HP vs Epson

[henene4]

Today, we finally decleared our HP Photosmart B110a for dead. No more black printing, even after several print head cleaning cycles on both intensity settings and even takeing out the print head and cleaning it according to a HP manual, no chance.

So, we need a new printer. We were looking into 4in1 units, and narrowed down our choices to Epson (WF3620-DWF) and HP (OfficeJet Pro 8610).
The Epson is 120€, the HP 140€.
Both have automatic duplex printing and scanning, WiFi, basicly all one could need.
The HP has a verry slightly cheaper printing cost per page, but that is mostly due to the Epson haveing a tank for waste ink which needs periodic replacement.
The Epson further has bigger black ink cartridges.

My question is, do any of you have any experience with either brand in a simmilar kind of printer class? Can you recomend either?
Due to the fax needing a phone line, and the resulting location in our home, the slightly smaller footprint of the Epson seems more desireable, but dosen't cross out the HP entirely.
Or do any of you have any other recomendations?

Awaiting any help with appreciation!
Henrik

 

[ea56]

Last week I had the same problem with my HP 7520, the black wouldn't print. I cleaned the print head twice. The first time I soaked it in 2 inches of very hot water for 15 min., then let it dry on paper towels for 10 mins. It still didn't work. So I thought now I have nothing to lose so I took it out again and ran hot tap water over it for about 3 mins. then against HP's directive I took a Qtip and dipped it in 70% alcohol and gently swabed the top of the black print head, rinsed it again with very hot water and dried it well. I tried the printer again, still no black ink printing. I was all ready to replace it. The next morning I thought well I'll try to print one more time before I go shopping for a new one. Lo and behold It worked! And just like new I might add. I guess it just needed to dry some more. I'm very happy I could fix it, I really like this printer.
Eddie[this post was last edited: 4/10/2016-12:33]

 

[henene4]

That is not the first time ours did this, and in conjunction with some other small issues (WiFi issues, missing driver CD, failing to pull in paper), we decided to scrap it. And given it gave us something like 6 years of service, we are OK with that.

And honestly, I wasted 3 hours, half a cartridge of black ink and my sanity on this printer; I just want it to die and never return.

 

[blackstone]

Epson Inkjet Sucks

Be aware of one problem with Epson--when even one cartridge of ink runs low, the printer will not function at all. I bought an Epson XP-620 last year. It has 5 ink cartridges (CMYK for color; additional BK for black printing). The printer estimates when the ink is low. When it gets too low (according to Epson's estimate), the printer will not print. It won't print black; it won't print color with one color missing.

The printer goes through a cleaning cycle when first powered up. This uses ink. I found that the color ink cartridges run low after about 3 months, and this is even though I rarely (and I mean rarely) print anything in color.

The scanner does not function either, when the ink is "low". The XP-620 is a wireless printer/scanner. This feature is great; it allows use from any device on the house network.

My solution: 1) I bought a Canon LASER printer for black printing. If I want anything in color, I'll use a highlighter. 2) I discovered, through Google searching, that the Epson WILL still function as a scanner, if not used in wireless mode. I connected a USB cable, so the Epson is just a scanner, even if the ink is gone. I did like its scanning program.

The devious feature was not advertised when I bought the Epson; I learned through experience.

Oh yeah, the ink is expensive. At least $60 to replace the CMYK cartridges; another $20 for the black.

 

[henene4]

I read about these problems when we bought the B110a, but by reading the manual of the WorkForce we are considering, the printer should allow you to choose to use only black ink if the colors run low or to use colored ink to extend the lifetime of an almost empty black cartridge. (Keep in mind we are a Windows family and a lot of options on printers is utility based by now.)

Ink is always expensive. But considering I can get 2200 black ISO pages for ~35€ on the Epson, it will still be cheaper then our current HP cartridges.

Whats more interesting: How was print quality? And did you have random WiFi blackouts? I red a review that sad their current Epson did this, so I read about the HP.

 

[DADoES]

 
Regards to Canon ink cartridges ... I ran across a tip recently about an obscure little button on them that resets the counter so they'll print again when low.  HP cartridges unfortunately don't have a button.  A wonky procedure was described of shorting across some of the contact terminals while repeatedly removing and installing the cartridge.

I had an Epson Stylus Color 800 years ago.  Horrible for ink consumption and clogging the heads if not used often enough.

 

[blackstone]

The Epson gave me no problems with its wireless connection. The reason I used a USB cable was only for the purpose of using it as a scanner. Not sure why the use of the USB was a good workaround, but I'm happy being able to use the scanner.

Laser print quality is superior to inkjet. Better detail, no streaking, and most importantly, laser is waterproof. Now I feel comfortable printing envelopes for mailing.

 

[henene4]

I just checked the cost of laser printers, and honestly, I just can't justify the 100€ or more I'd spend extra, especially given that toner over here got more expensive then the ink systems I am considering.

So, the Epson dosen't seem to be a great choice. I'll wait till this weeks electronics advertisements arrive, and then I'll see if I can score something there.
Thank's for the help!

 

[washer111]

I would Recommend Laser

Despite the heftier cost, they are certainly well worth it. If you can get a hold of generic cartridges - even better.

Picked up a LaserJet 2420dn for free on Gumtree, just needs a $20 service kit and toner. HP Toner at OfficeWorks was $300+, well, eBay had genuine, expired units for about $50, and aftermarket products for about $30. Took the cheap option, and nearly 500 pages in, haven't regretted it one bit.

Inkjet printers are costly, purposefully waste ink with "automatic head cleaning" when left powered on (my previous Brother inkjet) and cannot be easily fixed. Lasers are designed for real work, and are much easier and cheaper to fix.

