PC Pals Forum

Technical Help & Discussion => Self Building, Upgrading & General Hardware Help => Topic started by: andyhx on November 17, 2010, 18:59

Title: inkjet printer advice
Post by: andyhx on November 17, 2010, 18:59
Hi folks; HP deskjet 840C seems to have died - power pack ok (checked with the scanner) but no life in the printer. Is there anything i should / could check easily before asking the next qn??

Next qn is can anyone recommend a reasonably priced wireless inkjet colour printer for documents and photos which is used infrequently and doesnt cost the earth in ink??

Oh and while i'm on, i have a scanjet 4300 scanner which doesnt work with Vista Home Premium - anyone got a fix??

Thank you.

Andy
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: Rik on November 17, 2010, 19:05
Hi Andy

Is the printer making any odd noises, or generating any Windows error messages?

Look at the HP Photosmart series, wireless and wired ethernet, Bluetooth, two paper trays, auto-duplexing and decent scanner. I spend about £100/year on original inks, printing 5-6,000 sheets.

That would fix the problem with the 4300 too. ;)
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: andyhx on November 17, 2010, 19:12
thx Rik; printer shows no sign of life at all...one day it worked the next it didnt (well when i say next it was a week or so later).

I'll have a look at the HP Photosmart printers.

Cheers
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: Rik on November 17, 2010, 19:18
I suspect a circuit board or the ribbon connector has failed. It's just possible it has an internal fuse, of course.
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: andyhx on November 17, 2010, 19:31
Web search for internal fuse hasnt yielded an answer ...yet :-)
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: andyhx on November 17, 2010, 20:01
And the Canon Pixma MP 640 gets good reviews too...
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: Clive on November 17, 2010, 21:31
I would go for a laser.  Best move I ever made!   8-)
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: D-Dan on January 07, 2011, 10:11
Canon gets my vote, too. Laser are fine if you aren't printing photos, but inkjet are better general purpose printers. I used to have one of each, and would switch depending on what I was printing.

Steve
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: Rik on January 07, 2011, 10:20
I still do, Steve - in fact I'm worse, I have a MFD for day to day work, a laser for long runs (or higher quality) and a dedicated Canon photo printer. Then there's the Dymo Labelwriter. ;)
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: Simon on January 07, 2011, 10:27
:sigh:  ;D
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: Rik on January 07, 2011, 10:31
I missed out a couple more. ;)
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: Simon on January 07, 2011, 11:51
I'd love to see your 'office'.  It must be like the backroom of the BBC News!   ;D
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: Rik on January 07, 2011, 11:53
Let's put it this way. When we moved here, I appropriated the second bedroom, and I've filled it. :)
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: Simon on January 07, 2011, 12:02
;D
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: Clive on January 07, 2011, 15:54
Canon gets my vote, too. Laser are fine if you aren't printing photos, but inkjet are better general purpose printers. I used to have one of each, and would switch depending on what I was printing.

Steve

I only use mine for printing newsletters and I'm impressed with the speed.  Also, a toner cartridge costs just £29 and does 2000 copies.  Having said that, I printed off a couple of photos for Mrs Clive yesterday and they were not too bad! 
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: Rik on January 07, 2011, 15:55
Colour or mono, Clive. How many PPI?
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: D-Dan on January 07, 2011, 17:24
The advantages of inkjet for photos are:

i. Better colour matching
ii. You can print to glossy paper.

Hence having one of each (inkjet and laser) is the better option. Unfortunately, since my aborted (and to be renewed) attempt to emigrate, I lost both and so I', stuck my with my brother's crappy HP MFP now :(

I miss my good printers and scanners  :bawl:

Steve
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: Simon on January 07, 2011, 17:31
I only need one that does the job, so I still have the Brother DCP-330C that I bought a couple of years ago.
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: Clive on January 07, 2011, 17:56
M
Colour or mono, Clive. How many PPI?

Mono Rik.  The other specs are:

Model Name ML-2010 (SP20MPU)
Print Speed Up to 20 ppm in A4 (22 ppm in Letter)
Resolution 1200 x 600 dpi
First Printing Time 10 seconds (from Ready)
Warmup Time 30 seconds
Power Rating AC 110 - 127 V (USA, Canada) /
220 - 240 V (Others), 50 / 60 Hz
Power Consumption 320 W average during operation /
Less than 6 W in sleep mode
Acoustic Noise b
b. Sound Pressure Level, ISO 7779.
Stand by: Less than 35 dB;
Printing: Less than 53 dB
Sleep mode: Background noise
Toner Supply Single cartridge
Toner Cartridge Life c
c. The number of pages may be affected by operating environment, printing interval, media type, and
media size.
3,000 pages at ISO 19752 5% coverage
(Ships with 1,000 pages Starter Toner Cartridge)
Duty Cycle Monthly: Up to 5,000 pages
Weight 5.8 Kg (including Toner Cartridge)
Package Weight Paper: 1.2 kg
Plastic: 0.2 kg
External Dimensions (W x D x H) 358 x 299 x 217 mm / 14.1 x 11.8 x 8.5 in.
Operating Environment Temperature:10 ~ 32 °C / 50 ~ 90 °F; Humidity: 20 ~ 80
% RH
Emulation SPL (Samsung Printer Language)
Random Access Memory (RAM) 8 MB (non expandable)
Fonts Windows font
Interface USB 1.1 (Compatible with USB 2.0)
OS Compatibility d
d. Please visit www.samsungprinter.com to download the latest software version.
Windows 98/
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: Rik on January 07, 2011, 18:30
Use a 120 screen if you have the option, Clive. That will give you 101 shades of grey.
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: Simon on January 07, 2011, 18:31
Oh, how useful!  :)x
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: Rik on January 07, 2011, 18:32
1% increments, it's as good as you need. :)
Title: Re: inkjet printer advice
Post by: Clive on January 07, 2011, 20:09
Just ignore him Rik.  Oh nothing new there then!   :)x