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Buying a new printer

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moerl:
My long lived Brother HL-1440 B&W laser printer crapped out on me just days ago. I've had it for about three years now, still with the same drum & toner cartridge (I think)! It served me greatly while it lasted.. but last week I got this loud rattling noise whenever I printed something. Prints would still come out fine, but the rattling was very loud and it was pretty damn obvious that something was wrong with the interior of the device. It doesn't appear to be the toner.. rather, it seems that it is the "drum". I'm not sure, however. My problem is that this printer is 4 to 5 years old and I'm not exactly having an easy time finding a drum replacement. I took the toner and drum components out and disassembled the drum as far as I could and identified where the rattling is coming from but was unable to fix it. No matter what angle I looked at it from and no matter what I tried, I couldn't figure out why the hell this long "roll" part was so terribly stuck as to call the rattling. This printer is worth next to nothing these days (check eBay) and I'm thinking I want to buy a multi function printer. I'd love to be able to copy documents without having to rely on my computer, and the ability to scan would be a great plus as well.

Add to this that I just got done with a shopping spree for digital photo equipment, (complete list here), and you can imagine I could use something that's not to bad at printing photos either. I don't need a world class photo printer, otherwise I'd get a dedicated photo printer and not an all in one device.. but I'm looking for the printer with emphasis on good text output, low maintenance cost and good scanning quality.

There are so many printers of this kind out there that the research I've done so far is making my head spin. I've decided to go with Canon for a brand as I trust the company and have been using their cameras my whole life. Not only that but their printers also get consistently good reviews almost across the whole board.

I'm rather lost on the price range.. this one looks to be a good one: the Canon Pixma PM130 (check out the user comments!), but according to Canon's site the Pixma PM170 is newer than the 130, and then there is the MP450, the MP500 and the MP760. There are reviews up for the MP130 from CNET.com and PCmag.com and neither have anything terrible to say about it. They say scanning is kind of shitty, but one user commented on CNET that once you increase the scanning resolution, the color issues almost vanish. That's great, but as I said then there's the MP170, which is newer than the MP130, but I have not found any reviews of it yet. I have mixed feelings about the MP450 and MP500, partly due to the fact that again, I was unable to find any reliable reviews of them. The MP760 seems to be a surefire winner as all reviews I've read pretty much rave about it and place it among the very best all in one printers of that price range. But then I'm looking at a price difference of a hundred dollars between the MP130 or MP170 and the MP760.. I'm not sure if I want to spend over $200 dollars on a printer, even if the 760 seems to kick ass. I've been spending money left and right like a madman lately, (just look at the photo equipment link I provided earlier), and I can't say that I'm done either. I'm still new in my apartment and having your own place is the devil... you realize only then how many freaking things you need/should have. It really drains your pocket rather quickly..

What are your opinions? Does anyone have experience with these printers.. any advice? Generally I much prefer laser over inkjet, but the all-in-one color laser devices far exceed what I'm willing to pay right now, so that's out of the question.

I'm grateful for any tips/recommendations/links.. anything, really. Share your wisdom with me :)

mouser:
CANON!!!!

I LOVE MY CANON (older pixma ip4000) - i spit on my old HP inkjets.

i made a post a long time ago talking about how easy and convenient the photo printing software for it was - almost worth the cost of printer!

moerl:
Good to know. Yeah, me likes Canon too. My Canon A620 is one hell of a camera. I'm just waiting for the SD card.. I've got everything else. Can't wait :). Now to buy a printer too.. just when I thought the universe is contained within the internet, in other words, if it's not online, it certainly isn't offline :D, I can't seem to find nearly as much info as I'd like in this printer research ordeal :/

Things I forgot to mention:

* I don't need fax
* One of the main reasons I'm really liking the MP760 is that it has built-in duplex support.. that's something I've always missed in a home printer
* I'm not sure how much I'll use the printer's ability to directly print from memory cards like my new Canon's SD card... I suppose I'll want to see the pics in their full glory on the PC screen before printing anything. Hmmmm
* I sure as hell don't need the ability to scan negatives or anything like that.. I've been all digital for almost three years now :)
The three prime things I need to know/find out:

* The difference between the Canon PIXMA PM130 and PM170 (performance and quality, since price is about the same)
* WTF is the deal with the Canon PIXMA PM450 (can be had pretty cheaply! Only like.. 20 bucks more than the PM170) and PM500 (similar story)!? How much better are they really compared to the PM130 and PM170?
* The PM760, the object of my desire. Is it worth it? What's the best deal you can find on this one? I haven't found it anywhere for less than 200

Carol Haynes:
Another vote for Canon ...

I had an old S520 which served me well (and still does as a backup), but I LOVE (with a capital LURVE) my ip5000.

I know in the US people were frustrated with the ip5000 because Canon didn't supply the CD printing side, but as a general printer it is really excellent (and in the UK the CD/DVD printing is superb).

As far as printing goes I would buy Canon every time. I used to have a Lexmark printer, and before that HP and Epson, but the Canon's not only beat them for quality but also on cost per page basis. I use so much less ink, and the cartirdges are much cleaper than HP and Lexmark - helped by the muliple cartirdge approach which means you don't throw away a half full cartridge because the yellow ran out!!

The more I play with Canon gear generally the more I like it ... I have two canon scanners (both of which are brilliant) and four Canon cameras!

Go for the big Gun !!!

moerl:
I totally forgot that I called T-Mobile on Monday and that they're sending me a $600 cheque for a deposit I made a year ago :). That means I should be able to get the PIXMA 760 or 780.. I don't need fax, so I'm undecided about which one to choose. I just checked my online banking as well and realized that I have to pay rent.. after rent, I'm broke for now!! Need to hit up the parents for the next wire transfer :D. I've been spending money like crazy.. but the digicam and equipment were something I was long planning to get and my parents never sent me money for that. I just spent it and have to transfer money to my dad's account from my own account back home.. he never gave me the transfer information though.. Argh.. not good!

Oh well.. it'll work out.

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