Now Printer and scanner

[BigV]

Two thumbs up for HP as well.

Their stuff works.

However. xoB's observation that the software suffers from... bloat. Yeah, well, understatement is all I can say. And the install routine can be picky. Short answer: install the software first. FIRST. Then cable and power the printer. Much gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair will be avoided.

Point of order: You should let your intended use of the printer drive your choices more than any other single factor. And the recent addition of the digicam makes me think that a monochrome laser, while superior in all the respect listed above, would not be suitable for printing pictures. Quality, ok, color, no.

Anyway, it's truetruetrue that you'll pay far more for ink over the life of the printer than you will for everything else combined, including the cost of the printer. That's an important consideration. I'm happy with our HP officejet d145 at home and I refill the ink tanks myself, cause I'm cheap. But the new cartridges are not.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Big V, when you refill the cartriges, do you fill them or just put a small amount in? Like the equivalent of what they were suppose to come with.

[Elspode]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Big V, when you refill the cartriges, do you fill them or just put a small amount in? Like the equivalent of what they were suppose to come with.

The first time I tried refilling my black cartridge, it worked fabulously well. The second time, it was an unmitigated disaster.

I have yet to successfully refill a single color cartridge despite multiple attempts.

[Elspode]

I will also second the utility and cost-effectiveness of our Brother multifunction device. To keep it as cheap as absolutely possible, we refill the toner and use the drum/toner cartridge at least thrice, without noticable deterioration in print quality...FWIW.

[busterb]

This’s what I got, not wanted. But I’ll give them a try.
http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?...5893&An=browse
http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?...5878&An=browse
Plus a card reader that I can’t find on Google, except at officedepot, makes ya wonder.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Big V, when you refill the cartriges, do you fill them or just put a small amount in? Like the equivalent of what they were suppose to come with.

Short answer: Both.

Longer answer: They only come with about 10 to 20 ml of ink in the larger tanks. Just checked. My printer, HP OfficeJet d145 takes a black cartridge #14. 26 milliters. not. very. much. ink. Unless you spill some then it's like the black plague. What makes my task easier is that the syringes that came with the refill kit are graduated. I can see how much I'm putting in. Plus, I only refill it til I can see the top of the packing material look wet. Then I stop. It's never the case that I can put another 26 mls back in the tank. By the way, my printer does use tanks of ink separate from the print heads. I like that. The color tank is the same size, but partitioned into three compartments for the different colors, making each one about 6-8 mls for each of the the cyan, magenta and yellow.

Plus, I do this on the table with lots of room to work, nothing close enough to spill and LOTS of handy paper towels. Fortunately, the ink is waterbased and if I get a mess, I can clean it up if I'm quick.

Further complicating the issue is that the printer keeps track of the cartridges and the ink levels. So I keep a rotating stock of three of each black and color tanks. It "remembers" the last two tanks it's seen and will treat it as though it's empty. But by the time I put the third one in, it thinks it's a new tank--full. I can also override the "fuel gauge" functionality, but I am reluctant to do that since running them dry is a bad idea. Better I should know they're low and refill than just run them into the ground. I risk damaging the print head and that's a lot more money. Not helpful in my quest for frugality.

Plus when I refill them, I work in a cleared area, newspaper down, nothing close enough to spill, and plenty of paper towels around. Fortunately, the ink is water based so it's possible to clean it up if I work fast. But not on cloth. Only on hard surfaces.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I have cut the cartridges and found the batting inside was still 85% lily white.
I'm thinking earlier attempts, that were maybe 50% successful, were plagued by my attempt to overfill.