Good CHEAP all in one printer for R/C use?
 

Like everyone else I've learned that once I run out of printer ink it's not all that much more expensive to just buy a new printer. What I've found lately is that when I scan parts or plan sections they never print at 100% original size from an AIO printer. This has been on the last 4 all in one printers I've bought regardless of adjustments I've made in the setup section. Kodak being the absolute worst piece of crap that I ever wasted a single penny on!!! I had an all in one a few years and many printers back that I could scale prints up and down from with great accuracy. For the life of me I can't remember what brand or model it was. I now have a dirt cheap HP Deskjet 2050 AIO that works OK for day to day printing but is worthless for scanning and printing resized scans.

Driving to FedEx Office all the time to have plans printed or resized is a P.I.T.A. and expensive. I'd rather be able to scan and print small plan sections at the adjusted size I want at home. I'm not going to spend a ton of money on a printer again. I'd just like to hear what brand/model printers others are using successfully to scan AND print at adjusted sizes accurately. The AIO printer that I can't remember let me print out scans of the Mountain Models SwitchBack critical parts so accurate I that could build a PERFECT 75% scale version of the original kit. I have several out of production kits that I want to scan and make templates of the parts and keep the original kits complete. Gotta get a reliable and ACCURATE AIO printer again first. What do you guys suggest? Just remember the key word......CHEAP!!!!

Joe

I use Brother printers for 8 1/2 X 11 paper and an Epson 1520 for 15 inch continuos fanfold. AutoCAD has a printer calibration routine to assure accuracy. Dan.

I have 3 different printers, they never print 100% I always have to change them up or down a % or two. I have a large format network printer, at prints at about 97%. My Epson 845 prints at 101%.

That is why I like plans with the scale I can measure.

Buzz.

"I have 3 different printers, they never print 100% I always have to change them up or down a % or two. I have a large format network printer, at prints at about 97%. My Epson 845 prints at 101%."

Once upon a time, I was told that it was intentional, to make counterfeiting money difficult.

Les

Now that Epson pops up I'm pretty sure that's the brand I got the most resize success with. It just ate ink like it was free! Cartridges didn't last at all. Is Epson better about that now?

The HP that I have now can't resize anything. The Kodak was cheap to buy and the ink was cheap but the ink cartridges held almost nothing. Not cheap in the end!

Joe

I always found that laser printers GENERALLY print closer to accurately sized than I get from inkjets. It may be worth looking at a laser AIO option. A bit more money up front but possibly more rewarding and cheaper in the end.

Do shop for the cartridges first before you buy. But another nice option is that it seems to be easier and more reliable to load your own or buy refilled toner cartridges than it is to buy inkjet cartridges on a cost per page in the long run.

Of course this means you won't have colour unless you spend a LOT of money. But perhaps you can have two printers. A cheapie colour inkjet for pictures and colour printing and a laser for accurate plans.

I'm also a fan of laser printers that can handle 11x17 paper since this means less joining to produce my plans in "stripes" of paper. Tile printing is fine but it's hugely messy. I find it's much neater and more compact and convenient to split up the plans into "stripes" that have each major assembly able to print out in one row of sheets. It uses a lot less toner or ink as well.

Sorry that I don't have any model numbers to give you. My printers are all ancient in computer years. They've been replaced in the makers' lineups by two or three or more generations of models in the time I've owned them.

Hopefully some folks supply some current models and you get to buy one before those too are replaced.... :D

turbo,
I read in one of the financial news that HP makes half their profit from their inkjet printer ink cartridge sales. Now that’s quite a percent for a company that size. I’m sure they are not the only manufacturer with that kind of profit. That’s why something as complex as a printer is so cheap. As soon as they sell one they know they got you by the BLEEP.

"I read in one of the financial news that HP makes half their profit from their inkjet printer ink cartridge sales. "

Sounds just like Epson. You can buy a printer for about the same amount as you would pay to buy a whole new set of ink cartridges.

Les

I recently got an Hp 7610 AIO to replace my old hp1220 which finally bit the dust.
The 7610 prints up 13x19, copies and SCANS a full 11x17 (flat bed). Currently available
on sale from HP Direct for $180 and free shipping.

I made up an 10x16 rectangle w/ diagonal test drawing from my arch. cad program and printed it at 100%
selecting the Tabloid narrow margin sheet size, All lines measured @100% (Within the 010" limits that my eyes can still resolve).

The caveat is that any re-sizing is done before hand using a cad program or a graphics program such as Photoshop Elements,
then printing the sized file at 100% . I don't trust any printer driver/software to re-size anything where accuracy is needed.
I can accurately re-size an image right down to .001% with my cad program. Try that with printer software.
If one does not have access to a good cad program, Draftsite, an acad work alike can be downloaded for free, with
very little effort required to learn how to resize and print imported bitmap and dxf/dwg files.

