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Printers


Bendy Demon

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Ok..now that I have issues with a printer (again) I want to ask a question about them.

Do stand alone printers (printers that just...print) last longer than the all-in-one printers? (the ones that do everything except the laundry).

It seems to me that when I had a separate printer and scanner that they lasted longer as in a few years type of longer. It just seems like a waste of money to buy what you think is a good quality machine only to have it die on you a year or two later.

The All-in-one printer I have now is a Brother MFC-J470DW and I thought it was a good one until it started printing weak with lines and gaps. I replaced the ink cartridge thinking that the one I already put in was faulty but got the same results. Granted I am using cartridges from another supplier because the Brother Cartridges are just too expensive.

So..what is the scoop? Am I doomed to buy another one? Right now I have my unit sitting atop my desktop CPU, I put it on "stilts" which are sections of PVC piping hoping to keep it away from the heat of the CPU unit but I still have problems...

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Jut my 2c

Usually manufacturers will have product lines with standalone and all in one printers advertised, and the printer component is the same on both. 

So I'd look for a good printer first, then if you want/need the extra function and are happy to pay for it, go for the AIO.

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Yeah, true. If I was still doing the drawing I used to do I would opt for a separate printer and scanner BUT in this case another family member uses the All-in-one to copy and print things for church projects.

One thing that irks me is that the ink cartridges dry out so quick unless you print something at least once a week to prevent that of course there is the added problem that black is used quite often so the print head for that wears out more.

I don't know, I just tire of spending money on something that will break down in two years or so. Bleh.

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7 hours ago, Ryu said:

I put it on "stilts" which are sections of PVC piping hoping to keep it away from the heat of the CPU unit but I still have problems...

Actually this might be the problem to the 'gaps' in the print outs, if the stilts are not stable and the printer sways while printing. that will affect the contact of the print heads on the paper ... and oh ... paper matters too with the ink jets ... matters more than the ink actually ...

~

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The weird thing is that it worked a few days ago and, to the best of my knowledge, the unit has not shifted but I will look into that concept further.

Perhaps there is something I can do to make it more stable.

Thanks

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On 6/29/2017 at 1:42 PM, Ryu said:

The weird thing is that it worked a few days ago and, to the best of my knowledge, the unit has not shifted but I will look into that concept further.

Perhaps there is something I can do to make it more stable.

Thanks

Well..I decided to just get a new printer. It is another Brother but a slightly different yet similar model.

The only thing that really bites is that the ink cartridges for my previous printer won't work on the new one so I had to order new ink packs for it.

SO...I have a choice, I can get rid of my old printer OR I can try to hook it up to my other computer, maybe to a print head alignment (Don't see why as it printed fine previously) and use it until the remaining ink packs I have for it run out. I don't know...too bad because the printer has a nice scanner that made nice copies and all.

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On 7/2/2017 at 0:22 AM, Ryu said:

SO...I have a choice, I can get rid of my old printer OR I can try to hook it up to my other computer, maybe to a print head alignment (Don't see why as it printed fine previously) and use it until the remaining ink packs I have for it run out. I don't know...too bad because the printer has a nice scanner that made nice copies and all.

Surface print area also makes for a lot of difference, small printed areas won't show the problem that much from full area coverage prints (like photos)

I know that from experience, prints graphics and colored text documents fine but the photos came out distorted and with 'gaps' , but that was because of the paper and a not too stable table ...

~

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Well..I DID have the printer for four or so years so I suppose that I was lucky to have it last this long. I did get a new printer that is almost exactly like the old one and I tried to see if I could get a replacement print head for the other but they are so incredibly costly that I could buy a couple of new printers for the price of a replacement head.

As for paper we use paper meant for printers and we had good results but I suppose even printers have their lifetimes.

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8 hours ago, Ryu said:

.... but I suppose even printers have their lifetimes.

Sorry to have to stress this again but do try to have it on a stable and solid surface ... it does add years to its lifetime ... that's a guarantee ...

:yes:

~

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