Printers???

[jttheclockman]

I am in the market for a new printer. I have windows XP 64 on my compuiter and my old printer is not compatible and it is old anyway. So what should I buy and why??? I would like to make decals, and patterns. Not worried about photos because I send those away. Should I look for a all in one??? Scanner is a good one and works well. It is an Epson. thanks for the replys.

 

[hewunch]

Honestly, I like my color laser. I have not tried it on my Vista 64 bit machine yet, but it works fine in XP pro. It is a Konica Minolta Magicolor 2400w.

 

[rjwolfe3]

Most of my printers are all in one. They are very inexpensive but its the ink that is expensive. I have both a Lexmark and an HP. I like wireless myself but it depends on what you have right now. I would love to have a laser but can't afford that right now.

 

[NewLondon88]

I still have my old, old, old printers.. as well as new ones.

Funny thing .. the old ones aren't that expensive to run! That is .. providing
you can still get the inks..
The old cartridges were a LOT larger than the new ones. I'm looking at an
HP cartridge now that holds 45ml of each color and the black is 42ml.
Not bad for under $7 The new printer cartridge is 14ml and it is $38.
No wonder they don't want to write drivers .. they're not making enough
money on the inks!

If you can find drivers (do some digging online, read other forums etc.)
I'd keep the older equipment if you can find the consumables. I just
resurrected a very old ALPS printer for decals and labels. Found a current
driver and it works great. Metallic inks, white ink (that's great for decals)
and they're dry inks, too. Gold, silver, metallic colors plus the regular inks
and an overcoat ribbon. Plus it will let you change cartridges a bunch
of times while holding your print still.. so you don't lose registration. Cool!

 

[jttheclockman]

No drivers are available for the HP printer I have for the 64 bit.

 

[jnelson]

JT,

I work during the day, to pay for pen making supplies, as a system administrator for a hospital that is part of a five hospital healthcare system in Kentucky. My main focus for the last three years has been consolidation and integration of our print environment. I will say up front that I am biased: I HATE INK!

That being said, we are an all HP shop, and I have some pretty strong ties to HP. A few questions I would ask are:

What will be your print volume? (ie, how many pages per day/week/month)
What is your budget?
Do you want direct connect (USB, parallel) or network?
Do you have physical space constraints where the printer will live?
What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? (had to throw that in for the Python fans!)

If you are needing low volume color printing, I would suggest the HP cp1518 Color LaserJet..

HP has some great products, and more on the way. I get the opportunity to meet with their executive technical and marketing teams in Boise, ID each Fall and see their product line for the coming year. If you decide to go with an All-In-One, let me know and I can do some research for you on the best model.

Brad

 

[randyrls]

JT; The all-in-one units are good because they normally include a COPY function which can be handy, and some have FAX capability. A dedicated scanner usually has better resolution if you have a need to scan high quality photos. I do this for the family genealogy. For quick pen photos, it is possible to put the pen on the copier plate and just press the scan button.