Poorly printer

[Clint]

As the title! Epson xp305 using cheapo ink. It recognises the ink so not a problem. Things first went wrong with erratic print on black and blue so as in the past I flushed the nozzles with ipa ( no not that one) and conducted lots of print head clean. There is now no print whatsoever. Online says to remove the print head and soak in hot water but it's flushing through easily so not blocked...plus there's varying results on taking it to bits which I can't be arsed doing really.
Any ideas? Probably buying a new printer is a starter!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Any ideas? Probably buying a new printer is a starter!

Clint if you buy new buy a laser i bought a black and white as i dont need colour and its great, lots of places do compatible toner cartridges so dont be put off by the price of replacements, they also last a very long time compared to ink and no worries about head cleaning if you haven't used it in a while.

https://www.hp.com/gb-en/shop/product.aspx?id=7md66e&opt=b19&sel=prn

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Brother HL-1112 Mono Laser Printer194/6417 £89.99​

This Brother HL-1112 Laser Printer offers you speed and great quality. This laser printer has an A4 print speed of 20ppm, a 150 sheet paper capacity and is compatible with both PCs and Macs. This printer prints in monochrome only.

The Printer is compatible with the paper size - A4, Letter, Legal, Folio. USB cable needs to be purchased separately.

Printer:

• Compatible with PC and Mac.
• A4 print speed - black text: 20ppm (pages per minute).
• Up to 2400 x 600dpi print resolution.
• Fits paper up to A4.
• Prints on paper up to 105gsm.
• 150 sheet paper capacity.
• Uses 1 ink cartridge.

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1946417?clickSR=slp:term:mono laser printer:3:18:1

 

[Clint]

I like that! Mrs says she like colour....to print invoices and wage slips....nope!
The compatible toner cartridges seem very cheap...are they any good,do they take some fettling to use them,how many pages are they good for? Original toner says around 1000 pages which would last a couple of years at least!!

 

[Clint]

....no wireless printing option. No good.

 

[dad_of_jon]

I like that! Mrs says she like colour....to print invoices and wage slips....nope!
The compatible toner cartridges seem very cheap...are they any good,do they take some fettling to use them,how many pages are they good for? Original toner says around 1000 pages which would last a couple of years at least!!

I bought one of these....

https://www.printerland.co.uk/produ...4zLrg7MAsTp_CSMk3XKO7fPwla2xyeOxoCoGIQAvD_BwE

bought a black toner last year.

What I have noticed is that the dearer the printer, the cheaper the cartridges are per colour/b&w print. so I worked out how many reams of paper we went through a year (turns out less than 1) and it turned out better to pay more per page than drop a larger amount of cash upfront as it would have taken 10 years to be better off. assuming the printer doesn't die in that period.

It was a bloomin steal.

bad laser printer points: with colour ink-jet printers colurs blend and merge, with laser they are fixed colour dots, so IF you want to print colour photos out an inkjet will give better results.

good laser printer points: when printing colour labels for beer bottles water or condensation from beer being stored in the fridge won't smudge your label. no more applying hairspray to the front of inkjet printer labels.

 

[Clint]

That model isn't available, the next one is over £300... I can't see the value In that without sitting with the calculator.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

This one has it all but its a bit dearer (£10 off at the moment) https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8576330?clickSR=slp:term:mono laser printer:4:16:1

The compatible toner cartridges seem very cheap...are they any good,do they take some fettling to use them,how many pages are they good for? Original toner says around 1000 pages which would last a couple of years at least!!

I am using a compatible now and it seems to be lasting well.

A typical toner cartridge will produce anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 pages, based on a coverage of 5% (roughly third of a page of double-spaced text).
Dense pages filled with small font text or graphics will dramatically reduce this output and you may only get up to 1,000 pages per cartridge.
High-capacity toner cartridges are available, and they can print anywhere up to 12,000 pages (based on 5% coverage).

The HLL2350DW is a great choice for the busy home office. With fast print speeds, automatic 2-sided printing and a 250 sheet paper input. This affordable device also comes with wireless connectivity. Print speeds of up to 30 pages per minute. Automatic 2-sided print. 250 sheet paper input. Wireless connectivity. 700 page inbox toner. 64Mb memory.

Wireless connectivity to print from mobile or tablet.

Printer:

• Compatible with PC and Mac.
• A4 print speed - black text: 30ppm (pages per minute).
• Up to 600 x 600dpi print resolution.
• Fits paper up to A4.
• Prints on paper up to 105gsm.
• Automatic duplex (double sided) printing.
• 250 sheet paper capacity.
• Uses 1 ink cartridge.

Connectivity:

• Suitable for office printing.
• USB port.
• Wireless/WiFi enabled.
• Apple AirPrint - depending on device, please check your manufacturer's settings.
• Google Cloud Print.
• Mobile print enables printing direct from your smartphone or tablet through brand specific apps.
• Compatible app: iPrint&Scan.