 

[imperial70]

I personally gave up on ink jet printers. I purchased an HP laserjet.  If I want to print photos, I'll have the local Walgreens (or any of the drug stores, etc that do photo printing) do it for me. I use walgreens because I can send them off right from my phone.

 

For the few times I have to print (other than recipes or instruction manuals a few times a month),  I think that ink jet printers are a waste of money. The ink dries up from lack of use.

 

 

[henene4]

Well, my parents are now takeing over.

Nice that after you take over a good few hours of research, they just go "Yeah, no, we don't like any of the 4 printers you found. We found one ourself." - "Well thanks a lot..." - "Why are you so annoyed now?"

Not sure what they are getting now. Honestly, I don't care anymore. I just need to use the printer from time to time. But I'll keep you posted anyway.

 

[gansky1]

I just bought a new HP 5740 ink jet printer last month.  I previously had a laser monochrome from Brother that worked fine out of the box for about 8  months on it's original cartridge and then after replacing with an OEM cartridge, worked for a few months and then stopped.  I print >20 pages per month, never color or photos at home so the $120 laser seemed like a good deal.   One day I couldn't print wirelessly any longer, resets, unplug and restarts didn't help, it only worked when plugged in directly to my laptop and then that stopped working too.  More futzing and prodding.  Nothing.  Troubleshooting online, more attempts, to no avail.  Into the tech recycling dumpster it went.  I lost all patience for printer troubles back in about 1997. 

 

We went to our monolithic local retailer and I found a very knowledgeable and kind salesperson who took the time to discover my needs and match them with a product.  Must have been a slow evening.   She explained that the newer HP models have cartridges that don't dry out if not used regularly like previous versions did and HP has a much better track record of working with Apple AirPlay than some of the others.  Drying cartridges is why I left ink jet for laser a few years ago.  The printer was on sale for $109 so I figured I'd give it a try.  So far, so good.  I had some trouble connecting to it wirelessly the other day, but a restart of the laptop cured that.   ( Network issues aren't new to this laptop - "looking for networks" is a constant issue and Apple claims it's all fine, but that's another story)

 

 

[kb0nes]

I agree with some of the other comments, I have near ZERO interest in ever buying another Ink Jet spray painting machine. Unless they are used often they tend to be problematic plus then are generally slow and have a high cost per page. I only have a monochrome Laser at home, if I want to print a photo I have a print service do it.

I do maintain three HP 9xx series Inkjets at work. By maintain that means a yearly full dis-assembly and cleaning (these printers are all from the mid to late 90's). The 45/78 HP cartridges were some of the highest capacity ink cartridges that HP sold so cost per page isn't too bad. I ONLY use HP cartridges, the refilled ones have been disappointing.

The new Epson EcoTank line of printers interests me greatly and may get me to buy another InkJet. I like that these printers are expensive and that the ink is cheap. It gives me the belief that I am buying a quality machine that will last and give low cost per page. The low cost InkJets today are total throw-aways just trying to sell high cost ink cartridges.

 

[blackstone]

Seriously

The price of a brand-new Epson with ink cartridges included is barely more than the price of the 5 replacement cartridges. I was tempted to just buy a new printer only for the new ink. Something is wrong with that business model.

 

[lordkenmore]

>The price of a brand-new Epson with ink cartridges included is barely more than the price of the 5 replacement cartridges. I was tempted to just buy a new printer only for the new ink.

I'm pretty sure I've read of people who do just buy a new printer when the ink in the old one runs out...

It's disturbing. Partly because of how insanely expensive ink is. But also there is the environmental impact of printers being bought, used a bit, and then tossed into the landfill only because they need new ink, and it's cheaper buying a new printer.

 

[lordkenmore]

>Well, my parents are now takeing over.

>Nice that after you take over a good few hours of research, they just go "Yeah, no, we don't like any of the 4 printers you found. We found one ourself." - "Well thanks a lot..." - "Why are you so annoyed now?"

And the next step in this drama could well be that the printer they select will be a total lemon. At least, it seems to work that way often.

 

[lordkenmore]

Like others, I think my preference these days is for laser printers. Part of that, of course, is probably because they were hot when I was young, and it's fun owning once unobtainable technology. Past that, though, they've been more practical for me given per page costs. Indeed, I think the one I'm using now is almost ideal--I seldom print anymore, but when I do fire up the laser printer, it works, and there are no issues of ink having dried up, or any other hassle.

I have used an HP old enough to have large capacity cartridges--I think it has the 45 mentioned before--but have not had particularly good service life from those cartridges. My guess: the cartridges are drying out too much in the printer during idle periods.

 

[kb0nes]

good service life from those cartridges

John,

Indeed the big downfall with an inkjet is having the print heads dry out when it sits idle for days (or weeks or months!) if you don't print frequently.

The HP printer you speak of has a "service station" under the cartridges that has rubber cups that the business ends of the cartridge sit on when parked. That is supposed to slow the drying. There are also rubber squeegees that are designed to wipe the schmutz off the print heads too, but they get messy and it makes things worse.

If you have an HP cartridge plug up I have had great success with a paper tower and Windex to wipe it a bit to get it clear. I have had a couple where I set the print head end of the cartridge in a shallow pool of water for a while to free things up also.

In an older printer like these, that service station is pretty gunked up by now. It isn't too tough a job to remove it and wash it clean with hot water. Disassembly instructions for you model are likely a Google search away. Be sure to wear rubber gloves unless you like stained hands for a day or so! The printer will perform better and make less odd noises once you get it clean!

 

[lordkenmore]

Thanks, Phil! I'll take a look at and try to clean that HP printer.