Sigh. Just spent a few of the remaining hours of my life getting a new Epson Ecotank ET-4800 printer/scanner set up and running the way I want it to. Not all that difficult in principle, and clear instructions, but having another Epson 4800 printer/scanner in my system complicated matters, especially when the new one was recognized but inoperable via USB hookup, so I had to go to WiFi, which set itself up nicely (after having to redo the software installation, of course) – but then I had to convince the scanner program to go to copy 2 since the copy 1 (also WiFi’d in) scanner doesn’t work after I dislodged and then lost a small but crucial part in the auto document feeder.
Sigh. Had to persuade the print program I wanted copy 2, not copy 1, to do the test print from the laptop. Had a major fight over getting the scanner program firmly wedded to copy 2 – then it still wouldn’t work till I realized I had to adjust the paper feeder rails in the ADF just a wee bit more.
But it’s finally done, it prints nicely, having the ecotank will save lots of money in the long run – just refill the tanks with modestly priced ink bottles rather than having to buy those hideously expensive cartridges – and the scanner function, while slower than my Brother lasers, produces amazingly clean, crisp PDFs of documents, and at about half the file size of the same number of printed pages going through the lasers. For documents printed on the back of used paper, there’s absolutely no bleed-through, which is a drawback of the Brother laser scanners.
True, some of the struggle was owing to my own fumbles in a couple of spots, but like every other such installation I’ve done, there’s always a fly or three in the ointment.
My daughter recently remarked that if she ever goes to a “rage room” (a place where people pay to go and smash things to their heart’s content), she’s sure it’ll be already filled with nothing but smashed printers.
Truthfully, I do understand what a technological marvel it is that we have these small machines that produce images and documents so swiftly for us (Gutenberg would be dumbstruck), but they can be so goddamned temperamental.
Anytime I see a Printer thread come up, I feel forced to link @SmartAleq’s awesome rant:
(quote in full so you don’t have to worry about clicking the link or missing the fully glory from the partial when one-boxed)
I got so stabby with the inkjet color depletion problem that I finally gave up and bought a Samsung M3065FW B/W laser 3 in 1 for 99 bucks. I have given up on the idea that perhaps printing in color might be fun someday–I’m sure it would be but in the many years I dealt with fucking inkjets and their magically disappearing cyan cartridges I printed MAYBE one page with something in color on it to probably 200 pages all in stark black and white. Doesn’t help that I print MAYBE 100 pages per year. I scan way more than I print, way more. So far, even though I’ve suddenly had the need to print way more pages per year than previously I have only managed to get through the teensy cartridge the printer shipped with and I’m still working on #1 of the two cartridges I ordered at the same time as the printer (because I’m a suspicious old woman who has had to order way too many color inkjet cartridges, only to find out that hey presto, the cartridges for MY particular printer are no longer being made at all and the third party ones don’t work for shit) and I figure that I might actually die of old age before I use up both of these cartridges. No matter, Samsung laser printers are a dozen in a dime bag and this one is not smart enough to reject a toner cartridge from Fat Tony’s Sleazy Toner World Dot Com so I think I might just order a couple more (at about $20 each) to make sure generations yet unborn can still print shit off Granny’s old beater. Oh, and to bypass ALL the wifi bullshit I just ran a six foot USB cord from the media box right up to the back of the printer. Go ahead, motherfucker, figure out how to deny THAT! *cackles maniacally with slightly hysterical undertones *
I’m sorry folk have such problems - it is dispiriting when you can’t make a computer do what you want.
I apologise that my experience is different.
I bought a Lexmark colour laser printer some years ago.
I had no difficulty getting both my networked computers to recognise the printer.
I get good value from the print cartridges and they come with a helpful diagram showing exactly how to change them.
My last job was working with large-format printers, from big names like Roland, and even though they cost tens of thousands of dollars they still would do unpredictable things, work one day and not the next, print in weird colours, and make irritating beeping noises at the worst times. Printers just seem to be inherently terrible.
Yeah. One of my first jobs breaking into drafting and then onto GIS was HAND panting maps. Geomorphic maps. Oil on linen with a tiny 3/0 brush. Some of these maps came out quite beautiful.
It was basically paint by number. Seems fun, but oh shit did it get boring. The bosses realized this and let folks have the keys to the building and just work when ever you could. You often had to split up your day or you would go quite insane.
One map could take weeks to paint, and sold for 5 figures.
I remember my first home printer. Way back last century. I wish I could write something like @SmartAleq’s awesome rant but the detail is a bit hazy.
The first problem was the lack of any way to connect the printer to my new(ish) computer, so I had to drive to a shop and buy one. “What connectors,” the smart-arse helpful young man in the shop asks, “I don’t know…”
We eventually decide on a likely suspect which turns out to be wrong, so back I go with model numbers etc and get the correct lead, which is too short so I have to reorganise the area.
Once connected, and armed with a set of instructions in 4-point (yes, they used to have printed instructions back then) type in 16 languages, I spent several frustrating happy hours persuading the two pieces of equipment to communicate.
