Well, my trusty printer bit the big one, and I'm looking for a new one. I'd like something capable of a little better color printing than my old officejet, so does anyone have any recommendations as to a good printer for color in the less than $400 range? Speed isn't that important, since I rarely print long documents.

I have an HP all in one. I absolutely love it. It prints, faxes, scans and copies.

I think I bought it 6 years ago.  I ended up breaking a plastic piece while changing the ink cartridge. My fault entirely. It was still under warranty. They sent a courier to pick it up, fixed it and returned it to me at absolutely no cost, within 5 days!

Plus they have an online live chat that you can use if your machine is out of warranty. I've had to use it a couple of times, and they were very helpful.  My most recent problem involved some java error but that wasn't HP's fault. The java was removed from Windows installer due to copyright problems.

The printer also has a card slots. I've never used them. So I don't know really what they are for. Cameras maybe?

I'm an Epson guy myself.  HOWEVER, there is something that is very important that even I forget from time to time..   INK requirements.

For instance, regular Epson Printers, at least the ones I've had/bought lately (About 5+ or so, different models, work/home) won't print jack-squat if ANY of the ink cartridges are empty.  So, if Magenta is hosed you can't print a plain text black+white document without getting unauthorized drivers or somehow hosing up the PNP communications on purpose.

That may seem like a small thing but, I assure you, it's a big deal when cartridges run $18+, you're out, the closest supplier requires a trip through heavy traffic and just HAVE to get a quick one-page text printed out.  It's aggravating as all heck...  (Yeah, this happened to me yesterday.)

I will say that all of the printers I've purchased lately have large capacity black ink cartridge capability.  That's an improvement from just a few years ago when MFRs were getting on the "make money on ink instead of printers" bandwagon.  Now, they use drivers and heavy policing of third-party ink cartridge manufacturers for infringements on their proprietary cartridge/chip designs.

So, my advice:  Search deeply for a printer that has drivers which allow you to manually override and force black+white printing or faking b+w printing by using all color combinations.  Having a printer tell you "Nuh uh" when it has a full B+W ink reservoir sitting there is infuriating.  Most likely, I won't buy another Epson or any other model (Home) that relies on Printer drivers for corporate profits.

*Note: Currently, I'm using an Epson CX9400 fax/all-in-one at home FYI.  I'm happy with it other than its infuriating rebelliousness regarding being fed full ink cartridges it doesn't need... :)

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The printer also has a card slots. I've never used them. So I don't know really what they are for. Cameras maybe?

Yes.  Usually used for "Print from Memory Card" features.  But, it doesn't have to be a camera, just any memory card with self-contained documents like pictures which can be printed out directly.  Most multi-function printers today have that type of functionality and I suppose some people are happy just printing directly from cards instead of using editing software first.  Even then, some printers come with their own edit software.  Most will read&print from the card while using a small display for preview without having to be connected to a live computer as well.

Oh yeah! Cartridges!

The ones for my HP all in one are pretty pricey too. About $25.00 for black and white and $40.00 for colour..  But they can be bought  at any office supply store and even Wal-mart which is where I bought them the last time.

I think you can even take them in and get them refilled. I haven't done that though.

One other thing I forgot to mention about my printer. For some reason when one of the cartridges is empty I can't even send a fax...which so far as I know, doesn't require the use of ink on this end. But when a cartridge is empty all 4 lights on top flash and won't let you do anything with the printer unless you change the cartridge.

I bought a HP 'all-in-one' F380 a couple years ago.  Very good unit.
The driver can be switched to greyscale if the color cartridge is dry.
The cartridges (#21 and #22) are fairly cheap, available anywhere,
and I can refill them once or twice before they're totally gone.

I have an Epson Stylus Photo 1400, which can print up to 13" x 19" prints.  It has incredible color.  The big prints are great for renders and digital photos.  It cost $299.  The cartridges are not cheap.

heh..something I actually know about (I fix network printers for a livin'..;), just the wrong price range. All I've seen are the K5400s and the ...(seriously, HP is getting a few too many models lately...;) I've had to ship a few of the K's back, as they were under warranty (HP warranties are normally 1 year. They also usually last more than one year before breaking...;)

You might consider the work load you want to place on it. Unless you're doing serious work with it, it's not that likely you'll use more than 100pps/day.

The HP's have an 'e-chip', that tells the printer that you're using 'genuine' (i.e., spendy) cartridges. They can honk at you if you don't use them. You can use refills or 3rd-party versions, but HP will consider that invalidating the warranty. But seriously, if you treat them with a little care, they really don't break that often.

HP does all the inkjet repairs in-house; they have a cross-ship program where you get a box with a reconditioned unit, and you put the bad boy in the box, and they'll provide a tag to ship it back (usually UPS).
They've got all sorts of dull stuff on the hp.com site, so if you want 'speeds and feeds' (specs),
you can get it from there.

