Looking for the best multi function printer

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Yet another printer has chosen today to throw in the towel. I have been loyal to Cannon but I am begining to wonder. I seek advice on the best colour printer that can copy, scan, print double sided and use wifi to connect to 2 macs and one wretched microsoft computer. No space nor cash for a laser printer so inkjet recomendations please.
 

IWT


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@Brabant

Welcome.

There is no "best"; but we can certainly offer suggestions.

But before we get too involved in that, may I ask you to give us details about your Macs? Model (Notebook, iMac), year and, most especially their Operating Systems. Because that information will surely influence any suggestions made.

In very general terms, quite a few of us here have encountered problems with Cannon - particularly their slowness at providing drivers and their not-so-helpful customer support.

For me, I have found Brothers, Epson and HP to be reliable over the years. I currently have an HP Envy 4520 which I purchased through Apple when I was buying my iMac. Here, in the UK, they offer what I consider to be a good deal; namely, you can contract to pay a sum of money (starting at £1.99 per month and rising depending on the number of pages you print per month). This covers the total cost of the ink cartridges which are sent to you automatically as and when they need replacing.

Things may be different in Germany/France.

And I must state that I have no personal or financial interest in HP and this represents my personal experience. As stated above, I've had good experiences in the past with Brothers and Epson.

So may we have some details about your Macs and OS please?

Ian
 
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Be aware, and you may well be, if and when reading some printer reviews and/or recommendations that many of the AIO printer models sold in Europe are often different and may have different features than those sold in other countries.

Personally, I'd avoid any printer that uses proprietary cartridges or chips that forces one to buy only their EXPENSIVE factory ones.
 

chscag

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Personally, I'd avoid any printer that uses proprietary cartridges or chips that forces one to buy only their EXPENSIVE factory ones.

According to the US FTC, printer manufacturers can no longer restrict consumables by only allowing proprietary cartridges (chip enabled). There are, however, older printers still around that do just that. HP comes to mind. My Epson NX420 will tell you when the cartridge installed is not an Epson one but allows it to be used anyway. I can buy non Epson ink refilled cartridges at less than ⅓ the cost of new Epson cartridges and they are just as good.
 

Slydude

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My over the years I've used printers from Epson, HP, and Canon. When my last printer gave up the ghost I moved to a Brother MFC-J985DW and really like it so far. I use the automatic document feed more than I thought I would. So far it has worked well with an assortment of Mac, Windows and IOS, devices with no problems. Brother has an ink replacement program in the US that is similar to the program Ian mentioned.

I haven't done much color printing but the quality of blank print has been good.
 
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I'm using the "HP Officejet Pro 8625" for about 2 years now. No problem using it with my Mac or Windows computers. :)
 

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I can add my vote for the HP Envy. It is wireless, has its own internet connection, has been reliable for the last three years but no heavy use. Multi function, double sided printing and flat bed scanner. Bought on special from Harvey Norman Christmas sale. Office Works had similar prices.
My overall impression is if you can only afford an inkjet none of them last very long. Get the cheapest one you can with the features you want.
 
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My overall impression is if you can only afford an inkjet none of them last very long. Get the cheapest one you can with the features you want.
They don't make them like they use too. I'm still running a HP Desk Jet 932C on my Windows computer. It still running strong after about 10 years. Large refillable cartridges. I use it mostly for non-color documents. I don't think it will ever die. lol.
 

Rod


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Wish I'd bought one of those.:(
 
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Based on your requirements i can give you the suitable printer. The hp envy 4520 is a all-in-one printer with copy,scan, print, photo, wifi, duplex, airprint. Mainly it comes under budget. check and compare price in bestbuy.
 
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Mainly it comes under budget. check and compare price in bestbuy.


Wow, if there's anything equivalent near your "Bavarian Forest & Southern France", our local Canadian Store is selling that normally $100.00+ AIO printer on SALE for under $40.00cdn. Not bad.

But I'd check some reviews and its specs as well…






- Patrick
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chscag

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We have a business account at Staples and just about once a month receive one of their special purchase cards allowing a certain percentage off on the sale of printers and other items. Staples has a large stock of HP, Brother, Canon, and Epson printers to choose from. We do a lot of B&W printing on 3 hole standard sheets.

What is surprising is that some printers will not print properly on 3 hole sheets. My Epson barfs when I try to load 3 hole paper. It senses it as an error. However, our good old HP LJ 1012 does the job without complaining. It's just that it's not wireless. I'm thinking of replacing it with one of the newer Brother wireless LJ printers that does duplex.
 

chscag

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Hi Patrick:

Hope everything went well with your surgery.

As to your question... the only time I have seen that symptom appear turned out to be a defective or misaligned print head. And coincidently, the last time I had problems with print heads was on a Canon printer.

