I am examining my various options for purchasing a new computer for my daughter as she heads off to college. I’ve created configurations for Gateway, Dell, and HP/Compaq computers. But my question isn’t about who I should buy from…
The Dell site offers Dell printers. My only experience has been with HP printers, which I’ve been happy with. The thought of a Dell branded printer makes me nervous.
Can anyone give me their experiences with Dell printers? Does anyone know who the actual manufacturor is?
PPS - The site says that the toner cartridges can only be purchased online from Dell. This seems like quite an inconvenience to me. I like simply heading out to Best Buy for replacement cartridges.
Dell printers are made by Lexmark. They’re as good as any other inkjet printer out there–you’ll get tired of buying the overpriced ink before the printer wears out.
I wouldn’t buy an all-in-one. Buy a better standalone scanner, and you’ll still have it if you ever decide to replace the printer.
If you don’t need color, laser printers are a much better value.
I work for a college computer lab. We have >350 machines and probably 20 printers. Our head of hardware recommends against them. He said Dell really doesn’t have the support structure built up on the printers, so if you have a problem, you’re SOL.
I Threw caution to the wind and ordered 4 Dell Laser Printers 9 weeks ago. Every few weeks they leave an automated voice mail stating:
“We still don’t have the products you ordered on order # such-n-such. If you don’t call our office at 800-Someting-or-Other within the next 2 days we will assume you wanted to cancel your order and will credit your account accordingly”
IMHO: a 10 week leadtime is unacceptable. The printers were paid for w/a company check and it’s too much of a hassle to cancel & buy elsewhere.
Before buying any printer check the price of the carts. Cause printers are cheap or next to free because they make up the money from expensive carts… do you really think that there is $30 worth of ink in that little cart?
Lexmark carts are more common, here is one printer, next to free:
"Lexmark i3 USB Color Inkjet 2400dpi printer $9.99 after $40 rebate.
$40 rebate Exp 7/31/03
Thanks for the responses everyone. I appreciate it. Based on your feedback, I think I’ll stick with something tried and true rather than take a chance on a Dell printer.
(BTW easy e, do you work at the UW computer lab? I ask only because Madison is where my daughter (with this new computer) is headed, and it’s where I graduated with my Computer Science degree far too many years ago.)
Yes, I work at the UW, though the lab is restricted to engineering students (or students taking engineering classes). If your daughter will be in engineering, I’d advise you to skip the printer. We give all students a 300 page quota each semester, and after that each page is .05. In the DoIT (campus-wide) labs, I believe pages are either .07 or $.10 each, and there’s no semester quota.
She’s not going to go into engineeringeasy e, so I guess she won’t be using your lab (although if the engineering students saw her they’d figure out a way to get around the restriction… she’s quite attractive… got my wife’s genes I guess.)
Regarding using the labs around campus for printing, she said she’d prefer to have a small printer in her dorm room. This was the advice from her older brother who is at Michigan State. He says it’s just a lot more convenient.
We don’t have Dell printers, but my corporation bought Dell computers. Based on the performance of the Dell computers in my department, I would recommend against their products (now don’t all of you Dell supporters start hurling eggs at me). I’ve had two Gateways at home and liked them both, especially since they have redesigned them to allow easier accessibility, cooler running, and easier hardware installation. Like you, I’ve had excellent luck with HP printers and recently purchased an HP Photosmart.
