Printer purchase help
 

My Epson R300 has decided to give up after only 18 months and a couple of dozen 8 x 10 photos. It comes up with a general error which will not shift. I have tried everything, I can get it to work maybe for one photo then its back to the error. I have stripped it down and re plugged in all cable in case any have come loose.

I thought of replacing the printer with the same if I could get one but am I going to have the same problem in another 18 months, the reason to get same or compatible is, I have about £80 worth of cartridges which won't fit any of the newer models. If I do go for a newer model is epson still the best make or should I go for Canon, I find with epsons everytime you switch them on they use half the ink in cleaning.
Budget price I don't want to go over is about £90 no more but still want the quality that I am getting now.

I recently bought an Epson RX560:
http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.ph...7&postcount=10

and I'm quite pleased with it.

Don't know how reliable its going to be though, as an Epson I bought in 2000 only lasted a couple of years, and I replaced it with a HP which is still working. My first printer was an Epson dot matrix which was indestructable.

I guess that nowadays after 3 years or so they probably need replacing regardless of whether they've actually broke or not. You could get a 3 year extnd warranty £20 or so.

Walwyn thanks for your reply. The rx560 is an all in one printer which is a shame as I already have a scanner so that is a feature I don't need. I have just managed to print out two photos, before coming up with the error so must have done something when I took it apart, LOL! and it has now run out of ink, I only replaced them last night. The dam thing went into cleaning mode everytime I switched it on to try and clear the error.

I only buy HP and they seem to last well. I bought a new one a few weeks ago, a C5180. It has a built in scanner so that free'd up a lot of room on my desk. It has six ink cartridges. My wife has my old 7150 and it's still working fine. Her old printer, a HP 722C, was still working just fine but wasn't compatible with her new computer (new computer only has USB ports and the printer pre-dates USB).
One thing about my C5180 is that it seems quite noisy. I haven't printed many pictures yet but what I have done seems of high quality. The printer is fast for doing doc. etc.

Thanks Snowyowl. Its years since I used HP they were a good printer, thats another make to consider.

The Epson comes in various configurations one of which is minus the scanner part and about £30 cheaper.

I have just read all reviews on the Canon ip6700d. Anyone got one, input wanted before purchase.

No Canon, I'm happy with my HP-3210. I love the scanner mode, it really improves the picture quality when working with old pictures.

I've had HP 3822 4 years with NO problems

Ian

Hi, had 3 epsons in my time, never again. My latest Canon is 2 years old, never a problem....touch wood.
Chris