Help me choose between these three printers

[sram]

HP Officejet Pro 8600 e-All-in-One Printer - N911a $ 199

HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus e-All-in-One Printer - N911g $ 299

HP Officejet Pro 8600 Premium e-All-in-One - N911n $ 399


Except for minor differences, they are all actually the same according to hp website at least. But, I don't know if there are any hidden stuff that I need to dig for.

I like the extra scan size in the last two, and also like the extra tray in the last one. But that doesn't justify the price difference for me.

100 bucks for more scan size? And 100 bucks for one more tray?

I have read some reviews, and they are all good.

Have anybody tried some of them? One thing I really care about is ink price and how the printer likes compatible cartridges which are seriously cheaper.

I have always used multi-machines in the past because I use the 4 functions often enough to consider each one of them a necessity. I currently use officejet 4500 which I only bought to use temporarily. I'll give to my brother later.

My last two main printers were the hp officejet 6110 and the canon pixma MP830. Both were great while they lasted.

The 6110 suddenly stopped working because of a stupid error that kept coming back after every time I fix it. I call it stupid because it rendered the whole printer useless even though it was only related to the printing function. This is what I disliked about this printer.

The pixma in the other hand was too great and speedy, but its ink was expensive. It doesn't like compatible cartridges a lot. Its print head went bad and I couldn't find one for a good price.

Now, I'll tell you a little about myself and how I use the 4 functions:

In addition to work/kids school/web regular printing needs, I do some photo printing, mainly for personal photos. I do all my personal photos for official docs at home.

Fax is just too convenient, and I can't imagine myself without one anymore. No other special fax needs though.

When it comes to scanning, I hope I can scan docs larger than A4, but it is not a must for me. I can manage without it. I also need to tell you that I hate hard copies, that's why I keep all my important papers in electronic archives. It is good that no one can distinguish between the original and the copy!

Copying is convenient also sometimes. I do it when I quickly need extra copies of something that I haven't scanned before and kept in the computer.

That's very much it without going into too much details.

Please feel free to suggest other brands as well. I only prefer hp because it is well supported in my area.

Thanks in advanced, and sorry for the long post.

 

[priley]

I use a HP Officejet Pro 8500A at my office. Not entirely the same, sure. But I get great faxes, and the scans are great. Another feature it has that is useful: I can pop in a USB disc drive and scan/save a pdf onto that disc drive. Picture quality is great, even when I refilled the cartridges myself. I'm pretty happy with the printer overall.

(link above isn't my listing)

 

[tiraides]

Have you really shopped around? The 8600 Plus can be found for as low as $210.

The larger scanning area and the reduced price makes the 8600 Plus the best choice out of the three. I don't believe that the Premium's extra paper tray is enough to justify the price premium.

 

[sram]

Have you really shopped around? The 8600 Plus can be found for as low as $210.

The larger scanning area and the reduced price makes the 8600 Plus the best choice out of the three. I don't believe that the Premium's extra paper tray is enough to justify the price premium.

Thanks for the link. I still haven't looked for the best prices. I usually use pricegrabber for that. I'm trying to decide which printer to get first.

 

[TheArTcher]

I've alternated between laser printers and inkjet printers for many years. I don't plan to buy any more inkjet printers. In my experience, they are too expensive to feed and are not as reliable as lasers.

May I suggest you consider something like: HP LaserJet Pro 400 color MFP M475dn

The upfront cost is much higher, but the lifetime cost can be lower than the inkjet you are considering. Plus you get to use a better machine during that lifetime. Read reviews to determine if the print quality is good enough for you photo print needs.

I plan to buy a Laserjet 500 because it comes with much more toner than the cheaper printers. So much more that it would cost more to buy the LJ 400 and extra toner carts.
Pay attention to the "starter" toner cartridges and "setup" inkjet cartridges that come with most lower cost printers. They are usually described in fine print at the end of the specs page. Also remember that toner can stay usable much longer than inkjet cartridges. I've used 8 year old black toner carts that gave me perfect prints.

Good luck. Printers are always a crap shoot.

 

[cyclone3d]

I've alternated between laser printers and inkjet printers for many years. I don't plan to buy any more inkjet printers. In my experience, they are too expensive to feed and are not as reliable as lasers.

May I suggest you consider something like: HP LaserJet Pro 400 color MFP M475dn

The upfront cost is much higher, but the lifetime cost can be lower than the inkjet you are considering. Plus you get to use a better machine during that lifetime. Read reviews to determine if the print quality is good enough for you photo print needs.

I plan to buy a Laserjet 500 because it comes with much more toner than the cheaper printers. So much more that it would cost more to buy the LJ 400 and extra toner carts.
Pay attention to the "starter" toner cartridges and "setup" inkjet cartridges that come with most lower cost printers. They are usually described in fine print at the end of the specs page. Also remember that toner can stay usable much longer than inkjet cartridges. I've used 8 year old black toner carts that gave me perfect prints.

Good luck. Printers are always a crap shoot.

The only problem with the HP's is that the toner is quite expensive.. even aftermarket when compared to Xerox with basically the same features. The Xerox ones are also faster than the HP ones.

Xerox 6605/N (no duplex) or Xerox 6505D/N (with duplexing). The aftermarket toners are around $20-$23 a piece for the Xerox printers.. while the aftermarket toners are quite a bit more for the HP printers.

This is mainly because the Xerox toner is just a toner cartridge, while the HP cartridges have built in drums.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1&isNodeId=1&Description=xerox+6505&x=28&y=15

Oh.. and newegg is even cheaper for the color aftermarket toners for the Xerox printers.. at $19 a piece shipped. The blacks are $32 a piece shipped from newegg.

I was doing research on a new laser printer for one of the users where I work. These Xerox printers come out to an extremely low cost per page to print compared to anything else I could find.