Allotments 4 All
General => The Shed => Topic started by: tim on December 31, 2003, 09:34:32
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PLEASE - need help - can't get it from the makers. There must be someone here who knows.
Colour Accuracy.
1. Laser or ink-jet?
2. Ink-jet. Is a 'dedicated' machine truer than a 'combination' one, or is it merely the number of separate cartridges that is important.
Cost. Can anyone volunteer a cost, in terms of ink alone, for an A4 colour copy of a photo, on 'BEST' setting, Without this as a start point, it's impossible to accept a commission. = Tim
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Tim,
I believe that laser jets are not very common for home use. They are most often used by business and where the speed of printing is very important.
Not sure about the merits of having 3 colour cartridges as opposed to having 1 combined colour cartridge, but would have thought that 1 combined cartridge would be cheaper to replace than 3 separates. I believe most inkjets have 1 colour cartridge and higher-end business laserjets have 3.
Make sure that the printer also has a black cartridge. Some only have a colour one and if black is needed, combine the colours to form a composite black- but this is never as good as true black.
I find these websites invaluable in providing reviews:
http://www.ciao.co.uk/
http://www.dooyoo.co.uk
Also, if you want to buy online, use these price comparison 'engines' -you won't believe how much you can save:
http://www.dealtime.co.uk
http://www.kelkoo.co.uk
http://uk.pricerunner.com
On some of the cheaper colour inkjets, it is actually more cost effective to replace the whole printer when the ink runs out because getting a new cartridge is about the same cost as buying the printer which comes with a free cartridge!
I got my printer from http://www.freecolourprinter.com
Says a lot for our throw-away society though! (just like mobile phones)
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for buying cartridges, etc. online, I use Viking Direct - next day delivery, which is useful - so thanks rdak for the other addys; I'll check them out for price comparison. - Lishka
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- that'll keep me busy for a while! Thanks, rdak.
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Tim,
Whatever you do dont get an Epson inkjet. Replacement cartriges are amoung the most expensive of all, particularly those with a 'chip' built in which tells the printer the cartridge is empty long before it really is. The printers themselves can be a touch cantankerous to use as well, and are not very user friendly.
Lexmark printers are better and the cartriges are a bit cheaper. It pays to shop around for cartridges and 'own brands' are better value than the printer manufacturers cartridges.
I would say all in one colour cartridges are better as they are more readily available than individuals.
Hope this helps
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I would also recommend Lexmark. Am very happy with current printer, which I think is a Z33 (entry level colour model)
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- keep it coming!! = Tim
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Tim, I use an Epson colour photo printer. So far very pleased with the quality, but the cartridges are a bit pricey!! £20.75 for black, and £16.95 for the colour, or £36.70 for a dual pack!! (and that is ordering from http://www.systeminsight.co.uk/ who are next day delivery and fairly cheap compared to the highstreet!)Wish I had thought to compare ink prices when I bought it!! RATS! Will check out Lishkas and rdaks sites to compare prices,thanks you lot ;D!
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Certainly the old Epson`s are a pain, my C40 is slow noisy and greedy. I have this very morn bought myself a Canon i560 bubble jet that takes four cartridges but it`s still in it`s box so cannot advise on quality yet-and YES,also a digital camera!!.
In mitigation for this wild flight of spending I should point out that a 15 yr savings plan matures next week ;D ;D
Stephan
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Tim, We have an Epson Stylus Color 680, which is very good, but it is true to say that the cartridges are very expensive. However, we are lucky that a Cartridge Refill Shop has just opened in Whitley Bay, and we now can get our black and colour cartridges refilled for only £10 each, which is very good value. They are just as good as buying new cartridges as the quality is excellent. busy_lizzie :)
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All good stuff - although I just don't have the steam to search out the best prices. I just suffer Viking's 'cos I get all my 'office materials' there. Maybe I'll get a bit bolder!
But you notice that, whatever folk are paying for cartridges, noone knows what one high quality A4 print costs them in ink? So one can't accept a commission without the probability of being out of pocket?
C'mon now - think!! = Tim
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Tim, We have an Epson Stylus Color 680, which is very good, but it is true to say that the cartridges are very expensive.
Well I never :o :o
Thats MY PRINTER lizzie!!
Id agree about the quality bit, but the rest NO WAY JOSE!
I find the 680 very user unfriendly, compared to the Lexmark i had before. Sorry :( :(
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I to have an Epson Photo 830 which is a dream to work get my inks from
WWW.designsbydebbie.co.uk
find them the cheepest around and good
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Great - we're still trying - but how much does it cost?? = Tim
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tim,
I don't think you're going to find a cost per page comparison for printer models.
Firstly, it is not something I have seen the manufacturers advertise, presumably because the amount of ink used to print a page varies enormously depending on what is being printed and the manufacturers don't fix a price for the ink, that is up to the retailer.
Secondly, any website or magazine that undertook a price comparison would presumably only choose a couple of models to compare and would not be able to keep up with every new printer that comes out- due to the time, expense and the factors listed above.
I think the best you can hope for is to go on peoples' impressions from the review website links I posted above re: the cartridge life and then cross-reference that to typical cartridge costs.
