removable ink heads - you can probably get a CIS system for it. I'm guessing you're looking at an all-in-one to save space, but if you can I'd say figure out some way of squeezing in both a scanner and a printer - maybe a small stand of some sort that lets the scanner sit on top of the printer? You can get scanners for next to nothing these days - we got a basic Canon, ultra-thin and USB-powered (i.e. no power plug needed) for £30.

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David Hicks

I'd agree with David - Pretty much anything in the OfficeJet Pro L series is going to fit your needs. I've never really looked at Canon MFPs, but I've worked with the HP stuff before and it is great quality & reliability.

Right... the big question really has to be one of how much printing and what type of printing you're expecting to do...

If it's a lot (by which I mean) a ream of paper every couple of weeks then the L7680 is definitely in the running however a couple of things to watch out for with these printers (and the HP88 black cartridges in particular). The black is very temperature/environment sensitive in that it will clog quite quickly if your ambient temp reaches 30+. Air conditioning also contributes so be careful in that regard (and for anyone in the know, this is something I've learned the hard way this past 3 weeks doing some empirical research + 4 printheads!)

If you're looking to do photo printing and you're not quite so worried about the speed angle then MX850 is definitely worth a look. Up until about 3 months ago the Canons were a bit of a non-starter unless you were prepared to pay for OEM cartridges or had the time to refill but since resetters started flooding the market these printers can now accept 3rd party cartridge reliably and you can always learn to refill if you really want to save some money.


I can happily recommend a CIS for the HP L7000 series (I make them! :)) and having fought with Canon printers I'd recommend going with OEM, 3rd party (decent ones) or refilling OEM cartridges rather than CIS kits.

As to the Epsons, I appreciate you've cast them out into the cold but in fairness you might want to look back and see if there's anything worth a second glance. A reconditioned model that doesn't use the brand new Claria inks (and more importantly chips!) would be worth a look as CIS kits in these are very forgiving and the waste ink side of things is easy to combat with a waste ink tank/bag. I can't recommend any Epson models myself as I don't really use them at the moment..

I do have a Canon MP830 (the non-networked version preceding the MX850) and an HP L7680 at home though so I can provide plenty more intel on their dimensions and pro's/con's.

Hope that helps.