My Lexmark X85 died and I need to get a new one....any recommendations? I was looking
at these brands:
Lexmark
Epson
Brother
Cannon
HP

It's for my home...I am unsure about what "ppm" means and if a higher ppm is a clearer copy or a lower ppm is... and "dpi" is 4800 average or the higher the number the better copy?

I so don't know anything about this. I bought this Lexmark because it was my first computer & printer in my life. It lasted about 6 years - that's good right? Nothing is stuck in it, but the paper won't roll through it correctly - I guess the rollers are shot.

I also have a size issue....it has to fit into a niche in my computer desk (desk pre-dates "towers" so it can't be higher than 12", wider than 20" nor deeper than 15"). I guess I can put a board on it to extend it more than 15" if I have to.

I really like HP.

ppm is pages per minute that your printer can print. Printers often have two ppms: a slower ppm if you're printing color and a faster one for black and white. You'll pay more for a higher ppm (i.e. faster printer), so consider the length of the documents you're printing and how fast you need it. If you can wait 30 seconds for your document to print, a lower ppm is a good way to save money without sacrificing print quality.

dpi is dots per inch, so it's how close your printer puts ink dots on the page. A higher dpi will result in higher quality printing. With a lower dpi you may start to see the dots rather than having them all blend together (think regular TV where you can see the pixels if you look closely versus high definition where you won't see any pixels). A higher dpi will cost more and will use more ink so consider if you need top-quality looking printing (which might be necessary if you're going to be making copies of a printout) or if it's just for your own use. One thing to note is that there is a setting in most printer software where you can print in lower quality to save ink and then select higher quality for the few times when you do need it.

I'd also look at ink price and how many sheets can be printed per ink cartridge to get a feel of the cost to keep the thing running.

I love HP. My first computer was an HP, I bought an HP printer (just a cheapie college one), and I now have an HP laptop. I've used two canon printers and disliked both partially because the paper-feed wasn't so good and they ate ink, but these were also pretty cheap printers. I also dont' like Lexmark, but I can't tell you why. It's more of a feeling. You could say I'm brand-loyal

My first computer was also an HP and now I just purchased my 2nd HP lap top. I got a lifetime out of the 1st, purchased it a few years ago and used it practically 24:7.
I once had a lexmark printer, wasn't too bad, but at work we only have HP printers, and I love mine. It takes up a lot of room on my desk but it is fast!!!

It is an HP Color Laser Jet 3800.

kbtoyssni gave you alot of great information!

I love HP printers, if it's for home you probally only need an ink jet unless you make lots of printouts. Laser are more buiness level, most homes can use ink jet fine. I reccomend the HP's because when you change the ink cartidge, you get a new print head. I have found with other companies that don't replace the print head, you have problems with needing to clean them often and they get blocked.

I would reccomend to stay away from Epson, and Cannons. In my experince, they are tempermental go though quite a bit of ink, and are more hassle than they are worth.

Thank you guys! I am going shopping on Saturday at Staples

I am not knowledgable about computers nor printers and I am going to try to install it myself. I had the computer tech install it the first time. I didn't get my first computer at home until just 5 years ago about.

most of the time with scanners, you need to install the software first, then hook up the scanner. I'm not sure if that would be the same with that. I know HP is usally really good with step by step instructions!

We recently got a new printer to replace our ancient HP Ink Jet, it's paper feeder finally gave up the ghost. We did some looking at color laser printers, figuring the kids would need it for school projects, but the prices were outrageous. One of the workers at Best Buy suggested we check out All in one Photo Inkjet printers. We started comparing print qualities and decided that the HP C6180 was perfect for us. It's print quality was great and not all that far behind laser printer quality. The cartridges cost a whole lot less than laser too. HP's and Epson's both seem to last well.

OH i just realized something else you'll have to think about. . there are three types of connections to your computer for printers. The old Serial port style ones, USB, and Network. Most printers are just USB nowadays.

Then I will take my laptop with me when I go shopping to make sure I have the correct typeof port.

I have the C6180 too. It works fine, it's fast and the print quality is good. But there is one piece of information that you should know that I had to find out the hard way. I was advised at the store when I bought the machine to buy the HP Photo Value Pack which has all 6 of the new "02" ink cartridges in one pack along with some 4X6 photo paper sheets that I assumed were free additions. The Value Pack costs only roughly $35 compared to about $65 when bought separately. Being the skeptic I am, I wondered what the catch was, so I called HP. They spoke English very poorly, kept trying to sell me cartridges online and were having a terrible time getting the drift of my question. But in spite of the language barrier, I was eventually told that it was just a great deal because they were trying to promote the new type of cartridges. They said the Value Packs were only going to be offered temporarily because they were such a great deal and that I should take advantage of it while it lasted. So I started buying the value packs.

Soon we noticed that we seemed to be going through cartridges like water. We even regretted buying the machine for a time because we thought it was a design flaw. Recently, I went to buy more cartridges at WalMart. I complained a little to the guy there and he said we needed to call HP again. He had the same language issues, but was able to get this very important information out of them. The value pack cartridges are only PARTIALLY filled instead of fully filled like the individual ones are. The amounts are not stated on the Value box for you to know that, but if you read the box carefully you will see that the pack itself is meant to print ONLY 150 photos. No wonder we were running out so fast! I was paying for photo paper I never used and getting a few drops of ink per cartridge.

So the cartridges DO last a reasonable amount of time when you buy them all separately. I'm not sure it is any big savings over the old style of cartridges, but I learned a good lesson. The first people I spoke to didn't have the answer to my question and just made something up that sounded good.

It's a great machine. I like its performance. But don't buy the Value Packs unless you need photo paper really badly!

wow! Thanks all for advice.