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Frustrating, isn't it? But thanks hugely, rdak. = Tim
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Have a look at Futurform Office Supplies for cartridges. We find them the cheapest (www.go-fos.com). Our printer is an Epson C62 and works fine for us. The other printer we have is a Lexmark and the cartridges are definitely more expensive than the printer was. Used a laser printer at school when they first came out, very quick especially for repeat printings (parent letters etc). Photo quality paper is pricey from high street outlets as well.
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Oh Eric
Friend of my dads collect old calunders and picks them us dead cheep and prints on the back of them. Get to know someone in a company who gets them free from suppliers advertising end of the year they all get thrown out lots of printable paper just have to know someone.
This chap also refills his own cartilages very saving?
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I have an Epson 750 Photo Stylus which has been very good for printing and reproducing photographs and I don`t use Company cartridges but compatible ones which I get from ToneZone Uk in Worthing who charge £17.95 fpr 5 colour cartridges inc p@p, so it does`nt matter how much each page works out at these prices. Also this printer used 6 colours 5 and 1 black and his black cartridges are even cheaper. More or less next day delivery as well!! Trouble is there is rumour that refills of inks are to be banned in the future by the European Commission, so you`ll have to buy original cartridges.
Website is www.ToneZoneUK.com
Hope that helps Tim??!
:o
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- you mean 5 of one colour, bb, or one of five colours?
Mine only takes a 3-colour thing, but you can replace the black with another 3-colour one = 6!
I tried for some time to keep track of how many copies I got from a £25 cartridge, but gave up. Too complicated, with different percentages of cover and different sizes. But I reckon it's fewer than one might wish. Hence my request for guide lines. = Tim
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Tim,
sorry I didn't see this post earlier..............however, there has been some really good advice and experience on this post.
I work in the Printing Industry (on the Digital Printing side), and although our printers are a little larger than the "desktop" models, I can give you an indication of Industry costs and charges.
(Although, you could always give KallKwik a try, they will give you quotes over the phone for colour prints, you could base your charges on those).
We charge 15p - 50p per A4 single-sided page of colour printing.
The variables tend to be the stock that is to be printed on (some of the heavy card stock, labels or acetate sheets are quite expensive) and the quantity that will be printed (economy of scale and all that).
Some companies will charge a "set-up" fee, depending on how the job is presented and whether scanning needs to be done etc etc...............(although I have just re-read your original post and see that you ask for "ink alone" costs).
We tend to get charged by "Xerox" about 5p per A4 colour image, this just tends to be for the "ink" (toner).
Alternatively, you could look at it another way......if you approximated a "set" of inks at around £25..........as you pointed out earlier......it would depend on how many images you achieved......
Thinking aloud....100 pages would work out at 25p per page (ink alone), 200 pages - 12.5p, 300 pages - 8.33p, etc, etc.....
I don't think it unreasonable to assume that based on an average coverage of ink, you should get at least 100 pages printed per cartridge "fill", if that were so, I reckon 25p is a good starting point.........bearing in mind that is what a person would have to pay, should they go to a high-street copy shop (plus set-up, normally £1 per page, plus scanning if necessary.......etc).
Hope that helps, if you want more specific pricing/breakdowns etc, feel free to PM me........ :) :)
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I just KNEW there'd be someone. No wonder she married you? BRILLIANT!
Thanks to all for valued contributions. = Tim
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Hi Tim, the Epson 750 has a 5colour cartridge and a black cartridge, thus 6 colours in all. Gives excellent results as I said.
Bob
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Very superior!! = Tim
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Just saw this thread, and as it's one of the only topics on this board I can add anything useful to, my thoughts as an 'IT bod'
Regarding the seperate or combined catridges, although it obviously costs more to fill a printer in the first place with 3 or 5 cartridges it does work out cheaper in the long run as you only need replace the colour that has run out. With a multi-colour cartridge as soon as one colour goes you have to replace the whole thing no, matter how much ink is left in the other colours. However as rdak suggested, multiple cartridge machines are quite a bit more expensive.
Epsons have a long held reputation of producing the best value inkjet printers in terms of quality for your £. I'm sure they have made a few duff models like everyone else, but generally they are good kit.
The HP Deskjet range is pretty good too. Also HP's have good warranty extensions (not such a con on printers as they do have a lot of moving parts and things that could go wrong) You will probably be able to extend it to a next-day on-site repair for about 20% on top of the printer, which is a bargain if you're using it for paid work...
HP and Epson both sell their budget printers for about the same or even less than it costs them to build them, all the profit is in the ink they hope to sell you afterwards...
In my opinion, & depending on the quality & quantity you're printing it may be worth just getting a price from a printer to do it, at least you know you won't lose money on it that way?
Hope this is of some help?
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Greatly helpful - printed off to digest at leisure.
Mine is an HP psc 2210 - I like it a lot, but it is certainly not tops for colour accuracy.
Dare I say, after that, that you're another person using our Dan's icon? Gets confusing. = Tim
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I have HP Office Jet K80, which is scanner, fax, copier and printer in one. Fairly expensive outlay, with both colour and black ink cartridges but colour quality is superb, especially for photos!
Produced wonderful Christmas Cards when I first had it and, using photo paper, was really great. Took a heck of a lot of getting used to though! :)