I am Printerless - Any Ideas??

As someone who is technically inclined, I have not idea why I have such bad printer karma. I buy a printer that works just fine, then it seems to run out of ink quickly... To save money, I try to buy the generic printer catridges that "say" work with all printers but don't. That leads to some massive ink spill, which leads to me being without a printer...

So here I sit, on a Friday night that I should be with my family - at Kinkos instead just so I can PRINT some documents. I have made my life as paperless as possible, using my BlackBerry for most of mobile needs. But this time I needed to print out some forms that I can sign and scan back, and my todo spreadsheet just to have a paper copy.

Any ideas on what type of printer I should buy this weekend? Here are my requirements:

1. Ink catridges are easy to get and reasonably priced. Print catridges should last more then two days with regular printing(oh wait - that was my old printer...) How about at least a month!

2. I want wireless capabilities so I can print from my laptop anywhere in my house without using that darn USB cable. Some wireless routers have print routers included but mine does not. I tried installing a separate print router but could not get that to work...

3.All-in-one capabilities: I want to be able to send/recieve faxes as well as scan documents.

4. It would be nice to have a USB or flashdrive area so I can attach my digital picture storage directly to the printer to make pictures when needed.

5. Nice quality - does not have to be amazing, but it does have to print out documents as well as pictures.

6. Not too big...

Am I asking too much? Does this printer exist? Or any general printer recommendations would be great just to see which models others have been happy with.

Comments

[Devra Renner]

I am the last person to give tech advice. I can only say we've had our Dell printer for years and haven't had any issues with it at all.

I don't know what the newer Dell printers are like, but if they hold up like this one does, I'd be inclined to get another Dell.

Sorry you have printer issues, I used to have copy machine issues. They were so bad that the school secretaries wouldn't let me near the copy machines. I think I jammed the machines by just being in the same room.

[xiaolinmama]

I like the HP C7250.
I got it at Costco, which means if you hate it you can return it with no hassles. I did that with the one I purchased prior to this one and then traded up to this one. It does use ink fairly quickly, but you can buy them anywhere easily. The fax works like a champ and you can insert a photo stick into it easily.

I also have a HP Laser printer for bigger jobs, but this one does the trick for everyday small things.

[Myrna Lantzsch]

I use the HP Officejet 7410 because it has wireless capabilities, prints photos and is a copier/scanner/fax. It has 2 trays so you can keep photo paper in one ready to go and regular paper for printing, faxes etc. (I haven't completed the install yet - but I print wirelessly all the time) It has several different card sizes for the camera SD cards. Since I've converted to Mac I haven't been able to scan wirelessly but when I was PC - it was sweet to scan and print wirelessly. It's a little pricey and the ink cartridges are expensive too but of all the multi-function machines, this HP line seems fairly bullet-proof.

[Stimey]

I use the HP Photosmart C6180. Printer/fax/scanner/copier and each ink cartridge is separate so if you run out of one color, you only have to buy that one. It's pricy, but I don't know if it's more pricey than any other ink.

[TechMama]

http://sweetnicks.com/weblog/
Sweetnicks.com emailed me this suggestion:
"After seeing it on the Apprentice, I bought the Kodak multi-function printer (fax/printer/ copy/scan) . The unit itself is relatively inexpensive, but better still are the prices of the toner. Black ink is 9.99 and color is 13.99. Can't beat that, especially as compared to other toner prices. Hope this helps! (I got the printer and the toner from Amazon, who had the best price)"

[TechMama]

Stephanie sent me an email with this info:
"I duplicate alot of my artwork and quickly figured out that laser is best for that purpose and quality..
I love my HP 2550nl laserjet (2 years old) I think the multi function machines have the most bugs.."

http://www.svmoms.com/my_sv_life_stephanie/index.html

[TechMama]

http://www.svmoms.com/amy/index.html
Amy said:
" I would vote strongly for Canon!! I've used HP and Epson printers and Canon is, hands down, the best consumer printer manufacturer out there. I have the Pixma ip4200, bought 2 yrs ago and have never ever had any problems (except for the fact that my office is tiny and I backed my chair into the paper tray and cracked it....) user error! "