HSMom2One Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Aaaaah! This is the THIRD 3-in-1 printer/scanner/copier that has gone out on us in a two year period due to a stupid paper feeder issue. All three have just stopped working, and there is no way to get inside the thing so my dh can repair it himself. With the lower cost of these little inkjet units, it's really not worth the money to take them in for repairs, and when they are out of warranty I don't know where I'd take them anyway. Two of the three have been Canon models, and the other a Lexmark. Two were the lower end, I'd say about $125 price range and this last one, a pretty nice Canon, was more like $250-300 retail when new. I'm so frustrated! We aren't hard on our electronics in the least. I don't force anything that would cause a paper feeder issue, in fact although I depend on having it around for hs'ing and my other teaching, it doesn't get used heavily at all. It seems to me that companies are manufacturing cheap printers because they know people won't bother to get them fixed and would rather keep buying a replacement. I don't know about you, but that just burns me! I need to find a decent printer/copier (and hopefully scanner) that I can depend on, without having to spend a fortune. Is there such a thing? Thanks for letting me rant. :D Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 We have had exactly the same problem. Currently struggling along with an officejet 6500 that has had various feed problems and networking problems and now only turns on when it wants to. Am planning to laser printer next year but haven't looked into which one yet. It will be a multi function type though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 We had the same problem with a string of HP printers. Random "deal killers" like a perpetual error that the automatic document feeder was jammed... On a printer with no automatic document feeder. :001_huh: We've had a Samsung laser printer for 4 years or so, that we got for around $60 because it was a floor model. No issues. And we bought an all in one (with an ADF) Brother a couple years ago on clearance for less than $30. Works great. And, just to up the ante, we order non-brand toner and ink dirt cheap and have never had an issue there, either. I think this trend we've fallen into, buying higher ticket printers on massive sale, is working out well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 We have a Brother that dh bought 10 years ago for our church. When the church replaced it, we inherited it, and it still works fine. Maybe you should check out Brother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Our Brother laser all-in-one has been going strong for about 4 years with no issues. It was a cheap, low-end model too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Do any of you re-use paper? One of my friends mentioned recently that they had problems with their printer. When they took it in to be repaired, they were told that re-using paper can lead to lint buildup which can jam things. Don't know if that's likely to be your issue, but something to research. I'm not sure if they have a laser or an ink-jet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laundrycrisis Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 We have an inexpensive Samsung black and white laser printer that has been pretty reliable, and a separate scanner. I like having them be separate pieces of equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Ugh! Yes, dh has also decided that printers these days are throw-away items. Especially after we went through 2 in about 4 months. Can't remember the brand but it was rather cheap and the replacement ink cost more than the whole printer with ink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 My Brother printer, which I've had for about 1.5 years, just bit the dust. Planned obsolescence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 We have a Brother all in one laser printer and it still works great after 4 years. The unit sells for around $200 and the cartridge is about $60 but we have only used 2 cartridges in 4 years. So while the initial cartridge cost is higher than the inkjets, they last soooo much longer (and they never dry out either), they end up cheaper cost overall. Also I learned a trick that when the printer "says" it is low on toner, you can cover up the eye on the cartridge and get more use out of it. We did that about 6 months ago and still haven't run out of ink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1GirlTwinBoys Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 We've had a Brother AIO for 3 years and its working great.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Also I learned a trick that when the printer "says" it is low on toner, you can cover up the eye on the cartridge and get more use out of it. We did that about 6 months ago and still haven't run out of ink. Be careful doing that. If you get an air bubble in your ink-feed tube it's all over. We had a Brother AIO for 5 years before it died of an ink-feed problem. It cost $60 new, so that's $12/year. I guess that's reasonable for the plastic thing it was. The generic ink cartridges were cheap, and it worked great! When it died this fall, we replaced it with another Brother, on sale for $75. I love it even more for being wireless. When I worked in an office eons ago, even the very expensive copy machines had to be serviced quite regularly. I don't know if you'll ever find a maintenance-free printer/copier that will last more than a few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Mama Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 That stinks! We've had really good luck with our Canon. I've had it for 4 years (in Dec.) and use it often. It'll be a sad, sad day when it buys the farm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted November 3, 2011 Author Share Posted November 3, 2011 Thank you everyone! I'll be checking on Brothers brand units next since so many of you use and recommend it. I really need to have a copier/printer, so the all-in-one models are most appealing to me. As to this whole disposable printer idea that we've come to, I would think printer manufacturers would be feverishly working on a more earth friendly solution. I dread to think of the mammoth sized piles of dead printers we're leaving behind - not to mention all the piles of ink cartridges. Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I know someone mentioned a bad time with an HP Officejet, but I have had two that lasted about three years each. I work from home and mine get used CONSTANTLY, receiving, sending, and printing. I am very hard on them. So I thought they were pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iucounu Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I've had good experiences with mid-range ($300-400) HP inkjets and Brother laser printers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 Be careful doing that. If you get an air bubble in your ink-feed tube it's all over. We had a Brother AIO for 5 years before it died of an ink-feed problem. It cost $60 new, so that's $12/year. I guess that's reasonable for the plastic thing it was. The generic ink cartridges were cheap, and it worked great! When it died this fall, we replaced it with another Brother, on sale for $75. I love it even more for being wireless. When I worked in an office eons ago, even the very expensive copy machines had to be serviced quite regularly. I don't know if you'll ever find a maintenance-free printer/copier that will last more than a few years. But isn't that for ink jets? I have a laser all in one. I don't think they work the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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