New printer wanted.

[allen-uk]

Hello

I need a new printer. Any recommendations?

I want WiFi.

All-in-one print/copy/scan.

TWO paper trays at the front of the machine (limited space).

Not bothered about what make (had Canon for years, but no good reason why), similarly not too bothered about price.

Spoilt for choice, of course, but hard to pin down such precise specs as I want.

Any help appreciated.


Thanks

Allen

 

[IWT]

Hi Allen

Well, as you perceive, this is a very personal choice and people's experiences vary, not only between products, but with same product purchased in different countries.

I have bought all my recent printers from Apple when they have been offered at a special price when purchasing a new Mac.

My current one is the all-in-one HP Envy 4520. This was the easiest printer I ever had for setting up WiFi. It seems to satisfy all your requirements.

Moreover, HP offers a monthly subscription for ink-replacement depending on how many sheets you print/month on average. This is not compulsory, but it allows huge savings on ink. I pay £1.99/month. My ink usage is monitored by HP and new cartridge is sent out when ink levels get low. And these are 50% larger than those available through the usual commercial channels.

I know from reading these Forums that opinions about HP (or any other manufacturer) vary from tremendous to diabolical. There is no "perfect" printer and, as I stated above, experience varies between countries as well.

My previous printers have included Epson which was fine as a printer, but the WiFi setup was horrendous and the ink seemed to evaporate in front of my eyes.

Just my thoughts and experience.

Ian

 

[allen-uk]

Thanks Ian. I'm sure HP are as good as Epson which are as good as Canon etc. etc. My Canons have worked for me up till now, but I can't find one in their range which ticks my boxes.

I'll certainly have a look at that Envy model, thank you.

Allen.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Hello

I need a new printer. Any recommendations?

I want WiFi.

All-in-one print/copy/scan.

You didn't mention if you wanted black and white printing, or color. Inkjet or laser. If your printing volume is light or heavy. Those all make a huge difference.

If you want a color ink-jet based multi-function I highly recommend:

Canon MX922
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AVWKUJS/?tag=macforums0e4-20

If you want a black and white laser printer-based multi-function, just about any Brother will be an excellent choice:
http://www.brother-usa.com/printer/digital_copier_printers/

The Canon MX922 has been hugely popular among Macintosh users. It has both a good sheet-feed scanner and a flatbed scanner. It's light and can be moved easily from room to room. It's a dynamite photo printer and copier. And...it's cheap and well supported.

At only $66 from Amazon it is a steal:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AVWKUJS/?tag=macforums0e4-20

But it's not a good choice if you run a business and often print hundreds of prints at a time. If that is the case, you probably should look at a laser printer.

Like all inkjet printers, the Canon drinks ink prodigiously. However, you can get a complete set of (5) high-quality replacement cartridges for very little from:

Carrot Ink
$18 + ($4 on orders under $40)
https://www.carrotink.com/canon-pgi-250xl-cli-251xl-5-pack-html.html

I recommend *against* Hewlett-Packard printers, not because they aren't good (their hardware tends to be very good), but because they too often don't update their Mac printer drivers (or wait way too long to do so) and they have been known to sometimes (not always) offer horrible Macintosh customer support.

Several members of my Mac user group have reported that HP tech support told them that the solution to the problem they were having and called-in about was to get a Windows PC. That's simply unacceptable.

Given the choice between two fairly equal brands of a given product, when one offers excellent support for Mac users and the other offers sometimes (but not always) unacceptable support, the one with the excellent support for Mac users will always be my choice. It often stuns me that there are Mac users who are loyal to companies that routinely defecate on them.

 

[allen-uk]

Thanks Randy. As you surmise, I want a color ink-jet based multi-function machine.

Do you know if the Canon MX922 has one or two paper trays? I have been used to a Canon MG7700 with two trays at the front, one for A4, one for photopaper, and I'd like to have that highly useful function on my next printer.

Allen.

 

[Slydude]

I jave a Brother multifunction printer that I really like. It does not have two paper trays up front but has one tray in the front and one setup in the rear. The rear try is vertically oriented so the try does not take up any more space than a single tray model. I don't have photopaper in the rear tray at the moment but I don't see any reason both trays couldn't be loaded simultaneously. I just read a bit more of the manual and it seems that the rear tray is really geared toward manually feeding paper.

I have the MFC-J885-DW but there are other models in thatt series. One of them might meet your needs a bit better.

 

[chscag]

Randy makes a valid point about support. I'm not particularly a fan of Canon printers but if their support is better for a Mac owner than say, HP, the choice should be directed toward better support. If you're in the market for a Laser printer, then you can't beat the small double side printing, wifi printers by Brother. Toner and drum replacement for Brother printers are inexpensive and easily obtained from many internet resellers.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Do you know if the Canon MX922 has one or two paper trays?

It has a regular paper tray, and a second paper tray above it for photo paper.

https://support.usa.canon.com/library/attachments/embedded/11625_image_9.jpg

 

[pm-r]

TWO paper trays at the front of the machine (limited space).

