Sheeeesh! A new problem every minute...

Yes, I have a Brother inkjet for color and tabloid printing, but I am just about to give up on it. Everytime I go to use it, one or more of the ink cartridges have gummed up and wont' print. To keep it going, you almost have to run it daily, which is a real pain. It is parallel port only, and the only machine that I have that works with it takes almost 10 minutes to boot up. I don't have a half hour ever day just to baby sit a printer I only need every few months. I have finally just started to go to Staples or other supply store when I need color or tabloid prints...

My solution, as well.

Anyone tried the cheapy Brother color laser? ...Jim Thompson

Good Lord! Don't you know ink jet printers have to be used at least weekly or the heads dry out? I've never had much luck getting working again after even a month or so. I've totally sworn off ink jets for that reason.

Jon

Yeah, this all was fought about 50 years ago when IBM (and maybe others) said if the US government used anything other than IBM-brand tapes on their computers the warranty would be voided. The government sued and won.

Now, the companies are making the printers so sensitive to cartridges and the cartridges so tricky about refilling that the printers no longer work. If you try to print a dense photographic image, the vacuum builds up in the cartridge until the ink stops flowing. So, to prevent refilling, even brand-new cartridges no longer work for their intended purpose!

Jon

I had a HP 960 Professional model, it could sit there for months and it would work when ever I needed it. It may on the first initial print of the first color used have a moment of no ink but I would just print out a simple quick test page to make sure it was clear.. I never had a dry out problem with that model.. Of course the refills were expensive as hell, which is why I didn't bother with it any more when it became obvious fewer places were stocking them.

Jamie

USB to parallel interfaces are cheap, these days. Sometimes they go for $2 on Ebay.

Maybe it is just my own prejudices, but I never even look at Ebay for stuff. I just get too much feeling of caveat emptor...

Charlie

Same here. But when I spot something I really want, I pay thru PayPal, which... so far... has not failed me. ...Jim Thompson

I've only had a couple questionable results out of about 300 purchases. I generally watch what something is going for, then bid on the low hanging fruit.

Like this:

I needed a rack mount case to build a 10 MHz distribution amp. The thing looks brand new and has 50 low loss BNC connectors, along wtih about 10 pounds of electronics. It doesn't look like it was ever mounted in a rack, and I got it for $10 & $18 shipping. A new rack mount case that size is about $120 & shipping. The BNC connctors would run $50 for cheapies.

I had to ask PayPal to take care of one problem, and they quickly resolved it.