Advice on a new mid-format printer

[StephenJ]

I have a limited budget and was looking at purchasing an inkjet printer that produces up to 13x19 prints. It is mainly for half size check prints of CD's and other drawing files associated with a project. I might occasionally print a photo but that isn't its main purpose.

I have looked and researched a few options but have greatly varying reviews on all the printers this size within my budget. I am not expecting a high end printer so I can sacrifice a little quality. Mu budget is under $300.00 USD.

The printers I have found with the most reviews and info are:

HP OfficeJet 7000
HP OfficeJet K8600
HP PhotoSmart B8550
Epson Stylus 1400

Does anyone use any of these printers? if so, how would you rate it?
Do you have any other suggestions with in my budget? how would you rate it?
Any issues with any of these printers?
Does the ink cost and arm and a leg? Does the color dry up if not used?...

Basically any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Railrose]

I believe the B8550 is the "replacement" for the 9800 that I have. My 9800 is a workhorse.

I've always had good luck with HP printers, & won't buy anything else. I have fewer issues with drivers, when it comes to computer upgrades.

I print a lot of images, & can get quite a bit of mileage from the cartridges. I can't vouch for particular models, but a friend had an Epson, & it used more ink than a comparable HP.

I don't go through a lot of ink, and normally don't have trouble with the cartridges drying out on me. If I catch one starting to dry, I'll take it out & clean the jets with alcohol on a paper towel.

Hope there's something in this that you can use.

[cadtag]

before you invest, make sure the vendor already has win7 drivers out. Even if you're on XP today, you'll likely be on a newer OS before the printer wears out, and it's highly aggravating for the vendor to not care enough to provide updated drivers. I've got a fully working DesignJet 450, 24" roll, monochome plotter -- except I can't print to it from Win7 so it's not usable moving forward.

FWIW -I do have a B8300 at home, and it's been highly reliable. no problems with ink cartridges drying

[StephenJ]

before you invest, make sure the vendor already has win7 drivers out. Even if you're on XP today, you'll likely be on a newer OS before the printer wears out, and it's highly aggravating for the vendor to not care enough to provide updated drivers. I've got a fully working DesignJet 450, 24" roll, monochome plotter -- except I can't print to it from Win7 so it's not usable moving forward.

FWIW -I do have a B8300 at home, and it's been highly reliable. no problems with ink cartridges drying

Have you thought of taking an old computer and putting a compatible OS on it and making it your ad-hoc print server?

[cadtag]

AFAIK. if you're going to print from Win7, you still need a driver for that OS. My old pc that still has a parallel port is running linux, and I have yet to dive into CUPS or Samba to get network printing going.