Why does every freakin printer listing have seven images including a model standing next to the printer but NONE of the back or sides showing the connectivity!!
JFC I am SO sick of opaque-operation feature-proliferation- upsell culture.
I'm still trying to repair my behemoth #Epson that everyone hates because of the inkjets, although it has all the other features I need.
But meanwhile looking to see if maybe there's an alternative:
--USB
--ethernet (no I do NOT want wireless crap in ANY part of my life!)
--fax (sorry, but my profession still uses them and I NEED fax capability including landline phone input AND output ports)
--scanner
--copier
--monochrome is okay!
Since Google is worse than ever I can't even search for it.
@FuckElon I can't pay extra this time. That is why I'm looking for monochrome. I am struggling to pay my utilities and rent at this point.
I am sick of searching for exactly what I KNOW I want but then having websites upsell me to a $400 item when what I already know I want, would likely be around $150. If they would allow me to actually SEARCH for it.
I suspect FAX features will only be found on higher end models... but maybe you can solve this using a scanner + software/online service for fax? Or maybe your old printer will still works for that?
If that works, then
EcoTank ET-2800 has USB port and it is under $200, maybe you will find a deal for Cyber Monday.
@_L1vY_
Google search is garbage
I tried to get a user manual for some timers i need to program. No matter what combination i put of search words ( brand, model number, the words manual, instructions, program,,etc.) Google returned ads for other timers, almost all on Amazon. I went to my pc, searched with duckduckgo, got the specific doc pdf on first try.
@dbc3@MugsysRapSheet It does try to do that. I was the Queen of Search from 2002-2021. I know how to search for the things I want, I just don't know how to avoid algorithms that are determined to serve ads and avoid my search.
@dbc3@MugsysRapSheet And by "avoiding my search" I mean that you can no longer count on an exact phrase in quotations to do anything, or a minus sign to exclude unwanted results, or a plus sign to limit results. They're nearly useless now. Google Search is an ad generator.
@kevingamin@_L1vY_ I second brother printers. If you can afford the initial outlay for the printer referenced by @kevingamin, laser toner cartridges last a looooong time. Our budgets, however, have the last say. Good luck to you! (and hey, if you have a ko-fi or something, let us know)
@dasparky@kevingamin
It's not a terrible price! I kept getting ads for $400 devices 😩
Everyone on here seems to love Brother and only Brother so that's probably telling me something 😂
@_L1vY_@dasparky I've owned a Brother for years, and it's still a great printer and scanner. I've had the least issues with Brother printers I support for my clients, as well, and, as you said, the price isn't bad, either.
@kevingamin@_L1vY_@dasparky the only major issue I’ve had with a Brother multifunction printer is something in its firmware that caused a weird wifi behavior with an SSID containing a hyphen. Otherwise from a printing perspective, it’s one of the best printers/scanners I’ve ever owned in 40 years.
@RoboticistDuck my one issue is how they make entering your SSID and WiFi password so impossible with only an up and down button to scroll through the characters. I feel like I’m defusing a bomb in an action movie by the time I’m at the final characters because by then I’ve been there 7 hours and I'm sweating bullets and it feels like life and death whether my code is accepted or not.
@_L1vY_ Brother was the printer I’d have recommended too. That’s what I have. Mine doesn’t have a fax, but it does scan and copy and can print with a USB cable and it only cost me something like $140, but that was 8 years ago.
They are pretty inexpensive though! The entry level model is pretty good.
As for Fax, could you use an eFax service? That’s what I use as a fax line. It costs me around $50 a year and includes the number! It probably costs more now though. I got grandfathered into mine.
@samhainnight Yeah, industrial versions exist with all the old bells and whistles, but organizations can afford a helluva lot more machine than a single parent running a small business alone. 😣
@_L1vY_ Actually, this was a small business. My boss and I were the only two in the office. She also had a bookkeeper and and accountant. But the accountant was a wiz at deducting expenses and depreciation.
@_L1vY_ Just a thought, but it might be worth looking on e-Bay for a new, in the box but discounted because it’s last year’s model one. I’ve gotten a lot of tech that way.
I understand exactly why manufacturers don't want us being able to understand our devices and why they load them with as many unnecessary features as possible:
--selling ten expensive items is more profitable than selling twenty inexpensive items. Look at what happened in auto industry
--feature proliferation means more chances to break and need replacing
--opaque operation ALSO means more chances buyers will give up and buy a newer more expensive one
I got like 95% Brother recs from you all so I have ordered the Brother.
It's monochrome and the duplex function is limited to printing (?) but if I'm honest with myself that will be FINE for 99.99% of my usage!
I just needed a workhorse after all and B/W is fine for my purposes.
The #fax works coming in and going out (and directly from desktop), my #landline phone works fine passed through the machine, and copying is fine, too.
Scanning works fine too EXCEPT (my only gripe): each page scanned requires selecting an option before starting to scan. It means FOUR key presses with each scanned page, instead of staying set.
I often have hundreds to scan.
I did start to replace the #Epson print head, but you can't actually get new ones. Only refurbished ones that reportedly have a 40% chance of working. And after we took the printer to bits, I opened the box with the refurbished print head, and two of the four jets were completely missing.
So I returned it and ordered another. Even if it doesn't work, I may keep that one to use as a scanner, since the scanning is one function I like somewhat better than the Brother.
Okay so I have been using the #Brother printer / fax / scanner that literally everyone #OnHere recommended and it has been SOLID the entire time. It's not artsy, and it prints monochrome, but you know what, that works fine for work applications.
I did have the #Epson#WF3640 still standing in pieces waiting for me to have the time to install the second refurbished replacement print head, and tonight I finally completed that task!
Now I will have to wait until I have an extra, what, $60 bucks to waste on an ink cartridge just to try it out, but we'll see.
Anyway I can now clean up that tabletop and close this YouTube tab after five MONTHS:
If the replacement print head doesn't work once I eventually get experiment ink for it, I may still hook up the #Epson just for the capability of scanning masses of individual sheets at one go. That's the only thing the #Brother doesn't do that I would really like.
@Wraithe Also ugh, I have spent SO many hours and hours and hours researching and implementing this new device and trying to repair the previous one, I just do not have it in me to do anything further right now and adding yet another layer of apps and shit. 😩
I mainly tinker with devices because I can't afford repair / replacement. It's not a hobby for me. I am so overwhelmed with work already, it's a big part of why I went on meds this fall. So no new projects in 2023!
@_L1vY_ hang on for about 5 more years and the #RetroComputing crowd will claim you as one of theirs!
Actually, the only thing keeping me from using an older computer is the screen quality. My eyes just hurt too much looking at lower resolution screens.
I have a 2010 MacBook Pro that I upgraded to a SSD drive and I could very easily use it to do my programming work if I had to rely on a backup machine.
Add comment