response 100 of 139:

Feb 26 20:51 UTC 2006

 First, re-evaluate your assumption that an inkjet is cheaper based on
 how much you expect to print.  If you shop carefully many laser printers
 can be had for under $100, and many under $200.  Their cost per printed
 page is usually *much* lower than inkjets, so if you intent to print
 regularly and really only want black & white you should probably select
 a laser printer.

 That said, if you go inkjet, be forewarned that the inkjet market has
 changed remarkably in the past 5-10 years.  It used to be that Hewlett-
 Packard was the gold standard of printer reliability and compatibility
 but they abandoned that some years back to concentrate on maximizing
 their revenue from the printer division at the expense of reliability
 and customer convenience.  I wouldn't buy one of their inkjets these
 days and if you choose one you'll certainly have difficulty refilling
 ink cartridges as one of the few technological innovations HP has 
 introduced in recent years is circuitry in the cartridges that allows
 the printer to detect when the ink level has risen in a particular
 cartridge and then refuse to print using that cartridge again.

 I have a Canon inkjet that I use occasionally for running off quick
 and not-intended-to-last photo prints to send to friends and family.
 It works well, but I'm not an especially demanding customer so I'm
 not sure I can say much more about it than that.

 My understanding is that at the current time Epson printers are the
 most refill friendly of the recent brands and they're reasonably well
 thought of.  I'd probably steer you in that direction, but if refillability
 is your goal why not ask Steve Whipple (login id charcat) who works
 for a business in Ann Arbor that refills inkjet printer cartridges?