printer, scanner, copier

[Bob Rufener]

I recently posted a thread about converting my printer to wireless. Lots has happened. First of all, dumbo clodhopper me cracked the screen on our laptop. I'm seeing someone on Tuesday who hopefully can replace for about $120. I fired up our old desktop (which is really slow) and tried to print some things. My HP photosmart printer tells me to remove and check cartridge on right. Which one??? I have a color cartridge and a black. I replaced the color cartridge-still same error message. I am tired of having HP tell me cartridge ink is low when it actually isn't. I am considering buying a new printer/scanner/copier but would like something that doesn't cost me $30+ dollars for a new cartridge. I would like to have wireless capability as well. I am not really interested in printing photos as I can send them out and get excellent service. Does anyone have any recommendations for a wireless printer/scanner/copier that won't break the bank and won't empty my pocket book everytime I need a new cartridge. It would be great to have a unit that would allow me to refill cartridges without the printer telling me I have to have a company brand ink cartridge. Another problem with my HP is that when I scan something to email, it only will do it for outlook express-not Mozilla Thunderbird. Any help is appreciated.

[Brian Hillyer]

Don't know enough to help with the wireless printer. However, when I scan with my HP all in one, I save the scan in a folder, perhaps called e mail scans, as a jpeg. Then I can send or whatever I want to do with the scan.

[Curt Harms]

Well, yeah. I have a Brother Multi-Function machine. It will accept 1 USB connection and one network connection, either wired or wireless. I set up for wireless so I can print to it from any computer in the house. Mine is a MFC-6490CW which has been discontinued and replaced by a similar model. For cartridges I went with refillables from an Ebay vendor. I'd read of cases where prefilled cartridges had issues with ink that was prone to plugging the print head so I went with empty cartridges and bought ink from Atlas business systems in Limekiln, PA. Brother hasn't so far put "kill me" chips in their cartridges so refilling is pretty easy. The Ebay listing # for the empty cartridges is 230649164531 for the vendor I bought from. I've only had this setup for about a month but so far so good. The Brother cartridges that came with the printer had a seam along the long axis of the cartridge so I suspect trying to drill and fill might have been a problem. The refillable cartridges seem to work pretty well (once I got the correct directions which is another story). My biggest criticism/concern with brother printers is the paper trays seem pretty flimsy. I haven't had a problem but I'm pretty careful. OTOH multi-function machines that will print & scan 11 X17 for $200 weren't real common when I bought mine.

[Jerome Stanek]

I have a laser all in one that is networked and can print wireless from any computer any time, Cost a lot to buy but the cartridge lasts for a long time I get about 9000 pages out of a cartridge.

[Matt Meiser]

I'm an ex-HP printer buyer. From my first inkjet about 1994 until last year I had a series of HP printers that were only replaced to get additional features. The last I thought the software was awfully bloated but you could uninstall much of it and it worked well. I ran into a few newer ones at work that started me down the road of dissatisfaction but when we wanted a network printer last year I bought an HP anyway. After hours of wasted time I ended up returning it and getting a Kodak which we've been happy with other than their software update process--have to do a large download from within the software on each computer. My work printer is a Brother all-in-one laser which I like and I have a cheap Brother laser in the shop which I also like. But when we were shopping for the inkjet AIO the Brothers didn't really seem that impressive.

[Darryl Hazen]

You might want to look into Epson's Workforce printers. They're All-in-Ones and offer Wi-fi hookup.

[Bryan Morgan]

I deal with these things a lot. Do you want to print color? I don't recommend being taken for a ride with inkjets. They will cost you a fortune over the lifetime of the printer. Laser, while more expensive upfront, are generally more reliable and cheaper to run. The exception to this: Brother. They aren't really good for anything but target practice at the shooting range. I hate them. When something minor breaks, its usually more cost effective to buy a new one than try and fix it. Toner is cheap but not as good of quality as hp. Brothers software is horrible and bloaty. hp's are a little better... more reliable and better software at least. Lately we've been using Kyocera as they are way more durable than hp or Brother, have user serviceable parts, and are good for at least 200,000 clicks. They are a little more expensive up front.

[Bill Cunningham]

I have an HP now, but my next one will be a Kodak. They are a little more expensive, but the ink is way less than the competitors. In Canada, Kodak is sold by Staples.. The other thing that may change the buying of supplies, is I can go to walmart and buy a 'all-in-one' printer for $29.00 and it comes with a set of ink cartridges. That makes printers disposable, and cheaper than just buying a set of cartridges..

[Matt Meiser]

Except those are usually "starter" cartridges with significantly less ink.

[Bryan Morgan]

If you absolutely, positively must get an inkjet, make sure to get one with individual cartridges for each color and has an available programmer/wiper so you can actually use all the ink out of them (and refill them if you want). Otherwise, with the multi-color cartridges, when one color goes down you are tossing the whole thing.... and thats bad considering ink runs about $1200/liter (no joke).

[Curt Harms]

If you absolutely, positively must get an inkjet, make sure to get one with individual cartridges for each color and has an available programmer/wiper so you can actually use all the ink out of them (and refill them if you want). Otherwise, with the multi-color cartridges, when one color goes down you are tossing the whole thing.... and thats bad considering ink runs about $1200/liter (no joke).

$1200/liter does sound pretty bad, doesn't it? :p. Here's a caveat about trying too hard to use all the ink. From http://www.refillinstructions.com/HP/H37.htm:

Important Notice...Refill your cartridge before it is empty. These printers can get an air lock in the printhead so you don't want it to pull in any air from an empty cartridge.

WARNING: Failure to follow these instructions precisely can ruin your printer! It is vital that you do not let a refilled #02 cartridge run out of ink!
These cartridges contain a microchip which counts the amount of ink used. Under normal conditions, the cartridge is refilled when the ink has been used. A normal cartridge will still have ink remaining when the level reads "ink out". This is important because the printer does not have a backup method of determining when the cartridge is out of ink! Don't wait till the last moment to refill your cartridge!
If the cartridge truly runs out of ink, air will be pulled into the printhead, possibly causing a "fatal printer error". Therefore, it is important to not let your refilled cartridges run out of ink!
Let us emphasize one more time: You must not let the refilled cartridges run out of ink!




That sounds like if a cartridge does run out of ink, the printer can indeed be used as a target at a shooting range (or as a prop on one of the "lets-blow-it-up" TV shows :D). I don't know if this is true of all brands and cartridges.

[Dale Cruea]

The wife and I went to Wal-Mart to get an H-P cartridge. I saw a Kodak printer on sale that was just a few dollars more than the cartridges I needed.
Bought the Kodak and been happy ever since. Cartridges are cheaper but may not last as long.
I am told by my brother-in-law you can have H-P cartridges refilled and the will work fine.
Cost is about 1/2 I think he said.

Any printer can be made wire-less if you have a wire-less modem in your house. Hook up the printer to the modem. I did it with my old H-P. Worked ok. Just a little slow. And you need the printer drives on all computers using the printer.

[Todd Willhoit]

@Brian
I had a Brother MFC9840CDW. It worked well and I especially liked duplex copying and scanning. The downside was that color printing was horrible. Areas of solid color would be printed with a gradient, blue would come out purple, and areas would show banding. Fortunately, after a service call and no improvement, I was able to send it back for a refund. I have no experience with Kyocera, but have found that the big Canons at FedEx Kinkos reproduce color well. Do you have any recommendations for a consumer/small office color laser multi-function?