My Printer/Scanner is on the blink... (Has been replaced)
Smitty500mag
Member Posts: 13,623 ✭✭✭✭
I've spent several hours the past couple of days on the Internet looking for a new all in one wireless laserjet black and white printer to replace my Canon wireless Inkjet color printer/scanner because I rarely print in color anyway. It would appear the companies are really proud of their products these days. The prices have really gone up except for the plain Jane printers and the name brand ink has really shot up. Laserjet toner is not cheap either but at least it doesn't dry out from lack of use and per page it's quite a bit cheaper than ink.
Anywho after all of that I decided to go to Youtube and see if there was a video that showed how replace the printhead on my printer which is the code it's showing it needs. I found that there's a lot of info on replacing the printhead and other printer repairs on Youtube.
I took the printhead out last night which was real easy without using any tools. I took a shot at cleaning it first in my ultrasonic cleaner before I ordered one but it didn't fix it. So I ordered one on Amazon for $29.95. It's supposed to be here Thursday. If it works that'll save a few bucks.
Yeah I know it'll probably give me the same old 1403 code. I guess it's worth a try anyway. I like my printer because it's got a slot for a memory card so I can scan things and save it to the card and install it in my computer without having to send it off to be saved in the CLOUD or where ever or having to hook my computer to the printer with a cable. They evidently don't make printers with the memory card or flash drive connection any longer? At least I didn't see any on the laserjet models that I've been looking at. I know they have a USB connection on a lot of them but they don't advertise that you can use a flash drive to save your info in them. Maybe they figure most people would know that without being told? Well not I. I like to see it in writing myself.
Comments
After about 3 years of loyal service our little Epson printer suddenly had a feeding problem a few weeks ago.
It had some error code which I googled & the search said “comtact support”.
Oh great, my printer is dead….
Well before I toss I guess I should call the 1-800 number.
To my utter amazement, a human answered, troubleshoot the printer correctly over the phone and had it running for me in about 10 minutes.
I was stunned.
An actual HUMAN answered the phone?? That's amazing! I sometime get one on the phone but not before I have to push every number on the phone to get to the person.
I have run into people at the local WalMart that buy a new printer, rather than buy ink for a printer.
Margaret Thatcher
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
Mark Twain
Last time I bought printers.....I bought the Brother brand. It uses four individual color cartridges.
I buy generic ink cartridges off of FleaBay........the last order was 18 cartridges for $19.70......delivered!!! Yeah......that's for ALL of them.....tax/title and license included!!!
Goodbye HP printers........aka....the rich man's Xerox.
Hope this helps.
Agree with Brother printers. I just ordered hi-cap ink for the three color cartridges from Needink.com. A set of them lasts me a year because I print mostly in black. Reasonable cost and they work perfectly.
The manufacturers lose money on the printers; they correctly figure that they will make a killing on ink cartridges.
Remember, you get only "starter" cartridges with new printers; they hold only a fraction of the ink that you get when you buy cartridges.
I used to buy only HP Laser printers, but I now need full color. All current printers have memory, not accessible to the consumer. But, the factory can change it.
If you have a dedicated printer, it's best to connect it to your computer with a cable. With multiple computers, you probably need to connect them to your wifi network, like me. Problem is, the printer will often go to sleep & not respond when you try to print.
Neal
I had a situation with a router that would cause the printer to drop its wifi connection after every print job. It dropped both my own and my wife's printer that way. Maddening. The issue was with the router, so it went the way of the white buffalo, despite being new.
The print head arrived today. I installed it and the good news is it got rid of the support code 1403. The bad news is I now get code b200..."faulty print head". Same problem just a different code. Well I had to give it a try. Now back to looking for a new printer.
(UPDATE)
After trying to repair my old printer and then looking on the Internet off and on the past few days for a new printer I found that what I wanted was way to much money for no more than I use a printer/scanner. So while I was at Walmart today picking up some medicine I decided to mosey on back to the electronics department to see what they had.
It looked like looters...er, I mean democrats had been on a shopping spree. There were hardly any printers on the shelf and the ones that were looked like they had gotten caught up in the pushing and shoving by the looters but there was one Canon wireless all in one printer left in an undented box on sale for $59.95. My last Canon lasted about 6 years using cheap off brand ink so if this one last half that long I'll be happy. The name brand stuff cost more than the printer.
I brought it home and set it up and the dang thing actually works and it was pretty easy to set up to Wi Fi. And that actually works too so it prints and scans from my laptop. I haven't set it up for my phone yet but it's supposed to work from it also. I like being able to download the scan straight to a file on my computer. With my old printer I used to have to scan it to a memory card first and then download it in my computer to save it.
sounds like a good deal to me. buy cheap chinese ink and you should be good to go.
I would bet the Chinese also make the expensive name brand ink too.