OT Good mid-range printer scanner

Feb 11, 2016 41 Replies
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D

I've had this machine for at least 5 years (using my recollection of when the friend who helped me load it into the car moved away from here). To date, no problems. I thought the disk drive would quit but it's not been a problem.

Biggest issue is ink wastage on power up. So, have to PLAN when I will be using it (silly to power it up for *one* page!)

I'd be more concerned that I won't be able to find ink/spares for it as time passes.

But, when/if that time comes, I would have no problem discarding it -- *if* I paid for it (many items come to me from friends wanting to upgrade their kit), I would have paid "surplus value": plastic $0 tin $0.01/pound PCB's $2/pound etc. The "supplies" being essentially free (plastic/ink having no recycle value)

I used to have an 860. Discarded it when I ran out of ink blocks (cuz I had the 8200 to take its place!).

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H

Thanks for all the replies.

Interesting about the HP "locking up" for printing. That's what happened t o my HP. It would copy and scan, but showed up a "paper jam" when addressed remotely to try to print. My soon who is a computer geek could not figure it out, and since the paper obviously wasn't blocked or jammed since it pr inted/copied whatever was on the platen, I am going to avoid HP like the pl ague.

Off to get my Consumer reports magazines out of the file cabinet.

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T

I just bought the HP 4630 , versatile , in the top ten , and I already have a supply of cartridges for it . Being wifi capable was a comsideration too .

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C

Other than HP's professional grade stuff, they make a lot of fantastic junk. The "phantom paper jam" even hits some of their pro stuff. For as long as they've been in the (printer) business you'd think they'd have it figured out by now - kinda like GM and compact cars - - -

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T

I think the phantom paper jam thing is caused by a torque sensor on the feed stepper motor . Probably a current sensor , if the motor drags it draws more current . No one really seems to know what the cause is and I'm just guessing ...

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M

Go ask Muggles, I'm sure she'll know. Muggle knows all.

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T

Mayayana wrote: "and I'm a person who really doesn't use a printer regularly. If you don't use a printer or scanner at all then I'm guessing you don't actually use a computer, except for email and maybe shopping. "

I work part time in the second hand business and have on stock a steady supply of printers, printer-scanners and all-in-ones. My impression is that people don't print photos and documents as often as they did 10 or 20 years ago.

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C

From what I've been able to pry out od HP support it's an electronics problem - something on the board goes out of spec

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J

I agree, I bought a Brother MFC 9340 color laser. It is probably a little more that Tony wants, since it will both print and scan duplex. I have done a lot of black/white printing and am on my 2nd toner cartridge.

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T

I bought 9130CW on sale. I got tired of messing with ink cartridges.

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T

That's what I thought . And as I said above , I believe it's in the torque sensing system for the paper feed motor .

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H

Last fall, I bought the Brother HL 3140-CW colour laser - it's not a multi-function. $ 135. Canadian. I'm hoping that my light usage - occasional colour printing and never any photo printing - will make the colour cartridges last for years - if I buy 1 replacement black - that should last me for years ... fingers crossed. I was fairly happy with my HP inkjets, over the years - but the ink costs were frustrating ; and the re-fill re-furb units were getting worse. This Brother has wireless, and it weighs a ton - surprised me for a cheapo printer. John T.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: snipped-for-privacy@netfront.net ---

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T

snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca posted for all of us...

+1 Also they have no viable support on the non professional stuff.
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D

snipped-for-privacy@att.net wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:

I've had *very* good experiences with Brother printer/scanners -- my first one just died last summer after about 12 years. I have one at home and one in my office; the one in the office is over 6 years old and still going strong.

I've been using Brother ink until the warranty expires, then buying aftermarket ink cartridges on Amazon thereafter, and have had no problems.

I've had one too many bad experiences with HP customer "service" to ever buy, or recommend, their products again. IMO, it's no coincidence that "Hewlett Packard" sounds a lot like "Useless Bastard".

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B

On Wednesday, February 10, 2016 at 10:54:23 PM UTC-6, snipped-for-privacy@att.net wrote :

checking Consumer Reports, but also wanted some opinions from this august b ody. I don't need any fancy features such as double-sided, just good basic color and BW printing and scanning. Polite opinions invited.

formatting link

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D

Sadly, "HP" is the schlock half of the *old* (pre-breakup) "HP". Their early printer products were delightfully robust! I don't think you could break an LJII or LJIII with a 3 pound sledge hammer!

When they decided to go into the *ink* business, they sold their soul. Some of their printers are almost entirely plastic -- with the electronics on a single PCB "bolted on the back". I.e., when recycling these, you simply snap off the circuit board (it is designed to be removable -- no doubt because that's all HP does when it "repairs" a unit) and toss the rest in the trash (plastic having little or NO recycle value)

I wouldn't mind if the printer was an expensive, robust mechanism and you "paid the price" in consumables. But, when the printer is a piece of trash, it's sort of insulting to then be paying through the nose for "multicolored, liquid cocaine"!

[When folks give me "new(er)" printers, I smile, say "Thank You" and then discard (recycle) them. Nothing there worth my time to repair or restore!]
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B

Being an "engineer" I surprised you don't see the quality in the Epsons. Seiko Epson has been designing computer printers for 55 yrs. Getting a huge boost from its successful EP-101, and eventually renaming the company to EP'son. I worked on their printers designed for POS and was intrigued by the watch precision.

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C

Yhey don't even repair them. It's often a mechanical problem - like a split gear or clutch - and if they fail under warranty they just send you a new one and don't even want any part of the old one back.

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C

In dot matrix,and thermal, EPSON was king, even though Brother invented the dot matrix printer. Fujutsu made excellent matrix printers too - as did/does Oki Data. Oki also makes a very good "led" printer - like a laser but with no rotating mirrors and other complicated mechanisms -

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D

Exactly. HP had that down to a "science" on their inkjets: one board (the only real "value" in the product) on the back where it could be easily removed and the rest of the printer (virtually all plastic except for the rails for the carriage) can get binned.

"Hello, is this HP parts? I'd like to buy that tiny piece of plastic that holds the carriage during the paper advance cycle. You know, if's the little white thingy about the size of a paperclip... Whaddya mean, you don't sell it? A first class postage stamp has got to cost more than the whole damn thing??!"

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