Printers

Those devices that you attach to your computer when you need to create a hard copy of some file. I hate them.

Totally unreliable as they break ALL the time, I've never had a printer that lasted me more then a year. True that I probably do more printing then the average person, but seriously - a year!?!

Then there is the driver conflicts, yes all you have to do is unplug and plug again, or reboot the computer or whatever; but when I'm working under an quickly approaching deadline, I don't want to screw around with this nonsenses.

Firmware upgrades - true that these are mostly automatic if you are connected to the internet, but it is also true that it seems that these are the ones more likely to fail on me, rendering them useless.

Oh, and the price of ink - per litre it costs way more then any wine or champagne. What gives?

I have an Epson printer that is a scanner and copier combined and have yet to experience any troubles.

My Brother printer has lasted me through 2 dissertations - well 4, if you count the other half's - well 8 if you count the 2nd copies. Lots of pretty pictures too. No major catastrophes either. And, wonder of wonders, plug and play worked! (Even all these years after ME *spit*, I STILL can't get used to plug and play actually working).

What in the name of hell are you doing to those printers?! A year?! What are you printing? Wallpaper?!

It's probably a Greeny conspiracy to keep the cost of ink high - stops us chopping down trees. To try and keep costs down at uni we opted for the whole warranty obliterating option of drilling holes in the cartridges and using a syringe to fill them up again. Printer is still going so it isn't as dangerous as the manufacturers suggest.

Mind you, I haven't used that printer in a year. The other Brother printer at home is still going, despite my having to prise it open with a screw driver because some pillock shoved an SD card through the wrong slot - whereupon it promptly disappeared into the innards. So I'm kind of worshipful of Brother printers - though I was never a big fan of the over priced Epson monstrosities which I thought were massively overrated. Especially when the last one I bought pretty much tried to eat itself.

It's coming to something though when buying a new printer with free cartridges costs less than buying replacements. It's like razors - works out cheaper (or so I'm informed by male types) to buy a new one with the free blades than to get a pack of refills. The economy has gone mad. I blame the Labour Party.

BecMacFeegle wrote:What in the name of hell are you doing to those printers?! A year?! What are you printing? Wallpaper?!

Really nothing fancy, the most taxing thing was probably a pie-chart. That took up 20% of a page at the most. I dunno, I guess I must have been cursed by the printer-devil. This isn't restricted to my PC, everywhere I go - libraries, university, mother's - they all somehow magically fail when I use them. Really though, this just isn't me - everyone I know HATES them with a passion too. I think this is mostly down to the fact most other things in IT have REALLY caught up with the user's needs dramatically in the last ten years, but printers will always bet the same POS has they always with. Except now possibly even worse, Canon just applied for a patent to PRINT ADS IN ALL YOUR PRINT OUTS!

Wait, who sticks an SD card in a printer? How on Earth did that happen?

It's a Brother printer - it has an SD slot on the front, as well as a couple of other memory card slots. Mother dearest shoved the SD card in the wrong one and I had to literally prise the printer apart with a screw driver - I don't mean I unscrewed it - I couldn't get the right panel off - so I jammed it in the side and wrenched the thing apart wide enough to waggle it out. Seriously, if a piece of equipment can survive my mother - it must be good.

I used to hate printers. I mean seriously - everyone said 'Epson printers are the best'. I had three. All of them were a nightmare. The last one really did eat itself - it was happily printing away when suddenly it started...screaming? And banging? And then the wheels started pinging off and an entire panel inside pretty much cracked through the middle. To this day I have no idea what happened. Maybe mum had touched it, I don't know. The rest of the time it's been a nightmare of cartridges saying they've run out when they haven't, new cartridges not registering, paper jams, drivers that don't...drive...I hated them.

Then I got my Brother *sigh*, it's like heaven in printer form. It prints, it scans, it faxes, it has nifty little slots for memory cards...

It cost £50. What more can I say?

Except now possibly even worse, Canon just applied for a patent to PRINT ADS IN ALL YOUR PRINT OUTS!

My Epson is almost a year old and running fine.

Don't talk to me about Epson!!! You wait till it eats itself!!!1!

Never owned a Brother, owned Epsons, Lexmarks and HPs, but never a Brother. Maybe that was the trick afterall...

BecMacFeegle wrote:Don't talk to me about Epson!!! You wait till it eats itself!!!1!

I'll be the first to let you know!

Epson's for their high quality of print and long tradition, do have a habit of as merk says "eating itself". I have had two that basically just packed up and no longer wanted to print anything without streaks through it... that was when it printed anything.

I've had the same HP printer for nearly 10 years... still chugging along just fine...

Each of my Epson printers lasted 2-3 years. Our Brother has lasted 5 so far (but hasn't been used in over a year)

To be fair, i bought mine because it was a $99 printer that was in closeout for $40.