"Nick" wrote in message
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Well, thanks guys - seems like I can clean it if I have time to spare but
it won't last long -
Yes I have run nearly a whole catridge through on cleaning cycles and no
real difference, so I'll try the stage three clean on one of the above and
start looking for a new HP.
Any recommendations for current HPs ? Budget around £75 for a colour
inkjet only ( don't need / want scanner / copier built in, as have those
devices - really only for occasional photos and it would be good if it ran
on non-original ink but not really bothered as used so little.

Thanks,

Nick


My daughter has a lovely little HP for photo printing. Couldn't tell you the
model off hand, but she bought it in Waitrose (John Lewis) and it wasn't
expensive. Has all the card slots etc. Only about the size of a toaster. I
think you can also print A4 on it, but you might have to hand feed it to do
that, not sure. As far as inks go, I know a lot of people swear by the
non-proprietry cheapos, or refils, but I have a couple of friends, one of
whom is a professional photographer, who will not use them, having had
serious problems in the past. AFAIK, all HP cartridges have the print head
built in, which is why they are a little more expensive, but at least it
means that if you should get a (very rare) clog that you can't clear, the
printer is not landfill. Personally, just to know that I am getting brand
new heads with manufacturer's specced ink behind them, is enough to keep me
buying originals. HP themselves do some good 'shop online' deals, and often
the likes of Staples and so on, have HP ink deals on the go.

One thing to note about HPs that I think a lot of other printers like Epsons
don't do, is that they go 'properly' to sleep when you leave them powered
i.e. after a period of time, the heads 'park' over the sealer. I always
leave my printer powered as I can't be doing waiting for half an hour as it
boots, then self tests, then establishes contact with the host computer,
then purges its inklines and so on. When I hit print, I want it to just wake
up and print, preferably some time in the next 30 seconds. Both the Epsons
that I had used to just power down with the heads left exactly where they
last were, which I believe is a contributory factor to them drying out and
clogging.

One other thing to note when choosing a new one. If you have a network with
more than one computer on it, several of the HP all-in-ones, and possibly
the printer-only types as well, are 'proper' network printers i.e. they have
an Ethernet port on them as well as a USB interface. This means that you can
just plug it into your hub or router or whatever, and it will be seen as
just another network node. Then, any computer on the network can make use of
it, without the need for any other computer to be on, as is otherwise the
case when a printer is 'shared' to a network via a host computer. For this
reason alone, it might be worth considering an all-in-one - even though you
don't think you want one -where the scanner is likewise fully networked
(when you scan via the front panel buttons, a menu comes up listing all of
the nodes that are available on the network, and asks you where you would
like to send the scan) and also for the fact that you get a very good
monochrome or colour photocopier that can also be used for Faxing. It's
amazing how often you find yourself using it as a photocopier ...

My 5180 (not the current model I think as a couple of years old now) was
only around the budget that you have, and the prices haven't changed much.
The likes of PC World are having a hard time of it at the moment. If I were
you, I'd get myself down there, and see what sorts of deals there are to be
had.

Arfa