 

[evil.soup]

I have to admit, I have nothing constructive to add, I hate cheap home printers! Its one of those techs that doesn't seem to have improved in decades unless you spend hundreds on one or many many pounds on the recommended ink, it still only works a handful times even then! Most tech is getting cheaper, printers seem to Rob you blind at every opportunity! That's why I only use the work printer for my labels, possibly frowned upon, but I'm getting away with it for now lol!!

Burn the thing!!

 

[dad_of_jon]

That model isn't available, the next one is over £300... I can't see the value In that without sitting with the calculator.

absolutely it's a must. Mrs DOJ has a dymo labelwriter 450 that I sometimes use for labeling a beer when I don't have a sheet printed out but that comes out at 5p a label whereas a full a4 colour sheet is about 7p (or 10p if most of page is covered) and I can get up to 10 labels so 1p a label

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I hate cheap home printers! Its one of those techs that doesn't seem to have improved in decades

If you are talking about inkjets i agree cartridges are expensive and dont last long lasers are the way to go i cannot fault mine and it wasn't expensive.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

That model isn't available, the next one is over £300... I can't see the value In that without sitting with the calculator.

@Clint

This one is a lot less than £300 and has all the connectivity you need -



https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8576330?clickSR=slp:term:mono laser printer:4:16:1

The HLL2350DW is a great choice for the busy home office.
With fast print speeds, automatic 2-sided printing and a 250 sheet paper input.
This affordable device also comes with wireless connectivity.
Print speeds of up to 30 pages per minute.
Automatic 2-sided print.
250 sheet paper input.
Wireless connectivity.
700 page inbox toner.
64Mb memory.

Wireless connectivity to print from mobile or tablet.

Printer:

• Compatible with PC and Mac.
• A4 print speed - black text: 30ppm (pages per minute).
• Up to 600 x 600dpi print resolution.
• Fits paper up to A4.
• Prints on paper up to 105gsm.
• Automatic duplex (double sided) printing.
• 250 sheet paper capacity.
• Uses 1 ink cartridge.

Connectivity:

• Suitable for office printing.
• USB port.
• Wireless/WiFi enabled.
• Apple AirPrint - depending on device, please check your manufacturer's settings.
• Google Cloud Print.
• Mobile print enables printing direct from your smartphone or tablet through brand specific apps.
• Compatible app: iPrint&Scan.

 

[user 47834]

I have to admit, I have nothing constructive to add, I hate cheap home printers! Its one of those techs that doesn't seem to have improved in decades unless you spend hundreds on one or many many pounds on the recommended ink, it still only works a handful times even then! Most tech is getting cheaper, printers seem to Rob you blind at every opportunity! That's why I only use the work printer for my labels, possibly frowned upon, but I'm getting away with it for now lol!!

Burn the thing!!

Agree 100%. I need a printer a few times a year so the work one does fine. If I were to print labels I'd order the printing done online or a local shop if it were available.

Yes it's more expensive per label but zero capital outlay or toner costs and no piece of ***** printer having me looking for an excuse to beat the ***** out of it.

 

[Cwrw666]

I think we paid about £200 for our laser printer. We got so sick of cheap printers that barely outlasted the toner they came with that we got a Xerox one. Had it for years now and it's been no trouble at all

 

[klaus]

I think we paid about £200 for our laser printer. We got so sick of cheap printers that barely outlasted the toner they came with that we got a Xerox one. Had it for years now and it's been no trouble at all

Ah, a Xerox customer - my pension is safe

 

[jof]

Yep. I got a Dell colour laser for £100 years ago & it's still going.
Only issue I have is printing photos.
It's fine with business graphics, but it's memory isn't enough to do a 1/2 page high Res picture

 

[soupdragon]

Had one of those continuous ink supply system things a few years ago for my now dead HP930. It worked really well until I dropped something on the printer and popped a couple of the silicone tubes out of the cartridge. They're a doddle to refill and they work a treat

Cheers Tom

 

[Clint]

Thanks for the replies all! I've done a bit of Google in work today and looked at the WiFi Brother and Xerox models.
Questions....I may be getting confused but I read amongst the info some only like 2.4ghz WiFi connection so how will this affect what I'm using? I know I can somehow switch my router or it might be working on 2.4 and 5 but don't really want to have to mess about every time I want to use it.
Also...toner....I've looked and genuine toners for the Brother range from £50 down to half that,compatible less than a tenner. Do the units stop you trying to use compatible ink like ink jet printers?
Does the printer suffer from not being used as ink printers can?
Thanks.

 

[Clint]

Hmmm....I suspect Mrs Clint has a laptop without cd drive.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I read amongst the info some only like 2.4ghz WiFi connection

@Clint all Wi-Fi routers have a 2.4 GHz band newer routers are often dual-band with 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands so you wont need to mess about in the settings.

Also...toner....I've looked and genuine toners for the Brother range from £50 down to half that,compatible less than a tenner. Do the units stop you trying to use compatible ink like ink jet printers?

My Samsung laser works fine with compatible toner cartridges.

.