Re: Inkjets, was: Android printer recommendations
On 12/17/2010 11:54 AM, Ted Roche wrote: > Slightly less crappy are the business-class machines. I'm on my second > HP OfficeJet. Initial cost is higher, but the machines seem to last a > long time (first one lasted 5 years), and the costs of replacement > (time, aggravation, hours lost) are more expensive to me, on deadline > (when else would it fail?), than the initial payout. Combine that with > XL "extended life" cartridges - half-full instead of quarter-full, I > suspect - and the costs are still a little higher than lasers, but > reasonable for low-volume use. Big-box office stores have discounts, > rebates, trade-ins, and "ink club" programs to less the pain. The 8500 > Pro Premier a909n (there are many models of the 8500, with varied > features, distinguished by added names, "Pro" "Premier" "Whizbang" > "Wireless" et cetera) has duplex printing, second tray, networking > (JetDirect), scanning, faxing, memory card reader and good Open Source > HPLIP software support. > We have an HP Color LaserJet 4700DN at work that serves us well. It is 600DPI, and we generally have had no problems for the past 3 years. Every once in a while, if we put in a full ream of paper, it won't load, and we have to remove the drawer, readjust it, and put in maybe a half ream, but the major tree killers who used to work in the office have left. One of the things I miss with my HP 4500 at home is the lack of a duplexer, but we don't print a lot of stuff, and it is easy to print odd then even pages. -- Jerry Feldman Boston Linux and Unix PGP key id: 537C5846 PGP Key fingerprint: 3D1B 8377 A3C0 A5F2 ECBB CA3B 4607 4319 537C 5846 signature.asc Description: OpenPGP digital signature ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Inkjets, was: Android printer recommendations
On 12/17/2010 11:54 AM, Ted Roche wrote: > The consumer-grade printers are moving towards a business model similar > to cell phones: discount the initial purchase then make up the sunk cost > with recurring revenues on replaceable inks and printheads. Gillette made a fortune by virtually giving away the razors and selling the blades long before most of us were born. I also believe that the consumer grade printers have been using this business model for well over a decade. -- Jerry Feldman Boston Linux and Unix PGP key id: 537C5846 PGP Key fingerprint: 3D1B 8377 A3C0 A5F2 ECBB CA3B 4607 4319 537C 5846 signature.asc Description: OpenPGP digital signature ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Inkjets, was: Android printer recommendations
On 12/17/2010 03:12 PM, Benjamin Scott wrote: > On Fri, Dec 17, 2010 at 1:08 PM, Ted Roche wrote: >> The sum of anecdotal experiences indicate we >> should just give up on the entire computing field. > Best advice I've heard all week. > > -- Ben I tried to retire from the field. But it keeps coming back - sorta like a bad dream. Now I know how the old-time country doctors felt - they just could not let things be and sort themselves out. --Bruce ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Inkjets, was: Android printer recommendations
Same here. I've been at it off and on since '84 in a variety of roles from night shift drone operator to currently, systems engineer. From DEC to EDS to GE and a lot of other places in between. VAX/VMS, OpenVMS, Windows, NetWare, UNIX, Linux, etc., etc. I no longer even touch hardware; 80% of the machines where I work now are virtual. And other personnel have become the high priests who enter server rooms and actually touch it. Management, with one or two exceptions over the decades, has generally sucked, making the PHB of Dilbert look brilliant and benign. Depending on how the current gig pans out over the next year, this may well be my swan song to IT. I have one brother who's been at it over thirty years and he is thoroughly disgusted and fed up with it, along with having the worst ever boss of the whole three decades currently. And what were all those thousands of backups for, all those reports, all those database queries, etc., etc.? Getting too old and crotchety lately to put up with too much b.s., and since retirement accounts have been lost or destroyed, and the kids are grown up and gone, the pressure to toil in the masters' vineyards is much less. I am looking real hard right now on how I want to spend the remaining decade or two of life. But you guys have been great; I began with Linux on Red Hat 6.2 a while back and this group has never failed to be a source of information, intelligence, wit and good-heartedness. Carry on! Old Farmer Davy West Montpeculiar Vermont On Fri, Dec 17, 2010 at 3:12 PM, Benjamin Scott wrote: > On Fri, Dec 17, 2010 at 1:08 PM, Ted Roche wrote: > > The sum of anecdotal experiences indicate we > > should just give up on the entire computing field. > > Best advice I've heard all week. > > -- Ben > ___ > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ > ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Inkjets, was: Android printer recommendations
