I'm looking for a new all-in-one with a budget of about $200. Scan/copy and print legal-size is a must. Legal-size glass is much preferred. Large-format (11x17) would be a big plus, but not absolutely essential. Excellent print quality is. I also want reliability and a company that will stand behind their product. I looked at three printers at OM and made a test copy on each:
Epson WF-7510, $250 on sale for $180: Copy quality was about equal to the HP. The Epson copy had crisper detail and better saturation, but didn't reproduce colors as well as the HP. It can copy/scan to 11x17, and print to 13x19. It looks huge, but the footprint was actually not much bigger (effectively) than the HP.
HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus, $300 on sale for $230: Not a serious consideration because I have three dead HP's at home, but print quality is excellent for comparison. All of mine started giving trouble within months after warranty expiration, then they won't lift a finger to help. This one has legal-size glass in scanner. Prints letter/legal.
Brother MFC-J4510DW, $200 on sale for $170: Scan/copy to legal-size, but glass is letter-size. Prints up to 11x17. Copy detail almost equal to the HP. Saturation about same as the HP. Colors were slightly off. Lightweight and very small footprint.
Are Epson printers more reliable than HP? What about customer service? Do the Epson cartridges expire? Can I refill them? How does print mileage compare? Do the Epson or Brother include a "color calibration" feature?
Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide to help in my decision.
