Printer Questions

I have an old HP color inkjet. It works reasonably well when it
works, my problem is that it can be several months between printing
out a page or two, so when I want to use it, it doesn't want to work.
It just isn't worth the hassle of cleaning ink cartridges just to
print out a page or two, but I do still need a printer....

What technology is superior in that respect - long time between uses.
I don't care for color, BW is what I need for electrical engineering
drawings - lines and symbols with a word or two.

Has to work with Linux and Windows XP.

default wrote:
I have an old HP color inkjet. It works reasonably well when it
works, my problem is that it can be several months between printing
out a page or two, so when I want to use it, it doesn't want to work.
It just isn't worth the hassle of cleaning ink cartridges just to
print out a page or two, but I do still need a printer....

What technology is superior in that respect - long time between uses.
I don't care for color, BW is what I need for electrical engineering
drawings - lines and symbols with a word or two.

Has to work with Linux and Windows XP.

Laser. Lasts for ever and never dries out.
I have an old Brother MFC-7220 b&w that I use for XP and 7.
Have not tried it with Linux though.

On Tue, 16 Apr 2019 17:39:06 -0500, Paul in Houston TX
wrote:

default wrote:
I have an old HP color inkjet. It works reasonably well when it
works, my problem is that it can be several months between printing
out a page or two, so when I want to use it, it doesn't want to work.
It just isn't worth the hassle of cleaning ink cartridges just to
print out a page or two, but I do still need a printer....

What technology is superior in that respect - long time between uses.
I don't care for color, BW is what I need for electrical engineering
drawings - lines and symbols with a word or two.

Has to work with Linux and Windows XP.

Laser. Lasts for ever and never dries out.
I have an old Brother MFC-7220 b&w that I use for XP and 7.
Have not tried it with Linux though.

I've found this one Brother HL-L2300D Monochrome Laser.

Looks like it has drivers for Linux and XP to Windows 10.

Paul in Houston TX wrote:

Laser. Lasts for ever and never dries out.

Toner doesn't have solvent as do inks. However, there is a binder
(polymer) coating the powder which is what makes the powder stick to the
paper when applied with heat. There is also a lubricant to keep the
granules from sticking together, the lack of which causes more noise and
streaking. Toners do expire but, so far, users have shown the actual
expiration is many years after the printed expiration.

After unsealing the toner cartridge and using in high humidity, the
powder can cake up. Refilled cartridges are more susceptible to
humidity, especially since the "plant" isn't as dry during manufacture.

Users tend to print in a few areas of the page the most, and there is no
agitator inside the toner cartridge to redistribute the powder. When
contrast become irregular, take out the toner cartridge and tilt it side
to side several times to redistribute the powder. Users think the toner
got used up when, in fact, there is still lots of powder inside but not
in the section where they print the most.

On Tue, 16 Apr 2019 18:24:31 -0400, default
wrote:

I have an old HP color inkjet. It works reasonably well when it
works, my problem is that it can be several months between printing
out a page or two, so when I want to use it, it doesn't want to work.
It just isn't worth the hassle of cleaning ink cartridges just to
print out a page or two, but I do still need a printer....

What technology is superior in that respect - long time between uses.
I don't care for color, BW is what I need for electrical engineering
drawings - lines and symbols with a word or two.

Has to work with Linux and Windows XP.

Laser is the way to go.

default wrote:
I have an old HP color inkjet. It works reasonably well when it
works, my problem is that it can be several months between printing
out a page or two, so when I want to use it, it doesn't want to work.
It just isn't worth the hassle of cleaning ink cartridges just to
print out a page or two, but I do still need a printer....

What technology is superior in that respect - long time between uses.
I don't care for color, BW is what I need for electrical engineering
drawings - lines and symbols with a word or two.

Has to work with Linux and Windows XP.

As most others have already pointed out, Laser is the way to go. AFAIK, the
*only* way to go! I won't even consider an ink jet, for the reasons you've
mentioned, plus some. The *only* disadvantage of an affordable laser
printer is it's just black and white, unless you want to spend the big
bucks.