GeneH

One reason I went with the epson is I can get just the one color I need. With the plans I print, I use a lot of black so I can replace just that color. I picked the printer up on sale for $80.00 at Staples.

http://www.amazon.com/Remanufactured...=epson+845+ink

http://www.amazon.com/Toner-Clinic-R...=epson+845+ink

http://www.amazon.com/Compatible-Sty...=epson+845+ink

Or if you want the Epson brand

http://www.staples.com/Epson-126-Bla...product_365519

I used to use a Photsmart HP printer. I use it only with photo paper now because of the cost of ink.

If I know the length of a part and I am printing it as pieces, I will print the one page and see if I have to go up or down to get the right size.


Buzz.

I gave up on the inkjet printers after my trusty Cannon 5000 (did 11x17's) would no longer work on win 98.
B&W Lasers are Cheap $75, for a Brother.
But, with lasers as with inkjets, they come OEM with tester cartridges/toner fills So one needs buy replacements, real soon.
Toner cartridges are from $35 to 75$ dependant on store (costco was the $35)
Lasers also have a Fuser Drum (melts the Finely ground up black Plastic 'toner' onto the p[aper) which can(?) last through 3 toner carts, not more though.
But it's worth more (sometimes 2x) the purchase price of a new complete laser machine.. assuming that one could even source such an instantly obsolete part.
Been lusting over a Colour laser for printing 'skins' for my models. But a colour laser costs $150+ not too bad actually.
But typically a set of Fully Filled toner carts runs to $400 and given the teaser contents of the oem setup those will be needed within a very short time.
Turning the contraption into a $550/600 purchase.
Not much joy to be had in most directions it seems.
The $5/8 an OCE printed sheet that the Blueprint shop charges seems as less of a rip :-)

Just went and looked at the HP 7610 .. Seems great ...
Then I saw the ink pricings ~$60 a refill! ($32 for the black $16 for each tone ) Bit of a saving if bought as a package,
So that HP is actually $240 to be usable.. for a while :-)
Lasers seem as a Bargain price

Until I got a used plotter I was using a wide carriage dot matrix printer. A little slow but since it used fanfold paper I could print out a plan 14in wide by as long as I wanted,

I agree with Gene that you need to use CAD software or Photoshop and scale the plans before you send it to the printer. Don't use the scaling feature of the printer driver.

The reason that inkjets have trouble is the the print head is configured in a non-proportional manner e.g. 300 x 600, 600 x 1200. At 100% scaling most will work pretty well, Its when you use the print driver software to scale the plan that everything gets skewed.

Dot matrix print heads are mostly configured in a 180x180 or 360x360 matrix that allows for better scaling using the printer driver software. But it is best to use the CAD software or photoshop to scale plans then send a 100% or a 1 to 1 scale of it to the print driver.

Since laser printers don't use a print head but instead the laser light you can get almost perfect scaling in any direction.

I was able to get a wide carriage dot matrix printer off ebay for $25 plus $25 shipping. OKI is the best with Epson being my second choice.

Bryan

Samsung SCX-3405W laser printer, and I will never look back. Got it last boxing day. Wireless too. I have not measured 100% but darn close enough for me. The included cartridge said it was good for 'x' number of sheets, but with me printing line drawings, I am confident it will last much longer. I honestly think it reads sheets of paper used, not weight or amount of toner. Oh yeah, it is just black and white though. Another plus for laser is that your ink will not dry up in the printer. If I did not use my last HP bi-weekly, the cartridge would dry up, then I would have to clean, etc. It has never happend to me yet, but I was told if a laser does not print, remove the cartridge than give it a gentle roll in all directions, insert and print.

The Samsung is a great price. $99.00 at Walmart, free shipping and if I get their scam interest credit card (pay it off before the bill comes) I get another $25.00 off. Not a bad deal. Now will it enlarge scans? Say scan a wing rib and enlarge and print it at 150% ? I wish I could remember for certain what printer I had that I could do that on.

Joe

I cannot honestly tell you that as I am not that complicated... Most of my plans are on my computer and I just enlarge them as necessary before printing. You can click the link to it and look under 'COPY', as it mentions zoom rates. Sorry as I do not really know much about this stuff besides turning on and printing.

http://www.samsung.com/ca/consumer/o...3405W/XAA-spec

If you're looking for an AIO just for enlarging plans e.g. using the scanner/printer driver to scale I don't think you're going to happy with the results.

I find that the best results are scan at 100% into a graphics application then use the graphics software to scale up or down. As an example if you scan a model magazine plan don't use the scanner/printer driver to enlarge it. Instead use the highest dpi you can tolerate vs time. What I mean by that is scan the mag page at 800dpi or 1600dpi at 100% no scaling.

At 1600dpi the scan could take 10 to 15 mins depending on the model used. This is the best way as you use the graphics software to enlarge and at the same time you reduce the image down to 400dpi. This method keeps the scanned lines from getting really fat.

IMO you will be much more satisfied with the results if you use the method above. My latest AIO was an HP inkjet it worked great until the ink build up from cleaning the heads built up to the point where the dried ink interfered with some of the moving parts causing a jam.

The Samsung sounds like a really good deal if it's a Laser. Just remember to use a graphics app to scale up or down not the scanner/printer driver software.