Looking for something durable with a good DPI and cheap ink replacement.

I've had a couple of the  Cannon BubbleJet printers and they don't last long.  I've found some Lexmarks on sale, but their ink is expensive to replace.

Any insight will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

HP deskjet 648c.The ink is not real cheap but it seems to last forever.I had a canon BJC 3000
it was screwed up out of the box.I new something was wrong when it started grinding.Opened the lid to stop it and a piece flew out and hit me in the head!

Just picked up a Lexmark Z53 and I love it. 2400x1200 DPI, it does what I want it to. A friend has a Z 11 and fills his own ink cart. for about $5.00, says the trick is to go REAL SLOW when filling. I think they sell at Wally world for about $39.95. Cheap, and it works
KenS

I work for Fed Ex on a pickup route in a small town north of Austin, Tx and I prolly pick up at least 3 to 5 HP printers going back for warranty work a day. Talking to the people, they say they work great but not for long. That's why I got the Lexmark, never picked one up as far as I can tell.
KenS
Course, it could be that there are more HP's out there, too. Don't know

Get a bush, paint, and an art class.

As long as your hands and eyes work, your set!

Back to reality, I have seen all makes of printers break at some time. Some reason the color jet printers are really cheaply made. They are practiclly disposable printers now days.

Things that I have run across.

HP-Good trooper. When they do break, I have been able to find the solution on their web site or just by opening them up. Easy to work on.

Leximark-WTF? No support on thier web site except for reall basic info. "Online light", "Paper Jam light" if blinking do "xyz". Real pain if it does break. But really a "more bang for the buck" printer.

Canon-Nice trooper. Mixed amount of information. I have seen a chip or two go out for some reason or another. Mainly, from power spikes.

Most common problems I have seen on color printers...
1. People forget to take the protective tape off of new ink cartridges
2. The belt comes off the print head.
3. The ink is crusted up on the print cartridges (a damp clean cloth cleans them up).
4. Too thick of paper in a humid enviroment (causes paper jams).

Best printer ever? HP LaserJet 4 series! What a tank of a printer (weighs like one too). After a million or so pages through, just have open it up and clean the rubber rollers with rubbing alcohol. The Ever-Ready of printers, just keeps going, and going, and going. BUT, not a color printer (I know, I know, you want a color).

My epson 740 is dirt cheap and it works fine.  
Jk

I have three printers: BJC 80, BJC 5000 &
HP 610C. The BJC 5000 I use for printing photo
quality photo's from my digital (Kodak 260)
camera. The Ink cartridges in most printers is
where the costs really end up being. One thing
about the BJC 5000 is that it also prints on
11 x 17 paper which is useful for me as I do
FastCAD Drawings (Electrical/Electronic). My
610 was free when I bought my HP Computer. I
use the BJC-80 for my lap top as it's a portable
printer. They all print fine, but the BJC 5000
is my best for color. The cartridges are very
high though.

Get an Epson 600.  It's a discontinued model but you can still find them NIB at ebay, etc for about $50.  Can't beat it, 720x720 DPI and you can use aftermarket cartridges which sell as low as $3.00 each.  I have a dozen at my office and non have failed in 2 years running.

I am also a big Epson fan!!

Tex78, what is your printing application?

If you go Epson and want to print photos, you should get a Stylus Photo. Not the Stylus Color.
I have an older Stylus Photo 1200 and the results from scanned Chromes is remarkable.

BTW, Epson stand by their products. If your printer goes down, they will ship you a new printer for free! All shipping costs covered.

At this link is an Epson for a good price.
[url]http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/ProductQuickSpec.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0693056721.0996451089@@@@&BV_EngineID=jallhlddjkjbfdlcfjgckicnf.0&oid=176021&category=Products[/url]


[url]http://www.ssdonline.com/subcat.cfm?categoryid=3&category=Photo+Quality&Class=Inkjet[/url]

I do computers for a living.  I'd go Epson or HP.  HP is fairly reliable but the support sux and the cartridges are pricey.  Epson is not as supported by software like HP but they make a fine printer.

This is the best deal. Go to: http://www.staples.com, under search type "777"

It will take you to an EPSON 777 with 2880x 720dpi for $79.98 WITH a $30.00 rebate = $49.98, it includes a color and a black ink cartridge.

Actually if you price the cartridges and the rebate you are geting a FREE printer.
 
Regards

ACK