I mean, think about it - getting around 1000 or more pages per toner
cartridge is a pretty good deal. The toner cartridges aren't cheap, but
they last so long it makes it worth it. And you don't have to worry about
ink pens drying out, or bleeding on the pages, etc, etc.

Some of the (typically older) laser printers will still work on WinXP.
Just be sure to check that out in the specs before you buy, because not all
laser printers will, anymore.

On 16/04/2019 23:24, default wrote:
I have an old HP color inkjet. It works reasonably well when it
works, my problem is that it can be several months between printing
out a page or two, so when I want to use it, it doesn't want to work.

If all you are doing is to print a page or two every two months then
clearly you don't need any printer and instead you could copy the
document on to a flash drive and take it to your local library or to a
nearest shop (or to your friends if you have any but most people these
days aren't talking to their neighbours!!! either) that does printing
and let them charge you 10 cents per copy. It is much cheaper that way
then to have a monster in your house and.

All printers are the same. If your current printer is giving you
problems then there is no guarantee new printer won't give you the same
problems.


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From: default
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Subject: Printer Questions
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you must have run out of nym-shifting as you have changed it several
times last week!!!



--
With over 950 million devices now running Windows 10, customer
satisfaction is higher than any previous version of windows.

On Wed, 17 Apr 2019 01:54:19 +0100, ? Good Guy ?
wrote:

On 16/04/2019 23:24, default wrote:
I have an old HP color inkjet. It works reasonably well when it
works, my problem is that it can be several months between printing
out a page or two, so when I want to use it, it doesn't want to work.

The ink dries out. Buy a laser. Mine's been going strong for
almost 10 years now.

If all you are doing is to print a page or two every two months then
clearly you don't need any printer and instead you could copy the
document on to a flash drive and take it to your local library or to a
nearest shop

What if the document is sensitive ? Terrible advice to "share
it" with a local shop owner. It's almost as bad as "put it on the
cloud".
Sorry, I forgot, you don't believe in security OR privacy.
[]'s
--
Don't be evil - Google 2004
We have a new policy - Google 2012

On Wed, 17 Apr 2019 01:54:19 +0100, ? Good Guy ?
wrote:

On 16/04/2019 23:24, default wrote:
I have an old HP color inkjet. It works reasonably well when it
works, my problem is that it can be several months between printing
out a page or two, so when I want to use it, it doesn't want to work.

If all you are doing is to print a page or two every two months then
clearly you don't need any printer and instead you could copy the
document on to a flash drive and take it to your local library or to a
nearest shop (or to your friends if you have any but most people these
days aren't talking to their neighbours!!! either) that does printing
and let them charge you 10 cents per copy. It is much cheaper that way
then to have a monster in your house and.

All printers are the same. If your current printer is giving you
problems then there is no guarantee new printer won't give you the same
problems.

Six miles to the nearest library to find the dowagers that run the
place won't let anyone plug a USB drive into their computers. The
next nearest is 37 miles. My bank let me make a copy but I can't
think they'd do it on any irregular basis.

We have a UPS store they may do something like that.

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From: default
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Subject: Printer Questions
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you must have run out of nym-shifting as you have changed it several
times last week!!!

In message , default
writes:
On Wed, 17 Apr 2019 01:54:19 +0100, ? Good Guy ?
wrote:
[]
All printers are the same. If your current printer is giving you
problems then there is no guarantee new printer won't give you the same
problems.

Not true. Although one poster in this (I think) thread has had one go
peculiar on him, laser printers are pretty reliable for the light user
(and cheap and small if you don't want colour); my blind friends have
one they got I think a couple of years ago (obviously they only print
for the odd coupon or official letter), and are very happy with it.
(Still on the toner cartridge it came with.) It's wireless too which
makes it easy for both to use it - Brother 1212W I think it is.

(Dot-matrix - or rather impact - excellent too, and XP drivers are still
available. Mostly parallel port only though, which if your machine is a
laptop you may not have.)

