Just bought a new printer

Exciting headline, eh?

I just bought a new printer. Here’s the thought process.

I rejected Canon, Epson, and Brother out of hand:

  • Canon: Saw too many problems with Bubblejet printers back in my tech support days. My current printer, a Canon Pixma MP-970, is junk. Ink’s too pricey, and Canon rigged it to drink ink in duplex mode. Driver feel like they were rushed out before usability testing. After just 2 years old, prints shift so that vertical lines aren’t straight anymore.
  • Epson: That company’s ’80s and ’90s dot matrix printers were horrible. Never found one that fed paper consistently. Quality was so inconsistent that I trusted my 9 pin Panasonic KX-P1191 over any Epson 24-pin.
  • Brother: Another hard-to-trust brand after owning a fax machine in the late ’90s with intentionally costly print consumables.

OK, I really didn’t reject totally, but they started out with huge demerits. Consumer Reports didn’t consistently rate either brand well, so they’re done.

So I was down to a few HP models and a Lexmark.

An hour of “analysis by paralysis” narrowed me to the HP OfficeJet 8500 and the Lexmark Platinum Pro905. Mathematically, either’s lower print costs were worth the premium over otherwise good HP Photosmart models. The 8500 would pay for itself after only 7 reams of paper.

I finally rejected the Lexmark. It had too many mediocre reviews and customer gripes. Sounds like Lexmark would have been good if not for incompetent R&D and software architects.

So now I have a HP OfficeJet 8500 waiting at some Amazon.com facility for my shipping label. Better yet, HP is paying me $75 for my old Canon! Can’t wait to get rid of it!

2 thoughts on “Just bought a new printer”

  1. Did you happen to look at the Kodak printers? I have read that the Kodak inkjet ink refills are the cheapest compered other name brand inkjet refills. I have no clue how the printer compares with other brands.

    1. Scanning the Consumer Reports printer ratings, Kodaks are middle of the pack. Their print costs appear to be a little lower than others, but they are not exceptional. I think it would take a while to recoup their upfront premium unless you print a lot.

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