• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Recommend printer <$250

H

Hitokiri Batohsai

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 22, 2003
Messages
429
My canon S400SP finally died, and not even reaching 4 years. My hp505C lasted longer than that(12yrs). recommend me a printer max $250. Cheaper & reliable.
Criteria:
100++pages a year:70% B&W
Ink:cheap(lexmarks ink are astronomical price)
Color:individual cartridges, easy for replacing. The yellow tends to finish faster
Photo print:not necessary(never printed photo)
Printer life rate: at least 7 years, 10 years better
Connection: USB(I hate the 25-pin cable)
I have a scanner(cannonLide20) so a combo printer is not needed.
Fax, never need it.
Use:home, student, printing more thesis, photo maybe. ppm rate not a concern. Printing quality must be good.

Thanks:)
 
I would recomend anything in the canon range of bubblejet printers- i use a s750 at uni and an i950 at home and they are both fast, economical and reliable. The cartridges are cheap (£6 each) and are individual. I think both of these printers have been discontinued so i think the i560 looks like a good buy- you can pick it up for just over £100 in the uk. 22ppm and borderless printing, individual cartridges. Sorted.
 
Thanks, I'm also looking at canon i560/anything equivalant.

Here is my problem, the S400SP problem. Not sure what is it.
Print is from up to down.
the color are in lines, some lines have ink, some no ink. Some full with ink.
I printed a whole page black, other colors are also the same result
http://img12.photobucket.com/albums/v30/mystvearn/print.jpg

As for printing text & pictures, I get lines with ink, lines without ink. So I thought I print a whole page with one ink.
Is the printer salvagable? Better use it than buying a new one
 
I had my S400 for only about three years when it died. I'm pretty sure mine was the printhead too (from using the cheap refill inks, I think). I wanted a photo quality printer anyway, so I didn't look into getting the new head. I bought a i850 and I love it. Individual inks, borderless photos, good looking output. And its a speed demon compared to that S400.
 
Clean the print heads using the printers routine. Also make sure nothing is stuck to the underside of it.

If that doesn't help take out the print head and use q-tips and alcohol to clean it. I believe these are Canon's instructions for cleaning and it works very well to get rid of clogs (I have done it on Canons and and Epsons which clog more than Canons in my experience). Run a couple test prints to see.
 
i960 is good except the Photo Magenta DOES NOT LIKE BEING REFILLED! Plus the color is all screwed up on it; everyone is green and the faces is flat even with all genuine inks. We finally got fed up and bought a Xerox Phaser 6250N. Def. recommended ;)
 
Originally posted by emorphien
Clean the print heads using the printers routine. Also make sure nothing is stuck to the underside of it.

If that doesn't help take out the print head and use q-tips and alcohol to clean it. I believe these are Canon's instructions for cleaning and it works very well to get rid of clogs (I have done it on Canons and and Epsons which clog more than Canons in my experience). Run a couple test prints to see.
Click to expand...

I clean it, using the printer's setup, still the same. How to clean using q-tips & alcohol? The instructions?
 
Originally posted by RandysWay
i960 is good except the Photo Magenta DOES NOT LIKE BEING REFILLED! Plus the color is all screwed up on it; everyone is green and the faces is flat even with all genuine inks. We finally got fed up and bought a Xerox Phaser 6250N. Def. recommended ;)
Click to expand...
\
Based on one printer?
 
Originally posted by Hitokiri Batohsai
I clean it, using the printer's setup, still the same. How to clean using q-tips & alcohol? The instructions?
Click to expand...

Using Q-tips and alcohol, just clean the print head assembly until it's shiny again. Don't get q-tip fuz or alcohol all up in the print heads though.
 
The print head is at the bottom of the head, where all the ink is suppose to come out right?
tried printing today, all prints have ink & blank lines.
 
Clean the head, got better prints, but lines are still present. Did a second print, the lines were more visible
 
Check out Epson's C84. I saw it on sale at a Beast Buy for around $80, but you might be able to find it cheaper online. It has the seperate ink tanks, like the Canon, but it's black ink tank is almost twice as large. Also, the print head is rated at 50,000 pages while the Canon's is rated at 20 ink sets.
Also, when you clean a printer, use windex instead of alcohol. Alcohol has the tendency to dry up the ink on HP and Lexmark systems while windex cleans just as well without the drying issues.

thanks,

scojo_az
 
50 000 vs 20 ??

Tried cleaning, improved, but lines visible. Forgot to mention: during all printing, the print came out like in Draft mode, even though I have made the highest settings.
 
Try reinstalling the drivers (download any new ones while you're at it) and checking the printer's connection. Also make sure the printer head has good communication with the head carrier.

As far as 20 tanks per head, that's a load of something smelly. Definitely have had mine last longer. I've seen some Canons dies, but I've also had many more problems with our Epson's (we have a fleet of 1280s) drying out very easily. They're a bigger pain IMO.
 
The S400Sp has a mechaanism, where you cannot view things while its printing. The moment you open the cover, the printing stops. I can only open it a few cm but I can see the head in action, but not seeing what it is doing to the paper.

Done the driver part already. Does static electricity have any effect?
Here is the print results after doing th cleaning, driver, q-tip
http://img12.photobucket.com/albums/v30/mystvearn/Untitled-1.jpg

Here is an image comparison of what the real image and the print result
Real image:http://img12.photobucket.com/albums/v30/mystvearn/mountain.jpg
Print result: http://img12.photobucket.com/albums/v30/mystvearn/Untitled-11.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top