Six miles to the nearest library to find the dowagers that run the
place won't let anyone plug a USB drive into their computers. The

You _could_ put what you want to print - as .pdf files ("print" to .pdf
from whatever, I use pdf995) - online somewhere before you go to the
library, and remove them after you've been. (Inside password-protected
..zip files, if the library has a means to open those.)

next nearest is 37 miles. My bank let me make a copy but I can't
think they'd do it on any irregular basis.

We have a UPS store they may do something like that.

No harm in asking. No copy shop, internet café, or anything similar?
[]
I'd still say a small mono laser would do you best, though. And/or, if
you really go months between prints and only do a few then: use your
colour inkjet once a week or once a month (whichever turns out to be
necessary to keep it working); set the computer to remind you to do so.
At first I thought just print some blocks of solid colour, but then I
thought, you might as well print out some nice picture, either for
yourself or to give away to family and/or friends. OK, if it uses $1
worth of ink a time (let it do it at highest quality - so it might take
many minutes, who cares) - still cheaper than the alternatives, plus
you'd have the nice picture. Or, something more boring but that it'd be
useful to have a hard copy of - tide tables, refuse collection
schedules, local (or club, association, whatever) event calendars - I am
sure you can think of _something_. (Mono laser printers usually about 50
pounds, though I think I may have seen as low as 30; probably the same
in $ [i. e. 50 or less] there.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

The average US shareholding lasts 22 seconds. Nobody knows who invented the
fire hydrant: the patent records were destroyed in a fire. Sandcastles kill
more people than sharks. Your brain uses less power than the light in your
fridge. The Statue of Liberty wears size 879 shoes.
- John Lloyd, QI supremo (RT, 2014/9/27-10/3)

On Thu, 18 Apr 2019 16:18:23 +0100, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
wrote:

In message , default
writes:
On Wed, 17 Apr 2019 01:54:19 +0100, ? Good Guy ?
wrote:
[]
All printers are the same. If your current printer is giving you
problems then there is no guarantee new printer won't give you the same
problems.

Not true. Although one poster in this (I think) thread has had one go
peculiar on him, laser printers are pretty reliable for the light user
(and cheap and small if you don't want colour); my blind friends have
one they got I think a couple of years ago (obviously they only print
for the odd coupon or official letter), and are very happy with it.
(Still on the toner cartridge it came with.) It's wireless too which
makes it easy for both to use it - Brother 1212W I think it is.

(Dot-matrix - or rather impact - excellent too, and XP drivers are still
available. Mostly parallel port only though, which if your machine is a
laptop you may not have.)

Six miles to the nearest library to find the dowagers that run the
place won't let anyone plug a USB drive into their computers. The

You _could_ put what you want to print - as .pdf files ("print" to .pdf
from whatever, I use pdf995) - online somewhere before you go to the
library, and remove them after you've been. (Inside password-protected
.zip files, if the library has a means to open those.)

next nearest is 37 miles. My bank let me make a copy but I can't
think they'd do it on any irregular basis.

We have a UPS store they may do something like that.

No harm in asking. No copy shop, internet café, or anything similar?
[]
I'd still say a small mono laser would do you best, though. And/or, if
you really go months between prints and only do a few then: use your
colour inkjet once a week or once a month (whichever turns out to be
necessary to keep it working); set the computer to remind you to do so.
At first I thought just print some blocks of solid colour, but then I
thought, you might as well print out some nice picture, either for
yourself or to give away to family and/or friends. OK, if it uses $1
worth of ink a time (let it do it at highest quality - so it might take
many minutes, who cares) - still cheaper than the alternatives, plus
you'd have the nice picture. Or, something more boring but that it'd be
useful to have a hard copy of - tide tables, refuse collection
schedules, local (or club, association, whatever) event calendars - I am
sure you can think of _something_. (Mono laser printers usually about 50
pounds, though I think I may have seen as low as 30; probably the same
in $ [i. e. 50 or less] there.)

