any input? i'm in the market for an inexpensive printer. thanks

Yeah, avoid Epson.

I got this recently. It's not bad, but like most other inkjets, OEM inks are expensive. The one big feature I wish it had is ethernet or 802.11g wireless. There are some printers in the $150-200 range that do this for both the printing and scanning.

For Gorgula: Epson was recently offering a $70 rebate on these CX printers if purchased with a digital camera - and the cheapo little keychain models sufficed for that - so I bought a CX7400 for a total of around $17. (The CX8400 is in the same series, uses the same ink and has only minor differences in its specs.) I figured $17 is about what I'd spend on ink refills alone, and I could probably sell the printer for at least that price if I didn't like it.

I've now had the thing for a couple of months, and I can say that it's fine for a $17 printer, but I would've been unhappy to have paid a lot more for it. Like many reviews say, it seems to use an inordinate amount of ink, and the output quality isn't stellar. In fact, not long after I got it, I began to see streaks in graphics and in text. (A head cleaning would probably fix these, but I don't need perfection and decided not to waste the ink.) From what I've read, it sounds like the Canon Pixma series does a better job for a similar (retail) price, although some photo enthusiasts say Epsons are worthwhile if you want to print a lot of pictures.

One other downside to the Epson is the difficulty of finding third-party refill cartridges if you don't want to spend the money for genuine DURABrite ink. I was finally able to locate several vendors on eBay, although I haven't yet tried the cartridges I ended up buying. (I'd strongly caution anyone thinking about going this route to verify with the seller that the ink will work with recently manufactured Epsons. Apparently, the company has tinkered with the chip, so you have to be sure what you're purchasing will be usable - or that it's returnable if it isn't.)

While I don't regret my $17 purchase - how could I? - I'm keeping an eye out for a good deal on a Canon Pixma or... [Truncated]

MuchoTumbao: Thanks for all the input. i have had an epson in the past and the ink is a bit of a problem. I don't know your situation but, it would be worthwhile to check if you have a Cartridge World near you http://www.cartridgeworldusa.com/ instead of going to ebay. i have had good experiences with them.

Hi, Gorgula - Thanks very much for your thoughts. Yes, they do have Cartridge World stores around here, although I've never tried them out. But I've heard others say good things about them, and I believe Consumer Reports (or was it PC Magazine?) also had a favorable review.

With "cheap" being my operative word when it comes to ink, I've stuck with eBay because the cartridges there are only about a quarter of what they'd cost from the manufacturer, while those at CW are about half. Although, as I said, I haven't yet used the ones I just bought for the CX7400, I've had good luck with others. I think the trick is to look only at high-volume sellers with very strong feedback scores and then to do a search in that feedback for people's experiences with the particular cartridge you're buying.