The angry thread

Bikeracer · September 16, 2012, 06:33:02 PM

I'm fed up.

I gave my Canon laser printer away rather than buy a new set of toners because it was cheaper to buy a new printer and the Canon printer was very frustrating and slow to use.

In july I bought a Samsung clp-325 laser printer and was initially pleased with it.I did notice that when I printed out a Scalescenes tarmac page there was some horizontal banding,I got in touch with Samsung support and was advised to download the latest driver.
I duly did this and there was a slight improvement,the problem now is that I cannot reproduce the colours I had before,regardless of where I move the colour adjustment sliders the colour changes are barely discernible and all I can get is bright red brickwork which is nothing like the colour I had before.

Again I am at the point where I need to buy more toner cartridges and if Samsung can't provide a solution it looks like another printer for the bin.

Allan

longbridge · September 16, 2012, 09:17:42 PM

I sympathize with you Allan printers can be a real pain in the backside, I am sick of buying new cartridges and getting hardly anything out of them, cartridges are so damn expensive to replace so its sometimes cheaper to buy a new printer.

The Canon Pixma I am using at the moment makes all kinds of whirring noises all the time and is as slow as a wet week, I recently took an Epson printer back to the shop for a refund because it stopped working after it did 3 prints so I think I will give HP a go next time.

Thought of buying either a Samsung or Fuji laser printer a while ago but wasn't sure if they would work with Linux.

Malc · September 17, 2012, 07:34:15 AM

I have an HP 2100 M which I bought about 10 years ago and it is still going strong (touch wood) the toners last ages and I do loads of printing.

mickeyflinn · September 17, 2012, 07:49:35 AM

We have a HP photosmart all-in-one printer. When we bought it, the cartridges were some of the cheapest available on the market at about £6-£7 each. Amazingly (

), the price increased to a point that they were double the original price within about 18 months, and, more annoyingly, they didn't last long as they only contained 6-10ml of ink!

Having had enough, I bought a CISS (Continuous Ink Supply System) off eBay for less than the cost of 3 cartridges, AND that came with 100ml of each of the 6 inks. 18 months down the line, we're still on the same inks it came with, having used about 50% from each of the supply tanks. Best thing I ever bought.

Bikeracer · September 17, 2012, 08:29:17 AM

Having given my printer problem some more thought,the problem could be that it is nearly out of yellow toner,there's approximately 8% left but that could mean it's virtually empty I suppose.

I'm in a bit of a quandry now,do I buy a yellow toner refill or get a different printer ?The cost of a new toner would go a long way towards a new printer.
I'm beginning to think that printers are just a consumable the same as the refills.

Allan

Malc · September 17, 2012, 08:41:25 AM

If it is anything like my bubble jet, it tells you to change cartridges a long time before they actually give up. I get cheap cartridges from my local computer fair. You do get a complaint from the printer that they are not genuine spares and you could damage the printer, but I just press OK and keep printing. It's not done any damage yet.

Bikeracer · September 17, 2012, 08:55:52 AM

I've got Canon S800 and S820 printers,but I haven't used them for about three years,they're both really good printers and I really only bought a laser printer because I didn't want the risk of the ink running when gluing Scalescene printouts. I really ought to get them installed to see if they're still any good or gummed up with dried ink after all this time.

Allan

Pengi · September 17, 2012, 08:58:47 AM

Are you able to print out a test sheet of colours? That might give a clue if it is the yellow toner that is at fault?

MikeDunn · September 17, 2012, 09:22:40 AM

Quote from: Bikeracer on September 17, 2012, 08:29:17 AM
there's approximately 8% left but that could mean it's virtually empty I suppose.

Why not take it out & give it a shake ? That can help.

Bikeracer · September 17, 2012, 10:17:26 AM

Took all the cartridges out yesterday and jiggled them about a bit

I'll try a test print.

Allan

Bikeracer · September 17, 2012, 11:19:50 AM

I printed two different test pages out and the yellow was okay.
Printed some Scalescenes pages out and .everything seems to be back to normal now

Totally baffled but I'll have to get a new yellow toner now rather than a new printer.

Allan.

MikeDunn · September 17, 2012, 12:27:51 PM

Quote from: Bikeracer on September 17, 2012, 11:19:50 AM
everything seems to be back to normal now

Totally baffled but I'll have to get a new yellow toner now rather than a new printer.

No need to be baffled; that's just the way with lasers. When you get the 'low toner' warnings &/or you notice colours aren't right, give the cartidges a good shake; the toner will have settled and you will redistribute it more evenly along the cartidge.

You can extend the life a lot this way

EtchedPixels · September 17, 2012, 01:58:52 PM

Also ignore the low toner warnings. They are often set at about 25% full, which for home use is tons. Mine has been moaning for about 2 months now and its still churning out instruction sheets. In an another month or so it'll actually need a change !

EtchedPixels · September 21, 2012, 04:41:12 PM

Grump.. attack of the UPS parcel Ninjas. They managed to sneak up to the door and stick a 'you were not in' thing through it while I was in the next room

I've now discovered the doorbell has broken

Kipper · September 21, 2012, 08:42:22 PM

I had a card through the door last Friday, whilst I was out, but my neighbour was in her front garden and the parcel was not left with her. Went on the net to arrange delivery, and could not get it till Monday. When man came to deliver, he moaned that he had had to store it all weekend, and was glad to get rid of it (private car type delivery man). It was a garden roller, so a fairly big box, and he was driving a Fiesta, so .....tough, his career choice, as they say.