Printers. Argh.

[kyrielle]

So, on Tuesday last week, I tried to print stuff for Gencon. The first document printed, the rest (including text from notepad) did not. Instead, they came out of the printer as gobbledygook control symbols.

Grrrr, says I. So I reboot the computer, power the printer off and on, reload the driver, etc., etc. Some before I leave, some after I get back. Net result: it still prints gobbledygook, even after trying the black-and-white printing only (it's a color printer).

I debated the effort involved in rehabilitating it, and decided that it was time to get something newer. To which end, I now have an Epson Stylus C84; amusingly, since all I want to do most days is print basic black and white stuff, this thing is theoretically capable of printing very nice quality photo prints. I'll test it on that later for my amusement, but it wasn't really the point. I'd have to print a lot more pages than I do for it to have made sense to get black and white.

Also picked up a digicam for Scott. His present one (he's using my old Ricoh) only focuses when on maximum zoom or, on rare occasions, when it feels like it at other settings. The one I got him is not one I'd use, but it's quite functional and nice for what he uses a camera for - about on a par with the Ricoh, with a few less options but more "modes" which I think will do better. It'll even use the same batteries - and though it won't use the same media, it'll use my compactflash media, which I can give him one of. I didn't even use 512 of my 1.25 gig of media on that trip. Scott, by contrast, took three pictures - though I think he'd have likely taken a few more if his camera were not a nuisance. ;)

Comments

[pheon.livejournal.com]

So what camera did you get Scott? Nosy minds want to know....

[kyrielle]

The Canon Powershot A60, with a 5-year manufacturer's warranty. (It's actually discontinued, so they're as likely to replace as repair even now - and that will just get moreso with time - if it has any issues.)

[kyrielle]

Oh! And, speaking of that printer - do you think FreeGeek (is that the right name?) would like the old one? It still prints, just right now it prints gobbledygook. Given what I tried, my guess is it either needs to be smacked in the firmware, or if not, it could be used for parts....

[pheon.livejournal.com]

Yes, FreeGeek will take it. If they can't resurrect it, they will responsibly recycle the components.

If you want, I could pick the printer up this weekend and take it down to FreeGeek along with some other stuff I've got for them. [Why, exactly, have you been hanging onto these motherboards, Andy?]

[kyrielle]

That would be great - and thank you! I know it has salvageable components because, well, it can print gibberish. This isn't random lines - it's, pardon me, that was a BINARY output, why are you printing a paper full of smiley-faces and other dumb symbols, y'stupid thing? :P

And I do like this new Epson, rather a lot.

[pheon.livejournal.com]

I have been quite pleased with Epson printers over the years, including my current Epson Stylus.

[pelogrande.livejournal.com]

We've got the C82 here, which I understand is rather similar, and we've been pretty well pleased by it so far. I like how all the color cartridges are separate. I haven't actually figured out if it's saving me money, but it seems less wasteful.

[kyrielle]

*grins* It does to me as well, yes. And my last printer could be in either color OR black and white mode, so a black-and-white page with one color grace note used lots of color to produce black. I like that this one always has the black and the colors, so it can minimize use of colors for black on a mixed page.