On Fri, Dec 17, 2010 at 1:08 PM, Ted Roche wrote: > The sum of anecdotal experiences indicate we > should just give up on the entire computing field. Best advice I've heard all week. -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Inkjets, was: Android printer recommendations
On 12/17/2010 12:13 PM, Benjamin Scott wrote: > I've heard that before, after too many bad experiences with them, I > don't believe it. Maybe it was true in the past, maybe it's true for > selected models, but as a general rule, it's bunk. "Do you feel > lucky, punk?" You may be right there. I hang out on a number of computer lists, and the threads about "What brand would you recommend?" draws out opinions like flies to... Everyone has some brand they detest. "I had a bad experience and I will NEVER buy another Xxxx." The sum of anecdotal experiences indicate we should just give up on the entire computing field. Others have some brand loyalty, despite the fact that Brand X has, over the years, moved all their manufacturing overseas, then outsourced, gone through QA problems, got bought by some mega-corporation, and is now shipping far more capable and far less reliable products than before. Yeah, we print about one major print job a day and the printer works pretty well for us ;) -- Ted Roche Ted Roche& Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Inkjets, was: Android printer recommendations
On Fri, Dec 17, 2010 at 11:54 AM, Ted Roche wrote: >> But ultimately, I hate ink jets for anything other than photo >> printing. It doesn't help that most ink jet printers on the market >> are incredibly cheap crap. >> > Slightly less crappy are the business-class machines. I've heard that before, after too many bad experiences with them, I don't believe it. Maybe it was true in the past, maybe it's true for selected models, but as a general rule, it's bunk. "Do you feel lucky, punk?" I suspect they would be okay under very occasional use, but then you have trouble with ink drying and clogging the works, as has been mentioned. Maybe there's a sweet spot where you print just often enough to keep the mechanism from fouling, but don't strain the incredibly cheap build. Like exactly one page a day or something. Full disclosure: My opinion is colored by having to attempt to fix way too many crap printers in my career. I miss the HP LaserJet's of old. Circa 2003, I had a customer who had an HP LaserJet II still in service, humming away after more than a decade. It was slower than hell but met their needs, and you can't kill the thing short of a wooden stake. LaserJet 4's with more than a million pages on their counter are (or were) common. These days, you're lucky to get 5% of that on most models. And get off my lawn! -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Inkjets, was: Android printer recommendations
On 12/16/2010 11:11 AM, Benjamin Scott wrote: > Conversely, this makes the ink cartridges much more expensive. >I like designs that use ink tanks but also have easily-replaceable > print heads. I know I've seen Canon printers with that design. The consumer-grade printers are moving towards a business model similar to cell phones: discount the initial purchase then make up the sunk cost with recurring revenues on replaceable inks and printheads. >But ultimately, I hate ink jets for anything other than photo > printing. It doesn't help that most ink jet printers on the market > are incredibly cheap crap. > Slightly less crappy are the business-class machines. I'm on my second HP OfficeJet. Initial cost is higher, but the machines seem to last a long time (first one lasted 5 years), and the costs of replacement (time, aggravation, hours lost) are more expensive to me, on deadline (when else would it fail?), than the initial payout. Combine that with XL "extended life" cartridges - half-full instead of quarter-full, I suspect - and the costs are still a little higher than lasers, but reasonable for low-volume use. Big-box office stores have discounts, rebates, trade-ins, and "ink club" programs to less the pain. The 8500 Pro Premier a909n (there are many models of the 8500, with varied features, distinguished by added names, "Pro" "Premier" "Whizbang" "Wireless" et cetera) has duplex printing, second tray, networking (JetDirect), scanning, faxing, memory card reader and good Open Source HPLIP software support. For low-volume work, I find it ideal. And, hard as it is to believe in this day and age, clients are still impressed with color mockups! -- Ted Roche Ted Roche& Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