One thing I do recommend (regardless of what vendor you go with), is to type the model number into Google, and see what postings there are on it. There'll be reviews, gripes, and typical problem postings, so you can see if the unit will do what you want.

hope that helps.

Get one that will use a Continous ink supply system CISS, i have an Epson r265 and the software shows the cartridges emptying, when they get almost empty the chip resets and they show full, its done this 3 times yet my ink level in the bottles has only gone down 1mm, so either the cartridges are resetting quicker or ink cartridges come with very little ink.....I suspect the latter........Steve

Quote - I'm an Epson guy myself.  HOWEVER, there is something that is very important that even I forget from time to time..   INK requirements.

For instance, regular Epson Printers, at least the ones I've had/bought lately (About 5+ or so, different models, work/home) won't print jack-squat if ANY of the ink cartridges are empty.  So, if Magenta is hosed you can't print a plain text black+white document without getting unauthorized drivers or somehow hosing up the PNP communications on purpose.

*Note: Currently, I'm using an Epson CX9400 fax/all-in-one at home FYI.  I'm happy with it other than its infuriating rebelliousness regarding being fed full ink cartridges it doesn't need... :)

I'm using the Epson Stylus CX7000 Fax/Scanner/Copier/Printer and it prints just fine if one cartridge is empty. It nags the hell out of you but it prints.

Quote - I'm using the Epson Stylus CX7000 Fax/Scanner/Copier/Printer and it prints just fine if one cartridge is empty. It nags the hell out of you but it prints.

I wish I had taken a closer look before I bought my home unit.  I was in a hurry and just grabbed one off the shelf after my old one gave up the ghost.  But, I am happy with it.. when it has full ink.

Quote - Oh yeah! Cartridges!

The ones for my HP all in one are pretty pricey too. About $25.00 for black and white and $40.00 for colour..  But they can be bought  at any office supply store and even Wal-mart which is where I bought them the last time.

I think you can even take them in and get them refilled. I haven't done that though.

One other thing I forgot to mention about my printer. For some reason when one of the cartridges is empty I can't even send a fax...which so far as I know, doesn't require the use of ink on this end. But when a cartridge is empty all 4 lights on top flash and won't let you do anything with the printer unless you change the cartridge.

I've had terrible luck with the quality of ink that comes with refill kits.  I always seem to have problems with them.

There has to be a workaround for your fax component.  That's just nuts.  See if you have it set up to spit out a transmission report after every fax.  It could be hanging on that since it would try to print out a transmission report after a send/receive if its set up to do that.  Otherwise, there's no reason it should unless the mfr just decided to lock out everything when an ink cartridge is empty.. which, of course, could be what they did.

I'd check Transmission Report options first though.  Good luck!

I use an Epson R1800 myself. I'm quite pleased with it.

As far as ink is concerned, do NOT use ink made by non-Epson manufacturers in your Epson printer.

I learned after a couple of weeks of prints that were radically out of color range (greys becoming violet, pronounced magenta shift) that not all replacement cartridges are manufactured equally well.

But at present, I am very happy with my printer.

Quote - Well, my trusty printer bit the big one, and I'm looking for a new one. I'd like something capable of a little better color printing than my old officejet, so does anyone have any recommendations as to a good printer for color in the less than $400 range? Speed isn't that important, since I rarely print long documents.

I like my HP hardware wise, but the software.. well, I hate the software that comes with it.  It's constantly popping up dialog boxes about updating and checking and blah blah blah.

I get nagged more by my HP software than I ever did by my wife, so can't say as I'm a huge fan there.  My last printer was an Epson, it gave me years of reliable service, but finally replaced it when I could by a new all in one HP for what a refill of the old ink cartridges for the Epson would cost me.  Sad thing is the new printers are getting so cheap and the ink is so expensive that unless you buy a pretty high end printer you can darn near replace the printer for what it costs you to replace the ink.

But I digress - print quality wise I tihnk Epson or HP are the way to go, of the two I prefer epson's "minimal" approach to software, the drivers and a few extra utilities are available under the default install, but it doesn't seem to need to call home every 5 minutes like my HP system wants too.  HP went with more of the "your a moron who needs to have our software hold your hand through everything" approach on there software package, and it kind of irritates me.

I don't want to use there crappy scan software, I have photoshop for goodness sake.  Just give me a twain driver and shut the hell up - lol

But quality wise HP puts out great quality  prints and has all the bells and whistles you might need.  Guess it just sort of depends on what your looking for, personally I think I'll be going back to Epson after this one outlives it's useful life span.

If you go to versaink.com, when you buy the ink, you can get a free printer. What the deal s, if you spend more the a certain amount, you can get a free printer. They have different amounts and different quality printers. I have the basic, which I qualified for with just the purchase of the ink. It works very well. And it is magnetic in so if you want to print your own checks, you can. I mean, print the entire check including bank info and routing number etc.