O/T Need Printer Advice

I can't help, but if you google what you're looking for with "reviews" you can find some good input. Then see if your local Office Max or whatever carries it.

Plus, any local computer or office supply store should have a guru techie type who can tell you exactly what you need to know.

Anne

If you only need B&W, a laser can be very cheap (about $100) and very good.  Yes, the toner cartridge costs a lot.  You just can't seem to avoid this issue.

HOWEVER, the price per page for laser is cheaper than ink jet.  And, laser printing doesn't run if it gets wet.

Sometimes, the smartest thing to do when you run out of ink is to throw out the printer and buy a new one.  Ghastly isn't it?

Tina

Diane, I also have several printers.   One of them is an HP Color LaserJet 2600n.  I've had it for a couple of years and it's really pretty good, considering the money.  I think you can still pick them up at places like Staples for about $250.00.  I would have to check my old receipts but I think I paid somewhere in that area.

Tina

From my experience of having been working at a printing company for decades, I can give you a logical way to narrow your choices.

• manufacture
• price
  
• speed
  
• quality (resolution)
  
• paper handling, size and capacity
  
• duplex printing
  
• cartridge availability and price

Once you see what your priorities are, you will see what works the best for you. Personally I would recommend HP, Canon or Brother if resolution is not a big deal for you.

Hugs,

Fumi

Erica, I thought I was the only one on the planet who had issues with HP printers! HATE THEM - although we have two of them (one business, one for my son to do his reports with). Love the Canon printers, though...

HP makes a decent cheap laser printer. I can't remember the model number, but have seen it at Staples. I would also recommend Brother. I have a Brother all-in-one laser that I've been using 2+ years and very happy with it. HP has always made good laser printers. I wonder if the people who have had problems with HP are with the ink jets.

I always read epinions.com for reviews from users. 

I was loving that salesguy until he slammed Macs. Trust me, I've got two Apple laptops and four desktops (most of them are for my business) and never paid even close to $1000 for any of them, including the 17" Powerbook G4 I'm typing this from now. In the nine years since I've started using Macs, I've had a total of four crashes - and each time, my machine told me exactly what caused the problem and how to fix it (no "Your computer has just performed an illegal operation" error messages, thankfully).



Gateway and HP may make good hardware, but it still has to run on Windows (can you tell I loathe that platform?!?). Feel sorry for all the folks who got Windows Vista and had to go back to XP.



Truthfully, though, the computer you get will only be as good as the programs you need to do what you do. With the mag, we work with lots of graphics and design, so Macs are what we use. If you'll only be surfing and using Microsoft office programs (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc), anything you get will work well, even if it may be obsolete in a few years, lol (as is the case with all electronics, sadly).



I say do the footwork (visit lots of stores) and get what works best for your fingers )

WOOHOO for the Canon Pixma! I have an older version of their all in one and bought another for my son last Christmas. I really like Canon inkjets; I still like the HP for a solid, low cost b & W laser.

I don't know about Macs, but my understanding is they include some kind of software that allows you to use Windows programs if necessary.

That being said, I'll give you my 2 cents (more like a dollar and a half!!!!!!) regarding desktop/laptop choices.

HP bought out Compaq a couple of years ago. By far, the absolute worst computer I have ever owned was a Compaq. They used to be great, but in the early 2000's, things really went downhill. Their business machines were still acceptable for a while, but then they went south. I fear that in buying out Compaq, HP has gone waaaaay downhill. I do know at one time they were charging outrageous amounts for tech support. If you buy one of their systems, trust me:  YOU WILL NEED TECH SUPPORT

I have had a Gateway server, Gateway desktop, and Gateway laptop. I haven't had any real hardware issues with them except for stuff that any company would have (power supplies needing to be replaced after x number of years, for example). I was absolutely floored by their tech support. My dad gave me a "dead" Gateway laptop that I managed to resurrect. I was able to access their online LIVE tech support and used instant messaging in real time to get answers to some questions I had. The laptop was a model from 2001, but Gateway still carried parts I needed for it through MUNDOCORP. That is something that is hard to find in an older system.

I have built a number of desktop systems and have found that Intel processors are, for the most part, much more reliable than AMD processors. That is something I would look for in a laptop as well.

I was given an ACER laptop this past summer as a 40th birthday present. It was in the $500 range and came loaded with Windows Vista (I'm not "in love" with Vista). It has built in wi-fi, built in blue tooth for wireless connectivity to printers and cell phones, and its dvd burner plays all formats of dvd's--including "blue ray" discs.  I am very impressed with it. The one thing I hate about most every system out there is they come with antivirus pre-installed. I prefer to use AVG free antivirus from GRISOFT and it's such a pain in the rear to remove all traces of the preinstalled antivirus when its trial period is expired.

I have heard that Sony has problems with their laptops, Toshiba is so-so. I really would have to say the Acer is doing what I need it to for now (lots of graphics creation and word processing) and is a good choice for the money. I have not needed their tech support, so cannot comment on that.

Oh, I have also heard of some tech support nightmares from Dell. That was a year or so ago, though. Maybe they've gotten their act back together.

So, if you find that a mac is out of reach (I imagine the cost might be justified though!  LOL), you have my take on the others.  OH, whatever you do, never ever ever ever even look sideways at an E-machine. (heard they were going out of business some time ago but I still see them here and there) and don't trust the Home Shopping Network as far as computers go.

I don't use a Mac but I believe if you get an iMac with boot camp as Felicia says above, you can also buy VMware Fusion for about $70 to allow you to run both the Mac side & the Windows side at the same time.

Not sure if this changed, but boot camp used to require a re-boot to get from Mac to Windows and Windows to Mac. Fusion lets you run Windows as a virtual machine from the boot camp partition.

Here's the website for Fusion & they give a lot more information: 

http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/