I can't explain why the print head may have become misaligned except maybe it's just cheaply put together or cheap parts. Not surprising though considering the cost of most printers nowadays. Take a look at the printer stock of some of the larger chain stores like Staples or Office Depot and you'll see the majority of printers are less than $150. Of course then you're "highway robbed" when attempting to purchase their proprietary cartridges.

If your printer is still under warranty, you may be able to get it replaced or repaired for free. Although the hoops you have to jump through to do that might not be worth the time and effort.
 
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Thanks for your surgery concern chscag and it went quite well and things working as they should with the ol' pisser. :Blushing:
They even sent me home late on the second day so I was only in for one overnight stay. And they were short of beds and it's always nicer to be home.

From your printer comments, do you think it would be worth trying to remove and fix the printhead?? It feels quite firm and there's sure not much room to access it and some of the videos are somewhat poorly done that I looked at. And no, the printer is a few years out of warranty.

And just curious, but if the printhead was misaligned, wouldn't ALL the characters and lines be double printed???

PS: As an Admin, can you delete the extra attachment with my email address showing in my previous post?




Thanks,
- Patrick
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chscag

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@Patrick:

I was unable to remove the attachment for some odd reason, so I had to delete the post in order to remove your email address.

As to your question about the print head being misaligned: It (the print head) is likely wobbling a bit as it prints which results in some characters being overstruck or double printed while others are OK. Not sure there is anything you can do about it. The Canon I had would print OK and then without warning would go south. After about the third time that happened, I gave up on it. I got on a Canon forum and found others with the same problem and finally a response from Canon themselves saying the print head was defective.
 
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Thanks chscag, and I also contacted Canon Canada tech who confirmed that the printhead is probably defective for some unexplained reason as I had already done the normal cleaning and alignment stuff but I did it again just in case, and also removed and cleaned the printhead. Unfortunately no difference. :(

It's also firmly seated and no sign of wobble. Neither does it explain why some lines print just fine, but others not. I've added to proper attachment below in case anyone wants to see what's happening.

The US Canon forum site I'm going through also says the large dye ink should just work on its own when the settings are set to B&W/Greyscale and plain paper, but it's not working for my printer but I'll keep trying some other experiments.

So far, I'm still getting this (below) unless I select to print to Photo paper and override the default setting that prevents the pigment ink from printing.

- Patrick
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Scan.jpeg



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Yet another printer has chosen today to throw in the towel. I have been loyal to Cannon but I am begining to wonder. I seek advice on the best colour printer that can copy, scan, print double sided and use wifi to connect to 2 macs and one wretched microsoft computer. No space nor cash for a laser printer so inkjet recomendations please.

I still think that Canon inkjet printers are the best, especially when you consider the horrible record HP has of not updating MacOS drivers in a timely fashion (or sometimes not at all) and their sometimes horrible tech support for Mac users.

This is the color all-in-one that I most often recommend:

Canon PIXMA MX922 Wireless Office All-In-One Printer
$84 with free shipping
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AVWKUJS/?tag=macforums0e4-20

At this price, this multi-function is a tremendous steal. It was going for $150 not too long ago. The MX922 has a large number of nice features, all of which work well. It even includes Ethernet (in addition to USB, Wi-Fi, AirPrint, etc.), which is unusual in an inkjet-based device, and which usually comes with a significant price premium. Prints CD's, prints stunning photos on glossy inkjet paper, has a sheet feeder for the scanner, etc.

The Macintosh drivers for the MX922 are available here (including an updated scanner driver for Sierra):
https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/...922?tab=drivers#Z7_MQH8HIC0L88RB0AMD0F1Q42K25

Like any inkjet, the MX922 will drink ink in prodigious amounts. But unlike other inkjets, you can get high quality brand new replacement ink cartridges for very little.
You can get a complete set of 5 high-yield replacement ink cartridges for the MX922 for only:
$15 a set plus free shipping
http://www.meritline.com/canon-pgi-...h-yield-with-new-chip-combo-5---p-107326.aspx
 

chscag

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I guess we all have our favorites when it comes to printers. For me, it's not Canon although I admit they do make very high quality cameras. The MX922 I will admit is a very good buy for $84 including shipping from Amazon.
 
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I guess we all have our favorites when it comes to printers.
Yes for me the HP printers I have never let me down and also HP has great discounts. I just ordered some ink cartridges for my HP Officejet Pro 8625 today with a 15% coupon I got from HP and also add the additional 10% discount for Military Active / Retiree. If your running HP or want to buy HP and are Military Active / Retiree you are entitled to the 10% discount. http://hp.force.com/external/usarmy
 

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