Printers

[BruceSi]

Hey everyone, I'm new here.  I'm looking to start but am struggling to decide what printer to get.  I have found some color laser printers that have good reviews but then I hear things about incredibly expensive toner costs.  I am afraid if I take a stab at something I'll end up with either poor quality or toner that'll end up running more than ink.  Any suggestions?  I am looking around the $200 mark, a little low, I know, but I have found a few online with good reviews for that price.  I am willing to bump it up for sure if I know it's good and has relatively low toner cost.  The two I have noticed that I like are the HP LaserJet Pro 200 M276nw All-in-One and the Brother HL-3170CDW.  The HP supposedly has very high toner cost and the Brother supposedly lacks in quality (at least photo quality, which I can't tell if it would translate to poor cover graphics).  Thanks all!

[sheep2001]

Cheap lasers are cheap for a reason.  They will either be poor quality, or expensive on the toner.

You will get MUCH better results spending the same money on a decent ink jet. 

I use a canon pixma

[TDIRunner]

I use a Cannon ink jet.  I do not know the model number off the top of my head and I'm not at home to look at it, but I'm extremely happy with this printer.  You should have no problem getting a good ink jet printer for between $100 and $200.  The ink is expensive.  However you can save a lot of money by buying the XL ink cartridges.  The XL carts cost about 50% more, but tend to last about 3 times as long.  From my experience, buying off brand ink never works out well.

Also remember, that the quality of the paper is JUST AS IMPORTANT, if not more important than the quality of the printer.  The best printer in the world make crappy looking covers if you use cheap copy paper.


***Edit****  It's a Cannon MG5420.  I found another post where I was talking about it.  It looks like it should run you about $100.  It will come with ink, but not the XL cartridges.  These won't last long, but you can replace them with the XL carts.

[TDIRunner]

I'll also add that the Cannon MG5420 has a good scanner.  It never hurts to have a good scanner if you want to help contribute to this site.

[BruceSi]

I use a Cannon ink jet.  I do not know the model number off the top of my head and I'm not at home to look at it, but I'm extremely happy with this printer.  You should have no problem getting a good ink jet printer for between $100 and $200.  The ink is expensive.  However you can save a lot of money by buying the XL ink cartridges.  The XL carts cost about 50% more, but tend to last about 3 times as long.  From my experience, buying off brand ink never works out well.

Also remember, that the quality of the paper is JUST AS IMPORTANT, if not more important than the quality of the printer.  The best printer in the world make crappy looking covers if you use cheap copy paper.


***Edit****  It's a Cannon MG5420.  I found another post where I was talking about it.  It looks like it should run you about $100.  It will come with ink, but not the XL cartridges.  These won't last long, but you can replace them with the XL carts.

Do you have any examples of your cases that you can upload so I can see an example?  I was thinking laser was the way to go but I'd be interested in seeing how yours turned out with ink.

[TDIRunner]

The image on the right was done with my Cannon on good quality 50 lb matte paper.  The image on the left was done with my (much older) HP ink jet printer on copy paper.

[X68000]

I use an Epson XP-410 along with 8.5" x 14" Epson matte presentation paper. The print quality is excellent for a cheap little all-in-one printer, and if you use good paper like I do, you get really nice results. Most places sell it for around $60-70. I'd advise getting the XL carts though, as the standard capacity ones won't last worth a damn if you're doing a number of covers. XL carts cost about $30 for black and $19 for each color, whereas the standard ones are $18 for black and $9 for each color. There are plenty of aftermarket options available, but I've always had best results with the genuine Epson ink.

[BruceSi]

This is great!  Thanks so much for the info, both of you!  I'll look into both printers and also maybe see how my current printer can handle it.  I saw something on here about red river paper.  I bookmarked them and will order from them soon.  I'm excited to start this thing.

[TDIRunner]

This is great!  Thanks so much for the info, both of you!  I'll look into both printers and also maybe see how my current printer can handle it.  I saw something on here about red river paper.  I bookmarked them and will order from them soon.  I'm excited to start this thing.

The good quality paper I was talking about in the picture above of Knuckles Chaotix was done with Red River Paper premium matte double sided 8.5x14.  It's good quality paper. 

[SheriffHarv]

I'm still using my EPSON RX 600 that i've had for about 9 years now.  It uses 6 cartridges so it does not need to use as much ink as a 3 colour cartridge when making prints and can better colour match the images.  I have a new Canon Pixma MX 452 printer that I got for $40 at Staples(Boxing Day Sale) but it is still in the box because the EPSON is still churning out quality prints like a trooper.

I also use the ESPON legal size presentation paper matte for printing my UGC covers.

[wiggy]

Screw laser. Get a middle of the road Canon or Epson inkjet.

[BruceSi]

I decided to go with Canon PIXMA MX922 Wireless Color Photo Printer with Scanner, Copier and Fax...$99 on amazon and the ink seems to be cheap and readily available...thanks for the help everyone!