I Hate Printers

Author	Post
jayo All-Star Member 2117 Posts 7/04	Posted - Jun 14 2008 : 10:22PM Actually deskjets. At work I have a Laserjet and print tons to it, but my home deskjets get light duty but never seem to last. I've had bad experiences with both HP and Epson. And it's not like I'm doing exotic stuff. I just want something that feeds properly and doesn't make a mess out of simple printouts. Anyone have printer brands/makes they particularly like? [Link]
blowfish Member 874 Posts 1/08	Posted - Jun 14 2008 : 11:17PM You can not buy a $50 printer and expect it to last. Edited by - blowfish on 6/15/2008 6:16:37 AM [Link]
Bill All-Star Member 5334 Posts 6/00	Posted - Jun 15 2008 : 12:27AM When a low end printer costs less than it costs to refill the ink (using the manufacturer's ink) and it comes with ink cartridges, I really don't worry about how long it lasts (other than it causing me to needlessly throw it into a landfill). [Link]
blowfish Member 874 Posts 1/08	Posted - Jun 15 2008 : 6:14AM Bill wrote: When a low end printer costs less than it costs to refill the ink (using the manufacturer's ink) and it comes with ink cartridges, I really don't worry about how long it lasts (other than it causing me to needlessly throw it into a landfill). Click to expand Yeah, I wish my wife would learn that. She buys a new printer every six months to a year. [Link]
Drew Black broken crankshaft 8009 Posts 9/99	Posted - Jun 15 2008 : 9:26AM I bought an inkjet printer once. Never again other than those specialized ones for doing photos or poster-sized prints. [Link]

jayo All-Star Member 2117 Posts 7/04	Posted - Jun 15 2008 : 1:24PM blowfish wrote: You can not buy a $50 printer and expect it to last. Click to expand This last wasn't, actually. [Link]
RandomPrecision Senior Member Enjoy! 8175 Posts 3/06	Posted - Jun 15 2008 : 2:42PM I just bought an HP recently. I don't really care about having a printer but it's nice to have one to print really good stuff. I feel the HP cartridges are not terribly expensive. They could be if you do a lot of printing. I mostly print text so I just buy the #54 black cartridges and they last a while. I think the cartridges would be more affordable if more people just bit the bullet and bought them instead of trying to perpetually refill. I understand. It's insanely expensive. Especially if you print a lot. Manufacturers have no sympathy for consumers trying to save money. Especially when they feel the money saved could have gone into their pockets. Anyway. I like the HP. I don't know how long it will last but it feeds fine, prints more than acceptable text and makes decent scans. I wish I didn't have to buy ink but I guess we're screwed until something better comes along. Even laser printers require cartridges. They may last longer but the initial outlay is very costly and most people probably don't want to spend an extra $70 so they can have a backup toner cartridge just laying around. I don't hate printers. I hate the fact that the technology hasn't moved faster. [Link]
Zoid Senior Member Boobies and Anal 2004 Posts 5/04	Posted - Jun 15 2008 : 8:21PM I also bought el-cheapo inkjet 2in1 printer not so long ago. Epson. So far it's working pretty well, only it's loud as hell. [Link]
RandomPrecision Senior Member Enjoy! 8175 Posts 3/06	Posted - Jun 15 2008 : 10:04PM Zoid wrote: only it's loud as hell. Click to expand Printers have always been loud. You should have heard the first dot matrix printer I had. But one of it's many virtues was that it was free (I pulled it out of a dumpster at the community college I was attending at the time) and I had a big supply of ribbons for it that I bought for almost nothing at a garage sale. It had a few problems printing, which is I guess why they threw it out but it was probably the best printer for text I ever had. I think you have to quantify that statement somehow when it comes to something like a printer. How loud is it? What is a quiet printer? How quiet is it? Mine isn't quiet but it doesn't sound like a chainsaw or even a blender. On that scale, it's pretty quiet. If it's printing, I know it's printing but other than that, I won't go deaf. Edited by - randomprecision on 6/15/2008 10:06:26 PM [Link]
