On Thu, Jun 11, 2020 at 5:56 PM Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:

I have had very good luck with my HP 950c printer (could be used with parallel or USB) I find ink cartridges at yard & estate sales for a few dollars each. Yes I know taking a chance on a “new” cartridge that may be 10 or more years old is a “gamble” but usually works out for the best. I do very little printing and always in black-and-white (greyscale) So if the cartridges don’t dry up first they last me for years.

I was advised against using old ink cartridges, especially ones that are opened. They tend to dry up and clog up the printer heads I'm told. I had success with ink jet printers for years, but the current one that I have went kaput. Like many things, the quality has gone down and there is no support after the warranty is done. And it was two of the same identical model (HP PhotoSmart 6520). So it's clogged and I couldn't unclog using a particular method. So I asked someone who repairs printers and they recommended laser printers. They said that inkjet have the problem with clogged printer heads. So I'm not really looking for inkjet anymore as I can see that the printer head gets clogged and repairing isn't worth it. I'm not going to buy inkjet anymore as repairing isn't worth it and it seems weird to keep buying new ones when the ink runs out. Gonna try laser printers now.

The only problem I ever had was with my G45 all in one printer from HP.

It worked well for quite a while several years use the same cartridges as my 950c. But recently died was making a hell of a racket. One thing I liked about those old HP is they worked with the current operating system. Of course I installed a brand new Brother all in one that I had new in box for years, “OH BROTHER” what a pain in the ....

Mike R.

Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.

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On Jun 11, 2020, at 5:31 PM, Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:

about OT: Color Laser Printer Recommendation

Dave McGuire posts:

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Very nearly universally, ink jet printers are garbage.

I concur, conditionally. I'd call them disposable. I buy one every few years, half price when that model is superceeded. I use them to scan 11 X 17 documents. Not for printing, the heads clog up!

They die, plastic parts break. I replace it, long after it stops printing. I haven't replaced ANY inkcarts, which cost HALF the sale price of the printer. And the new printer has more features than the old. Thus: disposable printers. I have an Epson WF-7520 to dispose of now; it's busted and clogged of course but still scans.

My average inkjet-printer+ink costs as a result: about $50/year. New strategy: print once/twice a week, see if I can stretch out the printing. This will cost me a set of $70 inkcarts to continue; I'm several months in.

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my main color printer is an HP Color Laserjet 5550DTN, > Either way, I would not recommend buying one new.

I concur, on practice and brand. Thrift stores or surplus sales or maybe recyclers provide laser printers cheaply, tens of dollars. Maybe Craigslist? Freecycle?

HP supplies abound on eBay. HP printers work for DECADES. I've used HP Laserjet II's and III's until the scanner motors die; that's 1990's tech, last used in *2018*. Those, I can fix. Hey: vintage tech! We are back on topic! ;)

My daily B&W laser printer (and my wife's) are both HP LJ 4300's. I bought a new old stock toner cart on ebay for $18 *delivered*. My funny story: my winning bid on a cheaper toner-cart was canceled, when the seller realized their shipping cost was more than their selling price.

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[story of outrage about high costs of toner carts]

The inkjet-producer strategy used to be referred to as "give away the razor, sell the blades".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razor_and_blades_model

includes a reference to "printers".

Re: Advice on All-in-One color Laser Printer

I have two color laser AIO's which I never use. Paid several tens of dollars, used, years ago. HP CM2320blahblah, HP CM1312blahblah. Only 8 X 11 flatbed scanner. But nice color. Used color carts abound on eBay. I print in color when needed, not often in 2020.

Caution: there's a hundred slightly different brands of HP color laser printers, with dozens of different toner carts. Some carts are quite small, you need four of them for color. And the carts (like the inkjet ink tubs) have smart-chips in them which tell the printer "throw this cartridge out when it's half empty". Solution: buy copied chips that say "I'm full, use me up!". Change the chips, not the toner cart. And I have some refilling supplies too.

This is what it takes these days, to keep from throwing money at computer-printer companies. Inkjet ink, they say, is the most expensive liquid in the world. I have to jam microcontrollers *into toner carts* to get full use of them. And use decades-old tech, to save money and get reliability and repairability.

Surprisingly, this doesn't bother me much. again: we are back on topic.

Regards, Herb Johnson

-- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT info

-- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey@vcfed.org