help me make a choice of AIO printer

[XtremeMaC]

hi there

we've 4 computers in the house, since then I was using 1 pc for all scanning/printing purposes and when someone printed a document it'd go through the network and print from the MAIN pc(if its on). Now that computer is going to be changed with a laptop so there won't be a pc to connect the printer/scanner. so what I want to do is i want to get a network printer (all-in-one prefered) so that all the pc's that are connected to the network can easily print without having the need to connect their computers to the printer or without the need to turn on another computer to print a single document.

All 4 computers are (will be) connected to the LAN.

I don't really care if the aio printer has ability to read memory cards. but i'd like it to be able to print on cd's, though i anticipate aio's would have an option like that

epson: i've looked at epson it doesn't have a networked aio, it has 2 networked printers so i'm not sure if i want to go with that

hp: has 4-5 networked aio printers. they look nice.

lexmark: couldn't really understand, didn't have much time to look at them (not a good printer page they have, no price no nothing comparable...)

and I haven't yet looked at other brands.

my current printer: Hp deskjet 895cxi (which is a networked printer but i've to get "HP Jetdirect External Print Servers hardware" for it to be doing what i want it to do and its pretty expensive....$129 if I can find it.. instead of buying that i want to get a new aio since my scanner is so slow and my printer is pretty old.

now with these information and a price lower than $400, which brand and what model printer (aio) would u suggest me?

Edited October 21, 2004 by XtremeMaC

[zprog]

This may not seem much like advice, but I would have a dedicated always-on computer for these purposes, much like you had it. Since you probably have a reason behind why you don't want that, I am not into printers, so I can't help you.

Also, I think that there are some adapters on http://www.tigerdirect.com that allow wireless USB-printer printing. Here are some wired print servers if you don't want to run a dedicated PC.

[CoffeeFiend]

Personally, I wouldn't want to spend as much money as they want for a AIO inkjet. I'd rather change printer quite often. I just picked up a cheap 50$ epson with like 4x the resolution of my 2yo HP that costed 200$... The technology gets better too fast to want to stick to one for any amount of time. (If it was to do all over again, I'd get a cheap B&W laser instead) I'd avoid one that has printing heads being part of the printer too if I paid that much for one in case they clog up. Too much money to get it fixed, but printer is worth too much to want to get rid of it too.

As for the jetdirect, they're mostly meant for laser printers, not inkjets (unless the new ones have changed).

The only networked printer I've bought lately is a HP Business InkJet 2300n (well over 400$) and I couldn't see myself spend that kind of money on anything like that for home, and the print quality is already "just ok". In a year or 2, it will definately be sub par to 50$ cheap epsons...

[XtremeMaC]

I want to get an aio bc it has printer/scanner/fotocopier.

my current scanner is very slow the bigger ones scan faster and they can be used as fotocopy machines.

well my printer is pretty old and I don't change printers often.

i'm fine with the quality i don't need any higher.

last thing i'm going to change often is a printer. instead i change the cartidge. i'm not really a frequent photo-printing person.

never ever had the cloging u've mentioed. what i understand from your sentences is i think u print lots of picture containing stuff and therefor might be having those issues. but i just want to get an aio as I've stated b4.

tigerdirect seems to have nice networking stuff, i'll look into that more. thanks.

so does anyone have any suggestions on which AIO to buy?

[CoffeeFiend]

I mean clogging as the epsons with the print heads being part of the printer itself instead of the print cartridges. I had a 450$ printers die within a year like that once... Wasn't laughing when they told me it was 300$ to fix it. It's not from printing photos (actually, I'm a lot into photography - but I don't print them myself - I send it all to a pro lab). It's coming from NOT using it and the ink drying into the print heads...

It looks like you really want a AIO anyways, so sure... If I was going to get one, I'd probably pick an HP. I'm not sure if they got a networked one for that price mind you. The PSC 2710 seems to be along the lines of what you want and within the price range but it only has wireless networking. I'm not sure if you will find a networked one within that price (you might if you look hard enough) There are new print servers that do work with inkjets (seen many for like 50$) but I doubt it would work with a AIO for scanning and such.