Zoid Senior Member Boobies and Anal 2004 Posts 5/04	Posted - Jun 15 2008 : 10:39PM RandomPrecision wrote: I think you have to quantify that statement somehow when it comes to something like a printer. How loud is it? Click to expand It is louder than the Epson I had before this one. My old Epson Stylus Photo (which served me quite well for about 6 years, btw) was making sort of like a buzz when it was printing. This one makes the same type of buzz when it's scanning, but when it's printing, well..eh...I don't know what to compare it to, but it's just louder. Not a big deal of course, considering it was a $70 printer. [Link]
jayo All-Star Member 2117 Posts 7/04	Posted - Jun 15 2008 : 11:26PM Printers have always been loud. You should have heard the first dot matrix printer I had. Click to expand Well, we had it tough. My first printer was a converted typewriter. Printed letter-quality (at a time when almost nothing else did), but it sounded like A VERY LOUD ELECTRIC TYPEWRITER going at about 100 wpm. Nothing compared to that beast. Edited by - jayo on 6/16/2008 12:22:30 AM [Link]
the unknown pervert Deactivated User I'd like to stay but I've got a plane to catch. 3243 Posts 5/06	Posted - Jun 16 2008 : 1:24AM RandomPrecision wrote: Manufacturers have no sympathy for consumers trying to save money. Especially when they feel the money saved could have gone into their pockets. Click to expand They don't hit you with the printer, they hit you with the cost of the ink. It doesn't take a Phi Beta Kappa to figure out that printers are just ugly, oversized paperweights without ink. It's the same principle with video gaming systems. The consoles are reasonably priced. It's the cost of the games and all the accessories you need to play certain games that they make their money off of. Right now Nintendo is basing their allotments of Wiis off of how many accessories are sold with them. Stores that sell a lot of accessories when Wiis are purchased get a lot of Wiis from Nintendo to sell. Stores that don't sell a lot of accessories with the Wiis get the retail version of table scraps. BTW Nintendo is only looking at the accessories that are bought at the time the Wii is purchased. Buying a Wii then coming back into the store a week later to buy $200 worth of controllers, chargers, nunchuks, etc. does nothing to increase the supply of Wiis that store gets. Edited by - the unknown pervert on 6/16/2008 1:25:30 AM [Link]
RandomPrecision Senior Member Enjoy! 8175 Posts 3/06	Posted - Jun 16 2008 : 1:43PM Zoid wrote: It is louder than the Epson I had before this one. My old Epson Stylus Photo (which served me quite well for about 6 years, btw) was making sort of like a buzz when it was printing. This one makes the same type of buzz when it's scanning, but when it's printing, well..eh...I don't know what to compare it to, but it's just louder. Not a big deal of course, considering it was a $70 printer. Click to expand Mine makes the same noises. It's louder when it scans than when it prints, actually. It's just what they do. I don't know if high end printers are quieter or not. I'd say anything that's intended to be used in a business environment is probably about as state of the art as it gets for the time being. I don't think a quiet printer is worth paying more for unless it also lasts longer and is more economical to run. Many low end inkjets are kinda junky but they get the job done if you just want to do some basic printing and don't have to rely on them for anything. [Link]
RandomPrecision Senior Member Enjoy! 8175 Posts 3/06	Posted - Jun 16 2008 : 2:19PM the unknown pervert wrote: They don't hit you with the printer, they hit you with the cost of the ink. It doesn't take a Phi Beta Kappa to figure out that printers are just ugly, oversized paperweights without ink. Click to expand Of course. It's the same principle with video gaming systems. The consoles are reasonably priced. Click to expand Last time I checked, the PS3 and the 360 weren't exactly reasonably priced. Of course, you have to consider my first console was an Atari 2600 which my mother bought me for my birthday new for a grand total of $30. Of course, the price of the consoles will come down over time, as they always do. But by that time, it'll be almost pointless to buy one because they'll be well on their way to introducing the next generation. I guess it will be $1,000, judging by the trend. It's the cost of the games and all the accessories you need to play certain games that they make their money off of. Click to