Dannj

Would you mind posting your decision here? I’m looking also but I’m not very good at doing research or making decisions 🥴

foathog Loc: Greensboro, NC

Have you called Canon by any chance? If you are a Canon user you should well know that they are top notch.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

When printers are not used frequently, MOST inkjet inks, especially pigment photo inks, will dry out and clog print heads or — in large, wide format printers — the feeder lines to the print heads AND the print heads.

If you go whole weeks without printing anything, please reconsider whether you should own any inkjet printer, especially a pigment photo printer. If you do want a printer and only print occasionally, there is much less risk owning a dye ink printer. But even those will clog if used very infrequently.

One cause of clogging is not paying attention to the expiration dates on the cartridges. Ink generally should be used within six months of opening, and within two years of manufacture. Another problem is not agitating the cartridges before installation, as directed. If you have a pigment photo printer with tubes between the cartridges and the print head, pigments can settle out of solution to the bottom of the tubing and clog the tubing over time.

If your printer DOES clog, there are various ways to fix it. If the clog is not severe, most printer drivers have a utility that cleans heads by forcing ink through them. However, if you don't clear a clog on the second try, you risk making it worse!

In that case, there are many videos on YouTube by Jose Rodriguez and others that offer alternative methods of cleaning heads. Some of them involve Windex and paper towels and a syringe connected to the ink cartridge nipples... They work SOMETIMES.

Alas, the way the printer companies market their machines, they really want you to trash them and buy replacements, because they only make money on INK. As with the Polaroid cameras of old, they take a loss on the hardware, knowing they will make it back quickly on the consumables. They keep changing the ink cartridges, so there is a good chance your old stock won't fit your new printer, and you'll be stuck with a few cartridges you had on the shelf.

That's why I like the Epson EcoTank printers. You get up to 80 times the ink for about the same price, BUT, you do pay more up front for the printer. And it's really only worth having if you print frequently — at least a few pages in full color every week.

Some years ago, I ran a digital portrait print lab. We had several wide-format Epsons we used to make archival quality prints, canvasses, and all prints over 12" by 18". They ran 24 hours a day, six days a week, most of the time. But when we shut down for the holidays, THAT was when they clogged! We got in the habit of sending our printer operator in for a couple hours of double overtime to run them for orders waiting for us to return. That seemed to avoid clogs.

Odie-Jay Loc: Was Littleton, CO now Overland Park, KS

Had that happen on my Canon MX 922. Was able to remove ink tanks then remove tank carrier. Took the carrier to the kitchen sink and ran warm water over it for several minutes until all the old ink cleared. Shook the carrier dry, reinstalled and have been using it for over 2 years with no problems. I do the occasional photo print and the colors are better than an Epson all in one my wife was using.
If the carrier is removable, it is worth a try.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

Consider one of the "tank" type printers. The ink cost per page is much lower. I have a Brother printer from their "Inkvestment" line that I have been pleased with. Here's a link: https://www.brother-usa.com/products/mfcj995dw

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

I may try that. Thanks.
Mark

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

Mark - I've been using an older model of the Canon Color imageCLASS Laser printer (print, copy, scan, fax) for years. It's wireless as well as wired, 3rd party toner cartridges are inexpensive and work fine, and it periodically goes on sale for about 50% of list price.

its_yoshie

i repaired copiers and printers for 20 years. i use a espon artisan837. great printer. scanner, never jams. only down side to a epson is. you have to use there photo paper for photos. but it wont disappoint. if this helps you fine if not, good luck on your search

edrobinsonjr Loc: Boise, Idaho

Hi Mark,

We have an HP 6958 all in one. Have had it for almost 2 years with no complaints. I found a good 3rd party ink on Amazon that overcomes HP's ink games. It does print, scan copy and fax without a hitch. You said you do not print photos but this device makes a very good photo print limited to 8.5 x 11."

This model may have been superseded by now...

Hope this helps.

Ed

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

If you understand how to download and install ICC profiles for third party papers, you don't need to use Epson papers for great result. You turn ON color management in your application, and turn it OFF in the printer driver to use third party stocks. When using Epson papers, best results are usually achieved by turning OFF color management in applications, and letting the Epson printer driver control color.

Profiles are available for select Epson, Canon, and HP PHOTO printers if you go to your supply vendor's website (such as LexJet), or to the paper manufacturers' sites:

Moab
Hahnemuhle
Red River
Magic Inkjet (Dietzgen)
Harman Galerie (same people who make Ilford film and paper)

While you may not find printer/paper/ink profiles for office printers, many photo printers ARE supported by most paper manufacturers.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Thanks for the suggestion, Bill!!
Mark

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

We print at least a couple of times a week and sometimes many pages a day for most days.
There a counter on my Epson ET-4700 and I did the math and my printer has paid for itself several times over without any problems.
About every 1K pages, you have to clean/align the heads and that process is menu-driven and that takes just a few minutes.
I am so happy not to have to buy carts anymore and have them fail in the middle of a job, or troubleshoot the printer when it doesn't recognize a new cart . . . and on and on!
I believe that now there other manufactures of tank printers out there now, but I am happy with my Epson. It just makes me . . .
Smile,
JimmyT Sends

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I have the same printer for office work. It's a great little machine. The only things I don't like are that the thing won't duplex, and the new Mac scanner driver (Epson Scan 2) no longer supports all the automatic fixes that Epson Scan 1 supported. Duplexing would require a bigger, heavier, more expensive device, however.

bhanusa Loc: Maui, Hawaii

[quote=markngolf]My Canon Pixma 7720 prints smudged and often unreadable documents.
I am very happy with my HP OfficeJet 5260 it covers all your requested options, it can be wireless or USB, prints documents on both sides. You can also join HP Instant Print and for about $60 a year print about anything you want to print.

Aloha, Bob Hanusa Maui Hawaii

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

[quote=bhanusa]

Thanks, Bob!!
Mark