DesDownunder's Blog

I don't mean to laugh at someone else's misery, but hardee har har. My buddy bought a printer/scanner combo and it has never worked right. He has a Mac, and the printer very clearly said that it is compatible with a Mac. Sadly, they lied. It will print one page, then stop halfway through the second page. He has to physically pull the paper out of the machine. Hewlett Packard denies it is their issue. So does Apple. As if that isn't bad enough, my buddy has a cell phone and no landline at all, and the phone numbers provided are 800 numbers, supposedly toll free, which is all very nice, but those numbers are NOT AIRTIME FREE when you use a cell phone. Going through those endless cycles of pushing buttons is eating up your money at an alarming rate. HOLD, OMG; talk about just throwing money down the drain. My own printer purchasing concept has changed. I buy the cheapest one I can find, and then pay $30 for a 3 year in store replacement warrantee. You walk into the store with the broken one, and walk out with a new one. Last time I even got an upgrade, AND they replaced my 4 laser ink cartridges with new ones, since the new machine wouldn't take the old ones and I told them I had just put in new cartridges. (Truth) The new printers come with a half 'in store' cartridge, so don't let them screw you over with a story about it being a new set of cartridges in there, get new packaged ones.

Oh, I meant to mention, I always get the cell phones that have the least in them, and are the cheapest. Each bit of fancy shit just makes it work less and eat up power more. I've only ever had 2 both Nokia, and I've been able to drop kick them across the room, drop then off cliffs, and have tools fall on them in the workshop, without them failing. Forget the clamshell phones; each time you open it you are at risk of doing damage. Every moving part wears.

All HP printers are Mac compatible, Bart. It's obviously a technical issue. What model and what OS version? Maybe I can help? :)

Des, you forgot the part of the call that is the most infuriating, and happens EVERY TIME I call HP tech service. I go though everything you mentioned, and about six layers of actual people as well as the blood-pressue elevating electronic voices, and sometimes, in the end, I get an acutal tech person to talk to. Almost alwasy, if it happens, it's about 45 minutes AFTER I initially dialed.And then comes the best part. After speaking for a few minutes, and repeating absolutely everything that the electronic voices covered and I've already answered, the call gets disconnected. EVERY BLOOMING TIME! I then have to call back, and go through the 45 minute routine again.In Consumer Reports, HP was listed as the best computer to buy. It also listed HP as the absolute worst service provider to call for help. I certainly believe that part.C

I have to confess that in the interests of keeping the blog entry to a reasonable length, I did not describe each and every level of communication (or lack thereof) that actually took place. I did get disconnected from Sam at one stage and when I dialed back in, I was told they did not know anyone called Sam. The Nokia 6120 phone is a reasonably simple phone with a confusing and frustrating interface that requires the super-intelligence of a 12 year old to be able to actually operate it. I suspect the 6120 is Nokia's service to mankind because you don't actually have to dial out to another phone to become infuriated; just try pressing "any button for frustration -thank you, and have nice day" seems to be built into the phone. The printer is an Epsom colour laser which I need for the business. Inkjets just won't provide what we need.I had been using inkjets upto a year ago, but all the modern ones are unsatisfactory for our purposes.I could write reams on how to manipulate Canon inkjets to provide ultra-cheap printing. Unfortunately Canon have now joined the other manufacturers in blocking the use of generic inks at a level suitable for small business use. Trab's idea (above) is about the best for the home user.

All familiar problems - even across the Atlantic ocean. I got suckered into purchasing a combination printer, scanner, copy machine and fax. The machine works well, but the two ink cartridges are extremely expensive , and are hard to find in stores because the manufacturer tries to get everyone to purchase them online, which is quite expensive because of shipping costs. My solution for large manuscript print-outs: I email the copy to my local copy center, which prints and binds the manuscript for a nominal cost. I save on paper, electricity, ink and stress. The Indian technicians and technical advisors for my anti-virus program software are, however, fantastic.