Best Inkjet Printer for classrooms

Don't laugh but our class teachers still insist on having their own inkjet printer in their classroom.

 

Despite my best efforts I have been unable to persuade them that shared colour lasers are better (we have only 1 in the IT suite). I guess they object to walking to the printer to get their prints!

 

Is anybody else still using inkjets and if so I would like comments on makes/models to buy/avoid like the plague...

 

I have at present got all Epson C84 or D68 which are nothing but trouble...

I've got this problem with some, even ones who are able to print to the laser pritners in their HoD's room refuse to if their printer isn't working (despite the job being "urgent")

 

 

Definatelly don't get a HP 6620. No end of problems with them pausing and generally being very sporadic in their working.

HP Business Inkjets are the best I've found.

I've managed more or less to convince staff that they should be going network printer or at least to local mono laser printers. I'm more or less getting rid of all inkjets in the school other than the A3 one in CDT.

 

A lot of staff simply do not need colour, we have 3 colour network laser printers in the school that can be used anyway. Some staff are still being stubborn but I simply don't respond as fast to them as I do to those with network or laser printers.

Just as a hint for injet we have got the same problem but have bought one and a ciss kit as well and is the best investment ever. £5 per fill of ink and each fill has the same as 10 normal cartridges. I was that impressed i bought one for at home. Epsion seem to be the best for ciss systems.

Just get them colour LJ printers and tell them that you cant afford to keep replacing cartridges. LJ is much more cost effective.

HP K550DTN currently around £60 I saw in a supplier leaflet the other day.

 

£10 each for remanafactured carts.

 

Ben

alonebfg> i dont have enough time to go pissing around with refilling carts and getting ink all over my hands.

The rule we have here is 'we don't provide inkjets or ink'. So if staff want a printer it is up to them to provide it out of their own money (it can't come out of their budget either).

 

However, I will agree with the others - go for a HP Business Inkjet. One of our quasi-status staff members has one provided by the council and it works great.

We've pretty much managed to phase out the Inkjets too, and when we had them we completely condemned refills/unofficial carts, way too many problems to be worth the savings.

 

When they were common we had Epsons and HPs, the Epsons are usually cheaper but the HPs are a lot less hassle and not as problematic after the holidays.

Another vote for HP Business Inkjets

 

Not sure what the current generation are like but we have a lot of 1100's and 1200's and they last a long time and are fairly reliable.

 

Cheaper inkjets designed for home use are hopeless in a school environment I find, even if they're just for teachers

only problem with the business inkjets is that some models are enormous!

lol yes they do take up a lot of desk space

I have just brought in and am in the process of setting up 3 HP OfficeJet K5400DN printers, 1 OfficeJet K5400DTN A4 printers and 1 OfficeJet K850DN A3 printer for my junior school.

I wish we could get rid of our inkjets!

"But i NEED a colour printer on my desk"

 

I wish they'd just think about it for a second and realise how much better a shared colour laser would be!

 

BTW we just use epsons with cheap carts from http://www.7dayshop.com and the likes. They are so cheap that if a cart stops working you just throw it in the bin. Just pishes me off having to walk between sites to change a ink cart because its "urgent" but not urgent enough for them to stand up and walk to the next printer!

I have just brought in and am in the process of setting up 3 HP OfficeJet K5400DN printers, 1 OfficeJet K5400DTN A4 printers and 1 OfficeJet K850DN A3 printer for my junior school.

I'd be interested in how well these work as I've been using the K550's for a few schools and they work well (aside from the size!)...

 

For what it's worth if you are looking at inkjets that could be used for scanning and/or backup photocopy facilities then the L7780 is VERY good. It's not much bigger than a K550 and works well..

HP Business Inkjets are the best I've found.

 

I agree... we have loads of tham around the site and they are great... they have 4 ink slots so are cheaper to run....

Managed to get rid of all of our inkjets and despite some initial resistance, everybody is glad to see the back of them as the mono lasers they have are more reliable and quicker. Having a paper tray also makes a difference as they don't have to faff about aligning the paper in the slot, and there are fewer jams as a result.

 

Physical intervention is significantly less, and toner costs are paltry compared to what they used to get through. Heck, I've even started to charge per page on colour network printers and they are getting used to it!

I'd be interested in how well these work as I've been using the K550's for a few schools and they work well (aside from the size!)...

Does anyone have issues with the paper feed on these? I find it doesn't like drawing paper from the 2nd tray after when it's less than half full.

I'd be interested in how well these work as I've been using the K550's for a few schools and they work well (aside from the size!)...

Does anyone have issues with the paper feed on these? I find it doesn't like drawing paper from the 2nd tray after when it's less than half full.

It's something that relies on a couple of things.

1. The paper quality (some papers just don't seem to work too well)

2. Getting some air between the sheets by fanning apart the paper before loading it*

 

 

 

Fanning paper is pretty simple:

- Get about 2 inches depth of paper (or less).

- Hold vertical and grip with thumbs behind and fingers in front

- Push and bend the paper, pushing your fingers ahead and pull thumbs back slightly so that the paper seperates out and gets air between each sheet.

- Gently pull the paper back without smoothing it out (that would push out all the air) and load into the paper tray.

 

 

This approach basically helps reduce the friction between sheets and makes it easier for the printer to pick up the paper.

I'd be interested in how well these work as I've been using the K550's for a few schools and they work well (aside from the size!)...

 

I've got the K850DN and the K5400DTN up and running now and so far the results are pretty impressive. Both printers are quick and reliable though the K850DN hasn't really been stretched yet as access to it has been restricted to a hand ful of staff at present. One thing I did find was that the second tray on the K5400DTN needs needs to be as level as possible or it doesn't pick up cleanly but its not a big issue. Should be putting the 3 K5400DN's out on Friday but if the DTN version is anything to go by these should be equally impressive.