[FrankGrimes]

I'm hoping to buy a printer for some occassional usage at home. I have a htpc running Vista Ultimate, a PC running XP, and will have a Windows Home Server also, so would be great to have the printer on the wired network.

Guess it'd also be handy if it was multi-function for the odd scan and photocopy.

Budget would be around a €100 max considering we're not going to use it all that much, and compatibility with cheap cartridges would be a bonus, so maybe a Lexmark would be suitable? Or maybe a Canon?

We don't have a whole lot of space so a nice compact size would also be great. Nice one for any ideas.

[watty]

You don't get €100 and decent/cheap to run.
Definately NOT Lexmark.
Spend a bit more and a Brother with large separate cartridges AND built in ethernet port.

The scanner is poor compared with my dedicated SCSI epson or my son's USB epson Photo scanner, but it does work on Network, as colour copier and fax as well as printer.

[kaizersoze]

As Watty said you won't get what you're after for €100. I have one of these and it's excellent. http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=325555 It has wireless aswell as an ethernet port.

[FrankGrimes]

Thanks, I might stretch the budget so if it's worth it. What are the cartridge costs like for that Canon and can you use the cheaper non-proprietary refills?

[highlydebased]

Get a seperate print server and printer. It will cost you more but will be worth it....

I would not use a canon printer for the life of me. Cartridges last no length.

The cartridges on my HP last around 4 months, with medium/heavy printing. You wont get that from a Canon...

[FrankGrimes]

Mmmm, interesting about the cartridge lifetime, would be good to hear further thoughts on the Canon.

How do Epson fare up?

I didn't know you could get a separate print server - how much are they and can you then use them with any USB printer?

[ethernet]

Originally Posted by FrankGrimes

Mmmm, interesting about the cartridge lifetime, would be good to hear further thoughts on the Canon.

How do Epson fare up?

I didn't know you could get a separate print server - how much are they and can you then use them with any USB printer?

I like Epson printers but make sure you do your research -- some of the newer models refuse to print anything when any colour begins to run "low". The newer breed can't be tricked by covering any contacts on the cartridge either.

I have the Epson Stylus D92 and the Linksys PSUS4 print server [both on Komplett]. Fast printer. Installing the print server required lots of work on Windows; just seconds in Linux. It should work with any printer really. You can get some annoying error messages about the printer not being able to display print levels seeing as it's not directly connected.

[kaizersoze]

Originally Posted by Neon-Circles

Get a seperate print server and printer. It will cost you more but will be worth it....

I would not use a canon printer for the life of me. Cartridges last no length.

The cartridges on my HP last around 4 months, with medium/heavy printing. You wont get that from a Canon...

The Canon above that I got on 16/04/2007 is still printing away on the original cartridges and I'd consider myself a medium/heavy user like yourself. The lower end Canons (and most other brands) are dire for ink economy though.