expand Of course. This is also an issue. Particularly for games. But I bought aftermarket controllers for my Xbox much cheaper than the official MS ones. Only difference really was they were a little less refined and just a tiny bit clunky. But they worked fine. But printer manufacturers really should think that people are not happy about spending $20 (and up) just for ink. And they really haven't given an inch. Refilling is messy, requires a certain amount of skill and might not work if you don't do it exactly right. Which, as far as I know, none of the major manufacturers endorses refilling in any way shape or form anyway. As others said, you can sometimes get a new printer with ink cheaper than replacing the cartridges. Which is wasteful. Why waste a perfectly good piece of equipment? Not only is it bad for the environment but it just feels wrong. I hate to see anything go to waste. [Link]
Redish Poetic Moderator Long and Cursive road to the Ivory Pagoda in the province of Loraine 4076 Posts 12/03	Posted - Jun 16 2008 : 5:50PM Anyone remember Okidata? Aaaaaccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk ! [Link]

Bornyo Deactivated Member 803 Posts 12/04	Posted - Jun 16 2008 : 5:55PM That's about the fifth Bill the Cat reference I've heard in the past week. [Link]
jayo All-Star Member 2117 Posts 7/04	Posted - Jun 16 2008 : 9:37PM Redish wrote: Anyone remember Okidata? Click to expand How about the GORILLA BANANA? That disappeared without a trace. [Link]
Harri Patel Senior Member #SDNY he's all yours. -- Michael Steele 5110 Posts 3/03	Posted - Jun 17 2008 : 3:19AM I got an HP 930-series for free at the height of the dot-com boom (some company that thought internet postage was going to be the Next Big Thing, and was so eager to spread the word that they were giving printers away to anyone who would try their service); it worked very well for me for at least five years. (The internet postage deal was clumsy and cumbersome and basically had no advantages over just using a postage meter, or stamps). I have an HP 6300-series all-in-one machine now; it also works very well. [Link]
Bornyo Deactivated Member 803 Posts 12/04	Posted - Jun 17 2008 : 2:31PM I got a Brother MFC/7720 which is a multi-function laser printer/scanner/copier. I'm very happy with it over the inkjets I've owned but they did get me on one thing- the scanner is only black and white. I never even thought about that- who the fuck makes a black and white only scanner? Brother does, that's who, and I own the damned thing. [Link]
RandomPrecision Senior Member Enjoy! 8175 Posts 3/06	Posted - Jun 17 2008 : 4:26PM Bornyo wrote: who the fuck makes a black and white only scanner? Brother does, that's who, and I own the damned thing. Click to expand And yeah. Who would even think to check to make sure they were getting a color scanner? I wouldn't. [Link]
DrP0rn0 Senior Member 1836 Posts 5/04	Posted - Jun 17 2008 : 7:56PM I'll summarize/echo the message of this thread: 1. Laser printers are the only B&W printer you want for home use. There's a reason they are used in the corporate world nearly exclusively. The output can't be beat, they have a long service life, and media (toner) cost isn't too bad. 2. The only good ink jet is one used for photo printing, or casual color "stuff". The photo printing output of these absolutely destroys even the best color laser printer and it should. But don't expect to print a 50 page text document and have it be sharp or cheap. Use the right tool for the right job and you will be a happy person. Dr. P [Link]
snowman872 RainCoatReviews.com 400 Posts 6/00	Posted - Jun 24 2008 : 10:11AM jayo wrote: Actually deskjets. At work I have a Laserjet and print tons to it, but my home deskjets get light duty but never seem to last. I've had bad experiences with both HP and Epson. And it's not like I'm doing exotic stuff. I just want something that feeds properly and doesn't make a mess out of simple printouts. *** Anyone have printer brands/makes they particularly like? Click to expand Try a Canon Pixma ... here's a multi-function model that everyone likes (the MP470). You can pick it up for well under $100 after rebate and it works great. I recently got one for my Mom when her old Epson gave up the ghost. [ invalid url ] It's also available in most Circuit City stores. -- Snowman Edited by - snowman872 on 6/24/2008 10:14:43 AM [Link]