Best Scanner/Printer

SlickSlick Upstate New York
edited November 2006 in Internet & Media
Hey guys I am in the market for a scanner/printer. I am looking to spend between $100-200. It is absolutely crucial that image comes out on the paper the way the original actaully looks so I am hopping I can get something good enough in that price range. Among other things I plan to make some personal playing cards so it is also very important that it can accomodate paper that is a tad bit thicker and stiffer than usual. What do you guys suggest? Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Also let me add that the speed of the printing is not important, only the quality. I could also give a crap less about all the different features, I only care that the image is scanned and printed as good as possible.

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    Printers are one of those things that are really hard to measure objectively. One man's junk is another man's treasure, you know? I'm a fan of Canon, but I know other people that exclusively purchase HP products. I recommend going to brick'n'mortar stores like CompUSA, Best Buy or Microcenter and trying their display models out. Write down the names of the ones you really like, and take those online to see if any of them fit your price range.

    Your eyes know best!
  • HawkHawk Fla Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    Iv'e built and setup quite a few pc systems for family/ friends,others.
    Over the yrs some have picked different brands on printers, scanners ect.
    I have setup a few different brands and tried them out.
    Epson, Lexmark, Brother, Canon, Hewlett-Packard.
    Out of all of them I like the HP's for ease of setup, ease of use, quality of printing text/ & photo's, ease of replacing ink cardtridge etc.
    Here's an all in one on sale for $99.
    I have an HP Photosmart, All In One a little more expensive $399 that I use for home and office. I couldn't ask for better photo prints or easier office tools to use. not to mention getting an All In One saves having to get multiple machines for different things.
    And as Thrax said, You may want to go to a brick & mortar store to see first hand what your buying.
    I frequent Staples, Best Buy, Office Max, Office Depot and other pc stores to see what's on sale and what new idea's they've incorperated into them.
    Also, You may find some real bargains at the stores being they are getting started on holiday sales a little early.
  • Sledgehammer70Sledgehammer70 California Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    I have been a big fan of the HP series printers along with a few of the Epson printers... I judge mainly on ink consumption & quality. some printers like to eat that stuff up making up keep cost pretty high....
  • jhenryjhenry California's Wine Country
    edited November 2006
    I have an HP Photosmart C6100 All in One, and I've had great success with it. I believe it was around 220 at Costco, a bit higher than your listed prices. However, it has Wireless-G and 10/100 Ethernet support built in, so you can connect it to your network and not have to have a PC on or anything. It uses six ink cartridges (yellow, black, cyan, light cyan, magenta, and light magenta) so you only need to replace the colors that are empty instead of the whole cartridge. It has two paper trays, along with an autofeeder on the copier / scanner flatbed.

    All in all, I'm very impressed by it and would recommend it, even if it is a bit higher than your estimated limit.
  • SlickSlick Upstate New York
    edited November 2006
    That does sound like a pretty awesome printer, I will have to look into that one.
  • NomadNomad A Small Piece of Hell Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    Between work and home, I prefer Canon printers (i960 right now). They are fast, with good quality. I primarily printed full-color photos on photopaper. Some people I know really like Epson or HP though, it just depends on what you intend to do. One thing I will say about Canon, is in my opinion the ink runs out fairly quickly, and fine details sometimes come out pixelated.
  • MuylobitoMuylobito
    edited November 2006
    jhenry wrote:
    I have an HP Photosmart C6100 All in One, and I've had great success with it. I believe it was around 220 at Costco, a bit higher than your listed prices. However, it has Wireless-G and 10/100 Ethernet support built in, so you can connect it to your network and not have to have a PC on or anything. It uses six ink cartridges (yellow, black, cyan, light cyan, magenta, and light magenta) so you only need to replace the colors that are empty instead of the whole cartridge. It has two paper trays, along with an autofeeder on the copier / scanner flatbed.

    All in all, I'm very impressed by it and would recommend it, even if it is a bit higher than your estimated limit.

    that is why i love costco lol
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