Best printer

Can anyone recommend a good sub £100 (A4) inkjet printer. I am currently using an ageing HP 930c, but the quality leaves a lot to be desire. When printing B+W it seems to produce a slight orange peel texture, most noticable when reproducing large(ish) areas of the same tone.

I use the Epsom R390 and i find it an excellent printer producing very good prints. It uses the 6 cartridge system which i find pretty good value for money.

Note: It is only an A4. I paid around $AUD220 which equates to about 100quid in your funny money

I use an HP Photosmart C5180 which also uses a 6 ink cartridge system.

It has proved to be a very good buy.

Since I'm also looking for a printer can I add a question please?
Do either of the above printers also offer greyscale inks for b/w printing?

When you say greyscale inks do you mean a different grade of ink in place of the black cartridge : or just changing a setting to achieve the greyscale. If it is the latter then the Epsom R390 does have a greyscale option in the print preferences. Hope this helps

No Clarky, some printers now have greyscale ink cartridges available that improve the quality of B/W prints. I just wondered if these had it - I was just too lazy to look it up on the net. I shall do that later, but now the vacuum cleaner is calling

Is that what that horrible noise is

I had a look in my manual and it doesn't mention anything about greyscale inks

I use a Canon Pixima 5300, cost about £90 and produces great prints. What I like is that it does duplex printing (prints on both sides of the paper), its very fast and quiet and has a second paper tray where I keep my photo paper (dust free I might add!) so I don't have to mess with changing paper to print 4x6. I have more that doubled the amount of pictures I print as a result of this printer! Good for the old fashioned photo album!

Hi Gwyn,
I myself have the HP Photosmart 7660. This one (about 2 years old) uses a special b & w cartridge. This one is specially used for black and white printing in conjuction whith the standard color cartridge. It delivers absolute fantastic prints. Neutral deep blacks if you want to. You simply swap the second color cartridge for the special black and grey one. I know the complete 7000 and 8000 series use this system.
See this link:http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/nl/nl/ho/WF13a/10709-11349-11473-11473-11537-503557.html
They are now no longer in production but still available on the market.
The newer models all use the new pigment based Vivera inkts (100 year lifespan of prints) and also come with a special b & w cartridge.
Hope this helps a little.
Martin.

I chose a Canon 4200, as the print quality and speed was good, but also, as Beakynet says, you get 2 paper trays. I use mine differently to Beaky, in that I have the plain paper in the bottom tray, and just top that up now and again, and use the rear loader for photopaper.

I prefer this method as it's a fairly straight path from back to front, whereas the other tray, involves a 180 degree turn for the paper. This is what puts me off the HP printers too. I print to greetings card blanks quit a bit, and for these I think the straight path is much better.

Don't know of any black and white inks for Canon printers though.

Oh, it also does CD/DVD printing. Cost about £60.

Dan

Thanks Martin! I shall have a look at the HP printers. My current printer is an ancient HP and I really like it but it is beginning to show it's age.

Gwyn,

I tried replying earlier but some tecnical problem prevented my reply being accepted !

As others have noted the latest HP Photosmart printers use the 6 cartridge Vivera ink system.

The range includes special black photographic cartridges.

Being able to replace just the cartridge that has run out is very useful.

I use an Epson Stylus Photo R265 - 6-colour ink system, stunning A4 borderless prints and does printable CDs/DVDs too.

Ray.

With the Epson printers, how much does it cost per A4 print on average for paper and ink?

Cheers,

It depends of a lot of variables. Pigment or dye inks, Type of paper used, Color variations etc....., But it is safe to say between 2 and 4 usd per A4 print. Not taken in account depreciation of the printer. The epson pro printers who use pigment inkts and print A3+ will be a bit higher.
HIH,
Martin.