Most of the kinds of places that have copiers printers etc., are 30
miles from me. AND it isn't too practical if I've got an engineering
project and want a neat paper schematic to work from, to stop what I'm
doing and (only) drive 6 miles or more and drive back That takes
time. Unproductive time. Not conducive to staying focused either. I
have to keep the brain cells on-task and not let them wander.

If I'm going to do all that I might just as well dick around with the
cartridge and get it working.

And, this HP printer refuses to print if the color cartridge is having
problems even if I don't want color.

Then there's the "creative process." Changes get made, get penciled
in or red-lined, and the drawing no longer reflects the device as
built.

I'll mess around with the cheap Brother printer when it comes, I can
always get something else if it doesn't do what I want. I may even
have to get my wife something. She has the problem of an operating
system that doesn't have drivers for her old HP printer.
I need a printer, not too often but I do need one.

In message , default
writes:
[snip]
Six miles to the nearest library to find the dowagers that run the
place won't let anyone plug a USB drive into their computers. The

You _could_ put what you want to print - as .pdf files ("print" to .pdf
from whatever, I use pdf995) - online somewhere before you go to the
library, and remove them after you've been. (Inside password-protected
.zip files, if the library has a means to open those.)

Any mileage in that suggestion?
[]
I'd still say a small mono laser would do you best, though. And/or, if
you really go months between prints and only do a few then: use your
colour inkjet once a week or once a month (whichever turns out to be
necessary to keep it working); set the computer to remind you to do so.
[]
Most of the kinds of places that have copiers printers etc., are 30
miles from me. AND it isn't too practical if I've got an engineering
project and want a neat paper schematic to work from, to stop what I'm
doing and (only) drive 6 miles or more and drive back That takes
time. Unproductive time. Not conducive to staying focused either. I
have to keep the brain cells on-task and not let them wander.

I see what you mean.

If I'm going to do all that I might just as well dick around with the
cartridge and get it working.

And, this HP printer refuses to print if the color cartridge is having
problems even if I don't want color.

Yes, that's one of the most irritating things. (I see you mention "the
colo]u[r cartridge", which suggests you have one of those models which
has a single colour cartridge: which you have to replace even if only
one of its colours has run out. Another irritant.)
[]
I'll mess around with the cheap Brother printer when it comes, I can

Oh, have you ordered a mono laser then? I wasn't recommending that
particular one (I was only remembering the model number off the top of
my head, it may not even have been right!): not that there's anything
wrong with it (my friends are happy with it), just I thought you'd look
around!

always get something else if it doesn't do what I want. I may even
have to get my wife something. She has the problem of an operating
system that doesn't have drivers for her old HP printer.

If you do get a wireless laser, you can both use it. My friends do.

I need a printer, not too often but I do need one.

Yes, I'm the same.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

If vegetarians eat vegetables,..beware of humanitarians!

On Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at 5:24:35 PM UTC-5, default wrote:
I have an old HP color inkjet. It works reasonably well when it
works, my problem is that it can be several months between printing
out a page or two, so when I want to use it, it doesn't want to work.
It just isn't worth the hassle of cleaning ink cartridges just to
print out a page or two, but I do still need a printer....

What technology is superior in that respect - long time between uses.
I don't care for color, BW is what I need for electrical engineering
drawings - lines and symbols with a word or two.

Has to work with Linux and Windows XP.

Get a b/w laser that is refillable.

My Brother HL 2240 is.

Andy

On 17/04/2019 02:35, AK wrote:
Get a b/w laser that is refillable.

My Brother HL 2240 is.


You are also the village idiot here so do you want the OP to copy you?

Must be many in Dickinson, Texas like you!!




--
With over 950 million devices now running Windows 10, customer
satisfaction is higher than any previous version of windows.

On Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at 8:43:06 PM UTC-5, 😉 Good Guy 😉 wrote:
On 17/04/2019 02:35, AK wrote:




Get a b/w laser that is refillable.

My Brother HL 2240 is.





You are also the village idiot here so do you want the OP to copy
you?



Must be many in Dickinson, Texas like you!!













--




With over 950 million
devices now running Windows 10, customer satisfaction is
higher than any previous version of windows.

Maybe one of these days you will grow up.