Cheap Printer

[Shamrock]

I'm looking for a cheap all-in-one printer for uni. Will be mainly used for document printing and copying/scanning so photo print quality isn't really that important.

I've sort of narrowed it down to the following two, but I'm open to further suggestions.

Both of these can be had for £40:

Epson DX4450 or HP Photosmart C3180

I've previously owned 2 epsons and both fell to the problem of leaving black marks on print outs even after several head cleaning runs, which apparently also drains ink. I have no idea what HP are like, but reviews I have read seem to either say its the best or the worst.

The epson cartridges are cheaper but they don't have replacement heads on them. The HP ones are more expensive and there aren't separate colours, only a single colour cartridge.

Any opinions?

Cheers

 

[Shamrock]

I've seen 3rd party cartridges about. Epson ones tend to be cheaper whilst the HP ones are the same price but contain more ink than the branded ones.

Is it more of an advantage to have individual cartridges for each colour? Say if I ran out of cyan on the HP would I have to replace the whole thing despite having enough of the other colours?

 

[Shamrock]

I don't think I would ever buy a lexmark. Seems like A4 printer paper is more robust than the lexmark printers!

I am swaying towards the epson now. Running cost is definitely the most important factor for a poor student.