If you want a color ink-jet based multi-function I highly recommend:
Canon MX922
https://www.amazon.com/Canon-Busines...dp/B00AVWKUJS/

I took the same advice for purchasing the Canon MX922 last year, but as already posted,

It has a regular paper tray, and a second paper tray above it for photo paper.

That's for smaller photo paper only!!!
NOT normal letter or legal stock!!!

IE: Basically a waste of space and that model is BIG, at almost twice the size of the malfunctioning MG5620 it replaced.

PS: Otherwise a nice AIO, especially when purchased on SALE and it also uses the same ink cartridges of the AIO it replaced and I had two sets I had recently purchased.




- Patrick
======

 

[allen-uk]

Thanks all - Randy, that’s just what I wanted (same as my MG7750).

Needless to say, the MX922 isn’t available here in UK.

However, I got lucky and found an MG7751, ex demo model, on ebay, so for the time being, problem solved. I’ll store your suggestions for when THIS one claps out.

Allen

 

[pm-r]

Thanks all - Randy, that’s just what I wanted (same as my MG7750).

Needless to say, the MX922 isn’t available here in UK.

However, I got lucky and found an MG7751, ex demo model, on ebay, so for the time being, problem solved. I’ll store your suggestions for when THIS one claps out.

Allen

I was surprised to find that Canon MG7751 AIO actually uses six color ink tanks and as Randy suggests, I use third-party replacement cartridges that cost me about $15cdn/set of five for my MX922, and that's for the XL ones.
The Canon brand at our COSTCO costs about $86.00cdn.

And yes, the Canon AIO inkjet does tend to go through ink rather quickly.

And for a PS: Don't turn it off as that can reduce some of its cleaning, and hence ink wastage.




- Patrick
======

 

[allen-uk]

Yes, I’ve been using ‘compatible’ inks in the MG7751 for 2 years - printing results still excellent. I doubt if this contributed to it giving up the ghost.

 

[pm-r]

Yes, I’ve been using ‘compatible’ inks in the MG7751 for 2 years - printing results still excellent. I doubt if this contributed to it giving up the ghost.

It may, but it probably depends on what the problem was, whatever it was.

And usually just related to various print head problems usually, but not always. But those model's printheads aren't the most durable and any replacement is usually crazy priced unfortunately.




- Patrick
======

 

[allen-uk]

Yes, out of the blue, it said that I was using an incorrect print head, and it seemed replacing the whole machine was the easiest option.

But at least I now know how to do a wifi set up!

Allen

 

[allen-uk]

Just to wrap this thread up...

As a stop-gap, I bought a £29.99 Canon Pixma from Argos (MG3600). Rotten machine. Main advantages were that it was light, and cheap!

But it did give me time to locate an ex-demo model MG7751 on eBay, which is now up and running, in 'as-new' condition, same as the machine I sent to the bin a fortnight ago.

Moral? Don't give up looking, I suppose.


Allen.

 

[pm-r]

But it did give me time to locate an ex-demo model MG7751 on eBay, which is now up and running, in 'as-new' condition, same as the machine I sent to the bin a fortnight ago.

I guess there's nothing actually salvageable from non-proper-working printers you could have used.

BTW: One thing that annoys me with Canon and other printer manufacturer's is their lack of straight forward list of features and comparisons between models, and the European models are often different to the NA models.

I didn't see if that MG7751 has direct-printing to CD/DVDs or not that apparently their Canon PIXMA MG7550 model has. And rather strangely one specs page lists A4 as the ONLY paper size. Gee, I sure doubt that but quite a limit if so.

Sloppy, incomplete spec and comparison feature listings in general unfortunately and applies to other manufacturers as well, not just Canon.

Anyway, glad to read you got the AIO printer you wanted working again.




- Patrick
======

 

[Slydude]

The only two printers that have remained on my all-time favorites list were both Apple printers. The Imagewriter II and Stylewriter

 

[allen-uk]

Precisely Patrick - in fact the 7551 is only a WHITE version of the 7550 (Canon, eh?)

And yes, I spent many fruitless hours trying to locate my 'ideal' printer, as originally specified, but even gleaning bits here, bits there, I never really found what I wanted (except going back to the one I'd already had).

Some web entrepreneur could make money by launching a website dedicated to listing all the attributes of all the printers ever made. He'd get a load of hits.


Allen.

 

[pm-r]

Some web entrepreneur could make money by launching a website dedicated to listing all the attributes of all the printers ever made. He'd get a load of hits.

Maybe it hasn't been done due to fact that they found it almost impossible to glean all the facts and features for all models.

And then there's the fact that the models and features may change between the various world countries.




- Patrick
======

 

[Slydude]

Maybe it hasn't been done due to fact that they found it almost impossible to glean all the facts and features for all models.


- Patrick
======

I was thinking the same thing. I'm not sure the sitee would get as many hits as you thing. I'd bet that for most users the most basic models/features meet 90% of their needs. Would they use other featres if they were aware of them / how they might be useful? Maybe. Sometimes, you don't know what you need until you see how someone else uses it.