# Help me choose a printer. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 29, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-printer/614398 "2012-02-29T22:20:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![misling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@misling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misling)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-printer/614398/21 "2012-03-02T18:58:32Z")
There’s an old trick with Brothers. They say the ink is low when it’s still half full. You stick a bit of tape over the sensor. All is well. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-printer/614398/22 "2012-03-02T19:10:23Z")
> [@misling](#): > > There’s an old trick with Brothers. They say the ink is low when it’s still half full. You stick a bit of tape over the sensor. All is well. Yeah - a lot of the comments at Amazon concur. One suggestion also involved something with a sensor wheel (or something), some kind of part that you’d get if you got a refill kit and refilled the cartridges yourself. ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-printer/614398/23 "2012-03-02T20:02:28Z")
We also have a Canon MP560 printer as the sole printing device in the Sevenwood household. I love it for what we use it for (just printing), but I have to agree that its user interface is awful. I still remember the occasion when I installed a new home router and gave it a nice, long wireless password - and then tried to enter that passpword into the Canon printer. Press right-side-button to get to the next character, press top-side-button 26 times to get through the capitalized letters then another xx times to get to the right lower-case letter, then press right-side -button to move to the next character, … ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-printer/614398/24 "2012-03-02T20:41:29Z")
We bought an HP 6500 and it has been nothing but problems, it’s probably not even 1.5 years old and already I just wait until I get to the office to print something, it is a paperweight. I’ll never buy another HP product again. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-printer/614398/25 "2012-03-03T20:40:27Z")
Make sure to check whether you can use cheap ink or not. I have two Canon printers: the first one I bought(to replace an Epson that died prematurely due to the inkjet head(?) puking out that was not replaceable!!) I realized only ink that would work with it were original Canon ink cartridges, and so I bought another one that I could throw in any refilled jobber cartridges. I still use the second one. The first fancier one I bought just sits there collect dust. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-printer/614398.md?page=1)