[X Newbies] which multifunction inkjet printer

[Alex]

On Tuesday, Jan 27, 2004, at 18:55 Canada/Eastern, Vincent Cayenne 
wrote:

> I concur that years ago HP's build quality and attention to the 
> availability of drivers was excellent.

"Was" being most definitely the operative word.

>  I find however that current product, especially multifunction units, 
> ink jet printers and scanners suffer from cheap quality and a 
> lamentable tardiness in bringing adequate drivers to market.

IMHO -- ditto. Case in point: HP's tardiness in producing 
Panther-compatible drivers for its all-in-one devices.

> Epson gives excellent output at the expense of clogging on some models 
> in some environments. I also get the impression that Epson gives 
> excellent value in their scanners but are sometimes slow to add 
> support for older scanning and multifunction devices.

Again, ditto. If you want quality in your inkjet hard copy, Epson is 
the safest bet. But it does come at a price, and if you only use your 
printer once in a blue moon, probably the price is too high.

> Now, I'll say:
> "Use Epson or Canon ink jet tech for best results, Canon or Epson 
> Durabrite-ink ink jets for best non-art-critical value, Brother 
> personal lasers, HP network lasers and avoid Lexmark, and avoid HP ink 
> jets."

Manibus et pedibus. And I'd add, also stay away from Samsung. The price 
is attractive, but quality and Mac-side software is atrocious.

An additional point. I shouldn't buy an all-in-one/multifunction to use 
with a Mac. The hardware may be OK, but, in almost every instance, the 
software has problems or is markedly inferior to the PC version.

f