Automate a printer?

[Mike]

Electron had a great idea there!

Warning tangent in progress:

I believe there was a plugin for MCE that did this (not print but retrieved it) which later had to be removed as it was deemed a copyright infringement. I never got the chance to use it, but I was dissappointed as it was an equally great idea.

I've always thought the custom headlines made sense as well (your own version of your own newspaper) but I don't think anyone really supports true customization in this area.

End tangent.

Karen > Just my own opinion, I used to be real into photo printers until I got fedup with issues like the one you noted (clogged heads, new print heads required, alignment, etc). I wound up just using a laser printer (my Brother laser I use at home has far out performed the $1000 HP laser's I used at work a little while back) and sending photos and the like to Costco (fill in your favorite company here). They have far better equipment than I will ever have, and I wind up going enough that I never have to wait or make a special trip.

Nice to have it right there, but I gave up the hassle and donated my photo printing supplies to the Salvation Army awhile back and have been quite happy. My wife has been happier as well.

 

[Karen Love]

Hi Mike,

I gave the color laser printer considerable thought over the ink jet but in the end went with the ink jet.
Your reasons you opted for the laser make great sense but for me...
1. The laser was more money (especially a decent one).
2. The Toner is expensive and I heard that an idle laser can have issues also (don't know if thats founded or not).
3. Most ink-jets today are photo quality and at the TOP of their game in technology and reliability, the color lasers are just getting started (as far as common in the household) so they will be changing rapidly. Even when I was thinking about one and doing some research, they seem to be obsoleting themselves monthly.
4. I have no Patience Sometimes when I take a picture I want a 4"X6" hard copy... now
I bet my next printer will be a laser though!

-Karen

edited for grammar

 

[TonyNo]

Toner is only expensive if you think about it in terms of the way they are purchased and not how long they last...

Color Toner: ~$120

Color Ink: ~$13

A toner cartridge is rated for ~6,000 pages while ink is ~400.

If you normalize that to a per-page number, you have 2 cents for toner and 3 cents for ink. You will also buy 15 times more ink for the same 6,000 pages ($195 v. $120).

Also remember that ink is the most expensive liquid sold. Nice breakdown here.

Laser numbers based on an HP LJ4500DN and an Epson C86, both of which I have intimate knowledge of.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Slightly straying off topic, what would be a good printer for printing photos (4x6, 5x7)? Reason I ask is wife would like one (and I'd rather take a Cocooner's advice than read the million printer reviews out there)!

 

[huggy59]

It's funny, but I have had several HP printers over the years, and have had excellent results with my latest 7100-series all-in-one printing photos as well as regular stuff. I have no issues with not using the heads for a while. Sometimes it'll go weeks without printing, and it prints just fine when I ask it to.

When it was pulled from storage of a few months last year I did have to replace the heads and cartridges, but that was expected as it was stored in a place with no climate control.

I don't do a lot of photo printing, though, so it may be that I just don't use it to the extent others do.

 

[Mike]

Hi Mike,

I gave the color laser printer considerable thought over the ink jet but in the end went with the ink jet.
Your reasons you opted for the laser make great sense but for me...
1. The laser was more money (especially a decent one).
2. The Toner is expensive and I heard that an idle laser can have issues also (don't know if thats founded or not).
3. Most ink-jets today are photo quality and at the TOP of their game in technology and reliability, the color lasers are just getting started (as far as common in the household) so they will be changing rapidly. Even when I was thinking about one and doing some research, they seem to be obsoleting themselves monthly.
4. I have no Patience Sometimes when I take a picture I want a 4"X6" hard copy... now
I bet my next printer will be a laser though!

-Karen

edited for grammar

You mentioned one big item: You sometimes want it now! That blows my theory. I went with a b/w laser rather than a color one. You are correct that a color laser may be much more (well good ones).

I decided to let the big boys do my photos (Costco, etc) as they have equipment worth a lot more than anything I would buy.

I, and my wife had no problem placing an order and picking it up though. I don't miss playing with ink, calibrating nozzles or the like one bit, and our pictures are great everytime.

My point was to skip the whole color game, and just use a nice b/w laser for other items. I would not recommend going after the color lasers as you are right they are not as good quality wise unless you are spending a lot of money.

 

[Mike]

Slightly straying off topic, what would be a good printer for printing photos (4x6, 5x7)? Reason I ask is wife would like one (and I'd rather take a Cocooner's advice than read the million printer reviews out there)!

Per my posts I have been out of that game for at least a year or so, but I was happy with a canon s900. I had to replace the print head once (warrantee item but I heard a few people had similar issues). I would recommend not using any other ink other than Rhinotek or Canon as I tried another provider and it was not pretty.

The photos came out great when I had the right ink. I got tired though of having ink on hand, and all that jazz.