Colour laser printer (slightly OT)

Not really looking for "how to fix", I have a Dell 1320c which is getting increasingly reluctant to connect, either by USB or network, typically showing as "offline" from the computer end and "no paper" from the printer end requiring a power down to clear.

I have a mono printer for most jobs and just use this occasionally for simple graphics. Apart from Dells there seem to be similar HP, Brother, and Lexmark models in the £90 to £130 region. Anyone got any recommendations?

Also, anyone interested in an unused set of toner cartridges for the Dell?

Reply to
newshound
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Have you had the covers off and removed any dust and muck? A false "no paper" could indicate an iffy sensor input due to paper dust or fluff. If one sensor is fluffed up others might be as well which could be confusing it as "that combination can nver happen"

I'm happy with a HP CP1515n but that doesn't help you as it's discontinued. B-)

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Amazon have an offer on the Brother laser printer, about £230 IIRC. Seem to last about 3 to 4 years before the black toner needs replacing in domestic usage, I am informed. Mine should be installed this weekend, when the slave is available!

Reply to
Capitol
[...]

I've been entirely happy with my Brother HL4040CN, in terms of quality of output and running costs. Brother also have Linux drivers available, together with comprehensive instructions on how to use them, if that's important to you.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

Good thinking. In a similar vein I was already planning to open it up and wiggle any boards or connectors, in that there seem to be I/O issues.

Reply to
newshound

Does the printer report anything useful if you connect to its web server when it is in this state?

Reply to
Toby

I'd hazard a guess at the paper sensor. Do you really mean that it drops off the network and won't show its status page or just refuses to accept jobs or holds them waiting for there to be some paper?

Worth checking it isn't something daft in the network DHCP server giving it the wrong IP address or something crazy like that.

Pick one that has favourable reviews for aftermarket third party toners.

If it is only for colour graphics then you can get away with murder. The best thing about the Dell 1320c was that on the right paper it could produce pretty decent photographic images as well.

Slightly. I also have a fast duplex mono printer for routine stuff.

Reply to
Martin Brown

Perhaps going to sleep?

Yup.

Pick a printer sold to standard office environments.

These are not the same 'small office / home user' low volume models that cost more to feed with replacement consumables. Typically these models are supplied with high page 3K+ count cartridges from the outset, and other goodies.

Have a look at

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in preference to John Lewis / Currys.

Reply to
Adrian C

Typically the status page claims it is offline while the display does not

I *am* having problems with this but that doesn't explain why, if I remove the ethernet and plug in the USB (after power cycling) the laptop no longer sees a PnP device (which it used to).

Reply to
newshound

+1 A few months back I changed my baby Brother 2130 for their top of the range 6180
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and am more than happy with it. Duplexing is great to have - I know paper costs next to nothing but printing two pages on two sides of the same sheet keeps things a lot more organised.
Reply to
Tony Bryer

OK. It is only a hunch, but I have seen something like this with peripherals (usually HP scanners IME) that don't handle wake from sleep right after some unknown corruption of the Windows registry. If so then power cycling the peripheral will generally fix it.

My solution was to completely uninstall its drivers then reboot. Check that the faulty device configuration is completely gone from the registry. A surprising number of installers are very untidy things.

Then plug the peripheral in and let Windows find the right version for itself (or reinstall from CD/download if it is one of those tetchy things that can be mistaken for something else on a bad day).

That suggests a possible registry fault. Do you have any other PCs or portables you can borrow to test the printer from?

Reply to
Martin Brown

It misbehaves on all my machines. Including a completely clean backup laptop that it has never been set up on. Just does not recognise the USB connection in that case.

Reply to
newshound

Second-hand office printer. They are built to a higher spec than domestic p rinters and often have cheaper consumables. I got a s/h HP LaserJet 4650 (c olour) with network card, duplexer, and 90% toner for £150.

dan.

Reply to
dwtowner

Yes, I had thought about that, thanks. I have a s/h Laserjet 8000 dn for A3 printing which only cost about £100.

Reply to
newshound

En el artículo , newshound escribió:

Tried another cable?

It's unlikely to be the printer, IMO.

Reply to
Mike Tomlinson

Yes. I don't disagree, but I will have a look inside before throwing it in a skip.

Reply to
newshound

If it recovers after power cycling I'd live with it until it really expires completely. The print quality is still good by todays standards.

Reply to
Martin Brown

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