Opinions please - all in one or copier

I am after some opinions please.
I currently have a photocopier, it needs a new toner / drum cartridge.
These cost around £140.for a genuine one, I donâ??t like â??similar versionsâ? The one thatâ??s in it now lasted about 4 years.

But here lies my problem.

I can buy an all in one copier / scanner / printer for around £80, I saw the Epson one with individual inks.

I donâ??t photocopy much (probably why other one lasted 4 years) But I am worried that the all in one ink or its actual printing bit will dry out through lack of use (I had a printer that did that once)

So my question is, if you have an all in one, which one, how often do you use it, do you like it?

Thanks for reading.

 

All I can offer on the matter is this:

Don't buy a Lexmark. If ever tempted to buy a Lexmark, contact me first and I'll give you my bank sort code and account number for you to transfer your money to me. That would be money better spent.

 

I've an Epson Stylus photo RX620 it's coming up to three years old and takes six ink cartridges. I use it to reproduce photos and it's brilliant. It will also reproduce photos from colour slides or you can print from 35mm negatives. You can also print from camera cards, or save anything to your computer.
My wife is always asking me to find stuff on the internet and print her off copies for her découpage hobby. So I needed a decent printer when the other went U/S.
I buy probably two sets of cartridges every year, but I've never bought the Epson replacements. There are lots of sites from where you can buy cartridges but I always buy them from here.

A full set of six carts plus an extra black costs me £13.98 including free delivery. They'll even alter the "pack" if you wish, I sometimes ask for an extra colour rather than two black, as otherwise, I end up with two many black ones. They look exactly the same as those from Epson and the reproduction is perfect.
They don't seem to last any less time than the originals.

http://www.eezytrade.co.uk/


From Epsom it would cost me £70 just for the six.

They can supply any model of printer. If it isn't listed, you can e-mail them and they'll still find it for you.

It depends on the printer, but I don't think not using it will have much effect. If you get a loss of colour, just go through the "test procedure" and it will correct itself. I don't think the inks dry out.

Some printers won't recognise "foreign" carts. But this firm says if you get that problem they'll help you out.
I did once have one cart that didn't work. I phoned them and they said it was probably just a bad chip and sent me onother one FOC.

If you think about it, how do these firms make cartridges exactly the same as the ones supplied by the printer manufacturer?
It's because they only make printers, they buy in the carts. The people who make the carts will probably supply anyone.

 

Thanks people, I am still unsure, its this bit that I thought, and it "worries me"

I already have a printer, so I wont be using it as a printer, and the printer I do have, I don't use that much either.

 

I bought new ink cartridges for my Lexmark. Printed a letter, then had no need to print anything for a few weeks. When I next went to print something, guess what, ink all dried up. Then at one time I wanted to scan something. It came out green.

My Lexmark jobby, which wasn't the cheapest, I paid £80 for it because I was told it was one of the better ones, sat on my desk for months doing nothing. Then just recently I found a temporary use for it. I put it on the floor and my infant son enjoyed pressing the buttons on it for a few minutes, then he got bored, so the printer continued its journey to the bin.

 

Have to agree with the Lexmark - I have a Lexmark all in one, and go through one to two black cartridges a week, and a colour one about every three weeks - but most of the colour used is yellow - as it is our company logo. Luckily, I expense the cartridges and they're not out of my pocket. Way too expensive. Hewlett Packard have ALWAYS been a fantastic piece of equipment as far as printers go - not sure about the all in ones though as haven't had one of those from HP.
If you have a printer that you are happy with - why not spend your money on a good scanner instead of an all in one? That way you can scan your documents you want to copy, and print them on your printer - saving you the expense of several different types of cartridges, and less risk of any of them drying up as you'd be dong all through one machine? Just a thought.....

 

I like an ending if possible. So here goes.

I went to a well known stationary supplies shop to see what I can get and how much, lots of all in ones, and yes lots of cheap Lexmark ones, I did see an â??all in oneâ? that uses coloured toner (which will not dry out) it was around the cost of a new cartridge for my existing copier, but the build quality was â??too plasticyâ? and fragile so I reluctantly brought a replacement cartridge, but I am going to start looking at all in ones that have toner, but one that is not cheap and plasticy, but I should have a few years to find one (Thatâ??s how long the cartridge should last)

I did try some websites, but reading the small print and feedback, most were not genuine cartridges.

So thanks to everyone for your input.

 

Stop and think for a minute.

You are talking about Laser Toner (pricey but economical in the long run) as against an Inkjet Printer Cartridge (Short lived and expensive in the long run). The important thing is that Laser toner is WATERPROOF, whereas inkjet ink is not. So if you want to use it outside for instructions for anything, then the laser is the one to go for.

I recall the occasion when the instructions for a cycling competition were printed by inkjet, it rained and many riders could not read the instructions due to the ink running. We always make sure now that the issued sheets are laser printed.

I have had two HP Photosmart all in ones, they are very good for what they are, but I keep an HP Laserjet (Mono) for any printing which has to be waterproof. If you want to scan, a separate scanner will last longer than an all in one (when the printing side goes down).

 

Although ink-jet prints aren't waterproof, they are quite resilient after they've had a week or so to dry out completely, I’ve never had any problems with the photos I’ve printed off. Anything that occasionally needs to be more durable can be inserted in an A4 plastic sleeve which are cheap as chips.

Each to their own, but I'd never buy the Epson cartridges for my machine despite the threat that printer manufacturers make saying that it "invalidates the guarantee" if you don't. That's a load of tosh. If it's made to the same BS standard then it shouldn't be a problem. If in doubt hang on to the empty original set and if the printer goes in for repair, you could put 'em back in.
Printer manufacturers use the ridiculous cost of their cartridges to keep down the price of their printers.
I remember having a printer once where a set of cartridges was almost as much as the cost of the printer.

My first colour printer I used to refill using the hypodermics and ink bottles, I must have done one about ten times.
The next printer was a pain, as the multi-colour cartridges for this didn't have sections separated by solid walls, it had membranes and it was too easy to push the needle through the film.

Epson are cheeky, as my ink cartridges start to run down a message comes up saying "low" for that particular colour, it isn't that low, they just want you to change it. It even gives you a link to click on, to buy the cartridges from them!
I always click on "tell me later" and wait to it to run out which could be weeks yet.

 

I don't agree at all with that. its the quality of the parts used that is the problem. But yes original ink is costly for what it is

That is fraud. But if they would pursue it or not depends, but how would you explain a ruined printer if the cartridges have dried out? (rhetorical question)

 

What do you mean by ruined?

The usual faults with printers are usually a dud chip or something mechanical, which I admit could be the way it's used, but I think the latter would be the least likely.

Frankly, it's academic, as my printer is now nearly three years old, but I never bother with guarantees, I just make sure I hang on to the receipts.
Anyway, as a retired retailer, I'm fully conversant with the Sale of Goods Act and my printer should last at least five years given normal wear and tear and if at any time in the next two or three years it goes ****up I'll demand and get a replacement or my money back, as the law requires.
(Some electrical companies are now offering "free" five year guarantees. They're just making their obligations under the act into a "positive.")

We've had a TV, a DVD recorder, a washing machine and an expensive carpet cleaner, all supplied by different retailers, replaced. The ages of these were from between two and four years. Never be fobbed off with "You'll have to contact the manufacturer." Under the act it's the retailer's responsibility.


As I've said before, the quality and reliability of the carts I'm buying at a fraction of the cost of those from Epson, is first class.