Multi-purpose small/home office inkjet?

Multi-purpose small/home office inkjet?

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Hi everyone. This time last year I was looking to replace my not-economic-to-repair HP 1015 laser printer with a mono laser MFP. That never happened because a friend lent me her old Samsung ML-1510, which is still chuntering along with the same cartridge it came with.

With basic page printouts taken care of, I've got a new set of new requirements: a lot of family pictures, slides and papers that I want to organise into a digital archive and print out when required. As a result, I need to make sure the machine I get has the following characteristics:
  • Optical character recognition, preferably by scanning to PDF
  • "Transmissive" scanning capability for slides (or am I going to have to get a separate device for this?)
  • Small footprint (<500mm wide x 360mm deep x 260mm high)
  • Mac and PC compatible
  • Good photo reproduction
  • Reasonable consumable costs
  • Wi-Fi networking would be nice to have, but not as important as other features
My research has turned up the following machines. I'd welcome any feedback about these models, or if you use another device that you'd recommend:
  • Cannon MP560
  • Epson Stylus SX515W
  • Kodak ESP 3250 or 5250 
  • HP Photosmart C4680 
  • Lexmark 305
Thanks in advance for your help!

Replies (6)

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By cymraeg_draig
29th Sep 2010 10:35

Kodak

We have Kodak ESP7's - primarily for photo printing and the occasional scan.  About £120 to buy.

Great machines.  Print quality is excellent, simple to use, and best of all the ink is seriously cheap -  £7 for black, £12 for colour.

The speed is reasonable, all in all if its an "add on" to a laser its the ideal machine.  Not sure what it measures.

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By Richard Willis
29th Sep 2010 10:43

Personally I would only ever look at HP or Brother

Have a look at the Brother options.  They are more robust than most of the others and are better engineered.  Either that or HP.  I wouldn't touch Epson with a barge pole; I had one once and it was a load of rubbish.  Lexmark used to have a reputation for low printer cost/high ink cost but I don't know whether this is still so.

 

p.s.  WHATEVER you do, if you are going to be doing photographs make sure you buy one with individual ink cartridges, not all-in-one colour.

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By stevie
29th Sep 2010 14:27

What about your recent investigation...

... https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/item/199221

Sort of as a result of this I bought the Brother MFC-490CW. Hasn't let me down yet. Ink seems expensive but isn't that the case for all of them? I'm reluctant to buy anything but manufacturer's own ink as I think failing to do this in the past may have led to problems.

 

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FT
By FirstTab
29th Sep 2010 16:15

Cannon MX 7600

It is excellent. I have had this for two years. It was also Which Best Buy.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-PIXMA-MX7600-Function-Printer/dp/B00133TG3K

 

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John Stokdyk, AccountingWEB head of insight
By John Stokdyk
30th Sep 2010 08:26

Thanks everyone

You've backed up my intuitive feelings which were nosing in the direction of the Canon and Kodak machines (although I hadn't had much direct feedback on the Kodak, so thank you too CD).

Thanks also Stevie for your suggestion about Brother. They weren't on my list but I'll go back and have another look at their offerings. And about the investigation - it's the last day of September, I've got some our survey results (not as many as last time) and I'll be chewing them over today.

Apart from soliciting a bit of personal advice, my little question will also help narrow down the selection in the consumer inkjet category. I'll be back later with more news.

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By BettyBootleg
08th May 2011 13:38
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