Wireless printer recommendation?

Paul Murray

Paul Murray

Ultimate Member
I'm looking to buy a wireless printer (or more likely ask for one for Christmas) and was hoping that people could give some recommendations or feedback regarding their experience.

Basically I'm looking for an A4 inkjet printer/scanner for home use that is reliable, produces good, border-less prints, and doesn't require a bank loan to replace the ink. I'm not too fussy about the size but the smaller the better really to save on space. Price wise, sub £100 would be better but I'm prepared to go a little over if the features warrant a higher price.

As mentioned I'd prefer a wireless connection due to lack of space near my desk, but am still open to USB recommendations.

The Kodak advertising campaign grabbed my attention with their low-cost ink, though I suppose I could use Cartridge World to refil my old cartridges. I've heard pretty good things about the ESP 3250.

I've had problems with Epson printers in the past (mainly due to them not recognising official cartridges) so I'd prefer to steer clear of them for sanity's sake.

Any suggestions?
 
I normally recommend HP printers
However, their latest wireless ones seem to have serious problems with Windows Vista, such that there are delays in commencing printing, communication errors, and repeatedly printing the same job over continuously
Equally, they seem to consume much more ink than they used to, such that a new printer is cheaper than a complete set of refills!

I currently have a C6380
Initially I thought there was a fault, as explained above, so returned it for a replacement but that also exhibited the same issue
HP support were less than helpful demanding information they already had
Eventually they conceded this printer did not work with Windows Vista, yet the logo appears on the box, manual, and device!
I still use this printer wirelessly on my main computer whch has Windows XP, no problem at all, but for my laptop I have to connect this via USB (which means taking it to the room where the printer is)

Kodak appear to be recommended as they are cheaper in the long term
However, I am not sure how this compares when all you print are reports and documents

I have a portable Epson printer, which works fine
However the same issue as the HP, the cartridges are expensive plus they don't last long
I preferred the HP as it has battery, the Epson does not so has to be plugged in (making the phrase portable redundant)

Several years ago I had a Lexmark printer and all kinds of problems, I would never touch one again
 
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Steer well clear of HP, we have a wireless HP Photosmart running under Windows 7 that just won't work wireless...this is after (no joke) 5 hours of technical support over a 2 week period, gave up in the end and they sent me a load of free ink cartridges, just use it via USB now. :icon_rolleyes:
 
I thought HP were reliable until I got HP Photosmart a few years ago, haven't got round to changing it because it doesn't grab the paper meaning word docs have tops and bottoms of words missing, ink goes very quick and despite being called photo smart it struggled to print on anything over 120gsm :icon_scared:
 
Thanks for the all the feedback.

I saw a Kodak ESP 5250 (the step up form teh one I mentioedn which IS wireless) on sale for about £90 in Carphone Warehouse recently so I might grab one.

I'm using a Mac so I have no idea how well the Photosmart would run under OSX if it won't even work with Vista!

I'll keep looking, but all the feedback is hugely appreciated :)
 
I'm looking for a printer myself at the moment, haven't investigated all that much yet but am sort of feeling inclined to ditch the inkjets and move to a low-end laser. The main reasons are cost (we have to print out whole books for galley proofing, often twice for the same job, and inkjet cartridges are just too damn expensive, it significantly reduces the profitability of each book), speed (you leave things running overnight and something will always, always get stuck), and reliability - if you give an inkjet printer the sort of wellie we give it, they die the death every two years, it's mathematical (just when the guarantee expires). I'd like something wireless as well so that we could print out from Mac, PC or Linux regardless without networking, and have come across the HP Wireless Printing Upgrade Kit, sells here for twenty or thirty euros, which lets you use a non-wireless printer like a Laserjet or Photosmart as a wireless one. I daresay there are other, more generic solutions available, just haven't found them yet - anyone?

(And does anyone know if a colour laser is likely to do the same crazy stuff that inkjets do, using the colour inks/toners even when you're printing exclusively in B&W? Drives me mad.)
 
For a small printer I would also recommend HP. HP Seemed to be the best seller in my last job as an IT Reseller.

You could pick up an AIO Photosmart Wireless for around £50.
 
Ive just bought the HP 7500A All in one.

£149 from Staples, but with £60.00 cashback. Its wireless, faxes, and is A3!!! WOO! :p
 
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