bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

We have been using Brother MFC's for a while now, for regular printing needs and scanning, since my old Canon printer died it has been doing photo's too, quite well in fact, does have to use Brother ink and the older Brothers could use cheep ink but it is less than Canon ink and now we only have one printer, BTW never have a problem of ink drying up either, in this case I vote BROTHER, YMMV, Bob.

Rathyatra Loc: Southport, United Kingdom

bamfordr Loc: Campbell CA

Same problem. Had success with FedEx Office when I finally realized that actual per print costs were much lower (vs paper + discarded ink) and convenience was greater (vs time spent fiddling, cursing, and adjusting).

Donld

Have an Epson ET 2750. Have had no such problems and have been spending less on ink than with cartridges.

wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

I have a pair of Canon Pro 10s on which I print ~1000 8x8 prints a year, combined. But it's all in December. They probably don't get used twice during the rest of the year. But they have not had a head clog in the 3 years I've had 'em, either with Canon OEM ink or the Precision Colors inks that I switched to after the first printing season (and cut my cost of ink per print from 69 cents to 9 cents - enough savings to buy a new printer with money left over if the third party inks had screwed things up, which they didn't.)

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

if your printer is a copier as well, just copy a color picture, from a magazine every week or so. End of problem with infrequent photo printing

Bob Mevis Loc: Plymouth, Indiana

I too, print very little with my Epson. I have the same trouble with the ink. What twists my tail, is that it takes me awhile to remember how to clean the ink head. Now, you could ask, why don't you write it down, you silly bugger. Well, I can't remember that either. Lol.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

I have a Brother B&W printer. It just cost too much to use a color printer to print text since, for some reason, it also used up the color ink. After comparing various models, the Brother seemed to print more pages for the money. The only problem is that it only will print one envelope at at time. Instructions for connecting it to wifi are better found on the internet than in the manual.

charles tabb Loc: Richmond VA.

My Cannon P-100 cleans it's heads by the settings in it's driver so I never have a problem.
I have to leave it on all the time though to achieve this.

PhotogHobbyist Loc: Bradford, PA

I have an HP Officejet printer, scanner, copier, fax and web printer that is around 3 years old and have no problems with the printer heads clogging or the ink drying up. I use it maybe once a month or less. I don't use it enough to justify the HP ink replacement cost.

hassighedgehog Loc: Corona, CA

Since I only print for photo classes, I just get them from Fed Ex Office. Take a thumb drive in and either use the auto ones, or ask at the desk if you want other than standard paper. Lot less expensive for someone who does not use one often. If you see that you print more often later, get a Canon printer. Otherwise if you do not use one often, it is not worth the expense to keep one. When I did use my Canon printer more, I always used Canon ink.

truckster Loc: Tampa Bay Area

I have gone weeks, maybe a month without printing anything, and like you, I don't print out pictures. I have found out through experience cheaper is never better. Years ago I used Canon printers and refilled the inks myself. They would eventually dry out and I would have to buy new cartridges, and by refilling it was still way cheaper than buying new every time I ran out of ink. I bought an Epson which I really liked but it used this type of ink that was very thick and sitting in a hot house not being used for weeks on end the ink dried in the lines and it wasn't worth it to send back to Epson to fix. I went with middle of the road HP inkjets for my next two printers and they worked well for years each (still have my six-year-old Photosmart 6525, just got tired of replacing the ink cartridges.)

I now own an Epson Eco-tank 3750 and although I haven't had it long very it seems to be working for me. I also seem to be printing more now, along the lines of about a page every two weeks.

I have a friend who only prints out about two or three pages a month so he usually takes his printing jobs to Staples. You might want to look into that as a cheaper alternative, along with UPS and Fed-Ex.

Drbobcameraguy Loc: Eaton Ohio

I have a Canon pixma 560. Ancient printer. Prints as good as Walmart or Costco and can set for months and be fine. I want to upgrade to the pro100 but am scared it won't print after setting for months. Canon in my humble opinion

hj Loc: Florida

Can't help you with colored printing but I broke the clogged nightmares by moving to Brother laser printers. Love them. I have my photos printed at Walmart or Sams and am satisfied.

bnsf

Before you start buying a new printer take this thought in mind. How much is it going to cost you to refill the ink cartridge when it is low and how many pages do you get out of this cartridge? I went threw the same thing and after a long decision l went and purchased a B&W laser printer. Cartridges cost $65.00 and can handle 4000 sheets of paper or around $.001625 per sheet which is a year of printing. This printer also copies and scans. Does everything a color one does except print in color, and it is also WiFi and wireless. Check with B&H website for there laser printers. This will give you an idea of what to look for if you decide to switch. Good luck.