Re: printers Now VS. Then

[winston19842005 <bjjlyates@NOSPAMbellsouth.net>]

On 3/16/11 6:41 PM, in article
mNudnVifSeYwoRzQnZ2dnUVZ5oudnZ2d@giganews.com, "Michael J. Mahon"
<mjmahon@aol.com> wrote:

> rich12345 wrote:
>> My Epson FX80 did and still does print hundreds of pages per ribbon
>> cartridge.  It's noisy and uses tractor feed.  I have a re-inker
>> machine that will refill a cartridge for <$0.50.  It uses cheap black
>> ink, like the stuff you use for stamp pads.
>> 
>> I've owned several HP printers since.  All of them are garbage.  When
>> the printers shut down, the ink cartridge drips ink into the case.
>> They last about 4 months, and then refuse to function.  If not used at
>> least once a month, the ink cartridge dries up.  Ink is expensive.
>> 
>> the FX80 is great for printing PDF's, manuals, etc.
>> 
>> It's cheaper to buy a new printer with ink in it already than it is to
>> get replacement ink cartridges....  I guess that's ok, because the
>> printers are full of gears, stepper motors, all kinds of great stuff.
> 
> While I also enjoy a good dot matrix printer (C. Itoh was always
> my favorite [ProWriter, Apple DMP, etc., etc.]), I seem to have
> much better luck with HP inkjets than you.
> 
> I have used them since the very first one (the ThinkJet), and have
> generally had excellent service.  There was a "bad patch" somewhere
> around the early 2000s when small plastic parts would occasionally
> break, and an occasional cartridge would leak.  But I've been using
> the same PhotoSmart All-In-One for about four years, putting about
> 20 reams of paper through it (10,000 pages) and hundreds of photos,
> and it still works fine.  Well enough that I bought another one two
> years ago as a model closeout for another location, and it's been
> working fine, too.
> 
> Both machines endure long periods of inactivity (months) in hot and
> cold weather, and the (02) ink cartridges and heads (they are separate
> in my models) have never given me a problem.
> 
> My rule is never to buy the cheapest model--go a couple of steps
> up.  This gets you a much more robust mechanism, and often a more
> economical cartridge system than the entry level printer.
> 
> The HP software is a different kettle of fish--it is needlessly
> complex and fault-prone, and it has taught me to use it only in
> very ritualized ways to avoid problems.  ;-)
> 
> BTW, the ink cartridges shipped with a new printer are only
> about half full, so unless you really like to reuse printer
> parts, it's not a good way to get ink.  ;-)
> 

I got an HP all-in-one for free when I bought my Mac Mini back in '06.
Both still work great! I agree the HP software really sucked (most of the
"options" in the scanner didn't work), but Apple replaced those with their
own. Still not as many options as my old flatbed, but the printer is
awesome.
Now I'm buying re-filled cartridges, 2 for less than $10. A new one would
cost me $18 at least. Only issue is the HP can't see how much is left.
But the quality is good, and the print is fast. That doesn't mean I don't
have a dot-matrix in the other room (on a print server). It is an Epson
AP3250, has a 50-paper input tray. But drivers for it are seriously lacking
- usually get stuck with a generic 24-pin driver that is horrible. I try to
select Generic Text-Only - but the Mac doesn't have that option. Windows XP
does. Ubuntu, you have to print from the command line. In OS X, it *still*
uses the driver, or refuses to associate a printer with a RAW-only queue...