I am looking to buy a CHEAP inkjet printer for a family member. I am looking for a simple, color printer. No fancy screens, and doesn't even need a card reader. An older/ used printer would even be fine.
I mostly want input on which printers have the cheapest ink, and the ones which conserve it the best, or will sit along time without being used, but wont dry up.
With the printer she has now, she doesn't print for weeks, and then the cartridges dry up, and cost $25....

Off my own knowledge, Lexmark printers suck because they dry up in a week or two, and are expensive to refill.
Epson has decently priced cartridges, and they have pressurized ink cartridges, and I haven't had one dry up yet.

THANK YA!

Lexmark sucks and the lower HPs have always jammed on me and have a few other quirks. I'd go with one of my two favorites: Canon or Epson. Both have options with separate ink tanks, which doesn't then waste two tanks of ink whenever one is empty and out of those two, I think that Epson cartridges are cheaper, but don't quote me on that (I've got a Canon MP500).

peace

I have had the same $50 Lexmark since my Sophomore year of high school (coming up on 5 years).

But most lexmarks are shit.

I had a Compaq that lasted ~4 years that was ~60. I just bought an HP to replace it for ~70 and it looks as though it'll last me another 5ish years. Good quality, all-in-one, etc.

Buy a cheap laser printer. You can usually find them for around $50 and they'll last a few years. When they run out of toner, toss it and get a new one. They're faster than inkjets and in my experience you don't need color very often. If you do, just find a lab/clc that has a color printer and do it there.

EDIT: mkay.. need to read the top post before replying.

I had a cannon all in one that stopped printing. It "thinks" it is printing because the page goes through and it makes a lot of noise, but the ink doesn't come out. Tried changing the ink carts and that didn't do anything. Too lazy to fix the clog. Scanner part was nice though.

My parents have an Epson that's a piece of junk. It's always jamming up and sometimes it just doesn't want to print. I had a Canon that lasted a good 4 or 5 years but the print quality suddenly went to shit and cleaning it didn't help it. But while it worked, it worked great. Seems like 4-5 years is the lifespan of an inkjet anyways.

Awesome. Thanks for the inputs.