Expert: Bobbert - 9/16/2009

Question
I have an Epson CX6000 printer that cost approx $100 a couple yrs ago and has been a very good printer until recently. When I print photos, they come out with faded vertical lines. I've done everything the manual suggest, including alignment and cleaning. Since home PC printers are practically throwaways (and we pay mostly for ink), I've decided to just replace the printer. What do you think is the best all-in-one printer (no fax needed) for $100-200? My first priority is photo printing, then basic document printing, occasional scanning and copying. Thanks for your time.

Answer
Honestly, Epson is likely to give you the best picture quality, although for general economy, I would look at HP's new OfficeJet series, which are advertising exceptional page yields (somewhere in the 400-1600 pages per cartridge, depending on model) and relatively low ink costs.
Regarding the HP options:
Something in this product line:
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/18972-18972-238444-12019-3328086-3...

or this product line:
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF25a/18972-18972-238444-12019-3328086-3...

As far as Epson goes, most of their MFCs are behind their general inkjets for picture quality (at least the last time I dealt with an Epson printer this was mostly true), and ink prices are universally quite high, although the image quality is considerably better than comparable units from HP, Lexmark, or Canon, at least in my experience.

-bob