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539

Case in point, the Brother DCP-J1200DW.

Older couple operates a small flower shop, most of their business these days is funerals and grave maintenance, go figure... Their maybe 6 years old Canon scanner/printer/copier gave up, won't print blue anymore or only for a little while.

They ask if it's worth fixing? Probably not, I say. A new print head might fix the problem but will cost almost as much as a new printer. Also I can't be sure if that would ultimately fix the problem or if there's something wrong with the hardware.

The run a business, so investing into a new printer after 6 years is not an issue. I'll pick one, I say. Famous last words. Color laser would be my first choice because of the low maintenance aspect.

But we need to print good looking photos. And we would really like to print them at home, not go to a store where you have them printed one one of those machines. They're old and have a hard time learning new workflows. Ok, an ink pisser it is. They had one for years, how hard could it be.

I go to a dealer and look for a printer/scanner. The Brother above shows up. It's cheap and ink cartridges are in the expensive-ish range like most of them. Third party ink is available. Order, pay, delivery and today... Setup.

Setup runs smoothly although I immediately frown upon those giant ink cartridges with much plastic and little ink. They're supposed to last 750 pages. That would probably mean new ink every three months I estimate, considering their logo is in color and they print maybe 30 invoices a month plus less than 10 small photos on glossy. I know that the 750 is based on a different and somewhat unrealistic usage scenario.

Software is downloaded fresh from the web site. Printer wants a firmware update, freshly installed software wants an update. Spend an ungodly amount of time watching green and blue download and installation progress bars grow. By the way, the software says: Would you like to make an ink subscription with us? Would you like to become a member in our super-secret Brother club where we look at your personal data? Nope and nope.

Meanwhile printer spits out its first test page. All jets are working.

Would you like to install our app on your mobile device? Why, yes I would. There would be a legitimate use for it, if it was any good. If not, get rid of it, what's the big deal. App installed I make the mistake of trying a test print of a photo of an invoice in A4. Takes three or four minutes to complete. Looks like the photo but to achieve this, the printer had to put ink everywhere because, of course the "white" in the photo is more of a yellowish greyish hue. Oh well, thank god I don't have to pay for ink and I ordered two packs extra.

By coincidence I notice the ink monitor. Hmm, yellow is over half empty? Magenta is down almost half? That can't be right, maybe it'll sort itself out.

Print an invoice from the word processor. Yes, they use a word processor for that, basically it's a type writer emulation. Nice and fast, looks ok.

On to photos. No extra paper slot for those but that's no big deal. Print one 4x6" pic on glossy. Damn paper was in the wrong way around. Print another one and it comes out with the upper 20% looking good, then fading and an ink warning comes up.

Are you kidding me right now? https://pic8.co/sh/1tSqrw.jpg This is where I make the gesture with my thumb across my throat. Thing was packed up right then and there, return process has already been initiated.

I will settle for a decent product at this point but I don't even know where to start. The ink jet printer marketplace is a web of pitfalls and lies made for the illiterate.

Maybe I'll go look for that new print head after all or find an identical model on ebay, IDK. I need a drink.

Case in point, the Brother DCP-J1200DW. Older couple operates a small flower shop, most of their business these days is funerals and grave maintenance, go figure... Their maybe 6 years old Canon scanner/printer/copier gave up, won't print blue anymore or only for a little while. They ask if it's worth fixing? Probably not, I say. A new print head might fix the problem but will cost almost as much as a new printer. Also I can't be sure if that would ultimately fix the problem or if there's something wrong with the hardware. The run a business, so investing into a new printer after 6 years is not an issue. I'll pick one, I say. Famous last words. Color laser would be my first choice because of the low maintenance aspect. But we need to print good looking photos. And we would really like to print them at home, not go to a store where you have them printed one one of those machines. They're old and have a hard time learning new workflows. Ok, an ink pisser it is. They had one for years, how hard could it be. I go to a dealer and look for a printer/scanner. The Brother above shows up. It's cheap and ink cartridges are in the expensive-ish range like most of them. Third party ink is available. Order, pay, delivery and today... Setup. Setup runs smoothly although I immediately frown upon those giant ink cartridges with much plastic and little ink. They're supposed to last 750 pages. That would probably mean new ink every three months I estimate, considering their logo is in color and they print maybe 30 invoices a month plus less than 10 small photos on glossy. I know that the 750 is based on a different and somewhat unrealistic usage scenario. Software is downloaded fresh from the web site. Printer wants a firmware update, freshly installed software wants an update. Spend an ungodly amount of time watching green and blue download and installation progress bars grow. By the way, the software says: Would you like to make an ink subscription with us? Would you like to become a member in our super-secret Brother club where we look at your personal data? Nope and nope. Meanwhile printer spits out its first test page. All jets are working. Would you like to install our app on your mobile device? Why, yes I would. There would be a legitimate use for it, if it was any good. If not, get rid of it, what's the big deal. App installed I make the mistake of trying a test print of a photo of an invoice in A4. Takes three or four minutes to complete. Looks like the photo but to achieve this, the printer had to put ink everywhere because, of course the "white" in the photo is more of a yellowish greyish hue. Oh well, thank god I don't have to pay for ink and I ordered two packs extra. By coincidence I notice the ink monitor. Hmm, yellow is over half empty? Magenta is down almost half? That can't be right, maybe it'll sort itself out. Print an invoice from the word processor. Yes, they use a word processor for that, basically it's a type writer emulation. Nice and fast, looks ok. On to photos. No extra paper slot for those but that's no big deal. Print one 4x6" pic on glossy. Damn paper was in the wrong way around. Print another one and it comes out with the upper 20% looking good, then fading and an ink warning comes up. Are you kidding me right now? https://pic8.co/sh/1tSqrw.jpg This is where I make the gesture with my thumb across my throat. Thing was packed up right then and there, return process has already been initiated. I will settle for a decent product at this point but I don't even know where to start. The ink jet printer marketplace is a web of pitfalls and lies made for the illiterate. Maybe I'll go look for that new print head after all or find an identical model on ebay, IDK. I need a drink.
[–] • 2 pts

I went to my local MicroCenter and specifically asked for a printer that doesn't upcharge on ink. They sold me an Epson with internal reservoirs that refills from bottles. ET-2800. It actually uses more black ink than color ink.

[–] • 0 pt

Should have got the color laser printer. I had a Lexmark inkjet 25 years ago and decided back they should be avoided. I've had this Brother laser printer for 10 years now, printed hundreds if not thousands of pages, and they still look perfect.