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Printers: the ubiquitous symbol of modern hell
The UK Telegraph ^ | February 26th, 2013 | By Jack Rivlin

Posted on 02/26/2013 6:58:01 AM PST by US Navy Vet

Warning: this blog post does not tackle the big issues of the week. But it is about one of life's recurring frustrations. Printers. Guardian Money reported yesterday how printing companies are screwing consumers with smaller cartridges. Measure-for-measure, ink is now more expensive than vintage champagne. Hewlett Packard cartridges, for example, are five times worse value than a decade ago.

The other manufacturers are just as bad, making cartridges smaller and harder to refill. They've got ink on their hands. Epson say the technology is more efficient now, meaning it's better value. They're efficient all right, when they work. The machines are the most temperamental, rage-inducing beasts ever inflicted on us.

(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Conspiracy
KEYWORDS: hp; printers
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It's a CONSPIRACY!
1 posted on 02/26/2013 6:58:07 AM PST by US Navy Vet
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To: US Navy Vet

Last time my printer ran out of ink, I bought a new printer at Walmart cheaper than two cartridges (Black and Color) would have cost me.

Yes Cartridges are a rip off. There is no excuse for charging what they do for ink.


2 posted on 02/26/2013 7:01:46 AM PST by Venturer
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To: Venturer

I bought a new printer at Walmart cheaper than two cartridges (Black and Color) would have cost me.

That may be the answer to the problem. Buy a cheap printer everytime you need ink and put the old printer in the landfill.


3 posted on 02/26/2013 7:06:49 AM PST by stars & stripes forever ((Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord!))
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To: Venturer

Printer manufacturers are on to that trick.

The cartridges that come with printers are minimally-filled.


4 posted on 02/26/2013 7:08:51 AM PST by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: US Navy Vet

Just get a CISS. Ink cartridges are for suckers.


5 posted on 02/26/2013 7:11:03 AM PST by perfect_rovian_storm
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To: US Navy Vet

Laser printing has been good for me. The printer costs $99, and a 3000-page cartridge costs $75.


6 posted on 02/26/2013 7:11:44 AM PST by proxy_user
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To: US Navy Vet
ink is now more expensive than vintage champagne

Enbrel, a widely-prescribed drug used for treating several autoimmune diseases, costs $10 per milligram. That's $10,000 per gram, or $4.5 million per pound.

7 posted on 02/26/2013 7:12:29 AM PST by Steely Tom (If the Constitution can be a living document, I guess a corporation can be a person.)
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To: US Navy Vet

By comparison, the printers of today are quite nice. I recall wrestling with an Okidata Microline123 many, many years ago. That’s when I learned to hate printers.


8 posted on 02/26/2013 7:15:44 AM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts (Here once the embattled farmers stood... And fired the shot heard round the world.)
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To: US Navy Vet

A friend of mine says the conspiracy is really in razor blades. Like printers, they literally give away the razors and then stick it to you on the blades. He spends something like $40 for a package of blades at Costco.


9 posted on 02/26/2013 7:16:20 AM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: US Navy Vet

HP is Evil!


10 posted on 02/26/2013 7:17:23 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: DoodleDawg

Same may be coming with guns....give away guns, but the bullets will cost a fortune.


11 posted on 02/26/2013 7:18:26 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: Steely Tom

I use enbrel, auto injector once a week..

retail price, 700 bucks a shot...


12 posted on 02/26/2013 7:21:11 AM PST by joe fonebone (The clueless... they walk among us, and they vote...)
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To: proxy_user

Yep - Laser printers are the only way to go! My last Toner cart lasted me for 3 or 4 years.


13 posted on 02/26/2013 7:22:46 AM PST by Slump Tester (What if I'm pregnant Teddy? Errr-ahh -Calm down Mary Jo, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it)
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To: joe fonebone

Well then call me Beelzebub because I support about 1,100 of them a year.


14 posted on 02/26/2013 7:28:56 AM PST by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
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To: Steely Tom

—— Enbrel, a widely-prescribed drug used for treating several autoimmune diseases, costs $10 per milligram. That’s $10,000 per gram, or $4.5 million per pound. -——

I’m on a similarly expensive biologic anti-inflammatory drug. Without it, I would be crippled and blind. I would have other symptoms too, which I would rather not describe.

Because of healthcare “reforms,” my out-of-pocket cost is now $700/mo.

But it won’t be long before I look back on this as the good old days. In Canada, my med is simply unavailable on the national health. In the UK, patients are entitled to one five-week treatment/year. (I hear this on RA chat boards.)

With these meds, I can play b-ball at age 50.

I’m preparing for the inevitable, though, which is the inexpensive and toxic combo of mega-doses of methotrexate and steroids.

Thanks Obama, and your RINO enablers.


15 posted on 02/26/2013 7:43:22 AM PST by St_Thomas_Aquinas
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To: US Navy Vet

Years ago, I had a Cannon inkjet. It worked fine, until I needed to replace the cartridges. Then, the printhead would stall or the machine would send an error regarding the ink cartridge. The machine became junk.

Next, I bought a Lennox inkjet. It had a short warranty (60 days, IIRC). Over the two months I had it, I printed about 20 sheets. Then, the printhead jammed. Of course, it was out of warranty. I never could get it work. It was a piece of JUNK.

Next, I bought a desktop Minolta PagePro b/w laser. Great little printer. I seldom print more than a few pages a month. Every time I would turn it on to print some thing — no problem, great printing results. That is — until Windows7 64-bit. No driver. Someone had created a quick-fix driver for the 32-bit, but nothing for the 64-bit. I sent the printer to a relative who had also inherited my older XP laptop when I finally bought a new Win7 laptop. That Minolta was still using the original cartridge after about 5 years of my owning it.

Next, about 4 years ago, I ran across a Xerox color laser. It, too, works fine and is still on the original cartridges. When I upgraded from XP to Win7 with a new laptop and later a new desktop, I discovered the Xerox had built-in wireless. The laptop recognized it and set it up with no problem. I have it wire-connected to the desktop computer.

The beauty with laser printers is that their printing heads don’t clog like inkjets.

Laser printers are very cheap. The Xerox color I got on cyberMonday for $150. I have occasionally seen color lasers for under $100.


16 posted on 02/26/2013 7:49:45 AM PST by TomGuy
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To: US Navy Vet

Stop printing.

Print to an Adobe .pdf file.


17 posted on 02/26/2013 7:53:53 AM PST by FoxPro
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To: St_Thomas_Aquinas

yeah, I had the “Meth” word pulled out on me too..

I am allergic to aspirin and aspirin products...

the only way they would allow me (prescription coverage people) on biologics is if i had a reaction to the aspirin based products..

they were given to me, and as expected, i had an adverse reaction...

meth is probably in my future ( for those reading, methotrexate is the same drug they use in chemotherapy )


18 posted on 02/26/2013 8:02:57 AM PST by joe fonebone (The clueless... they walk among us, and they vote...)
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To: stars & stripes forever; Venturer

“Buy a cheap printer everytime you need ink and put the old printer in the landfill.”

One problem is that the cartridges you get when you buy the printer are often reduced capacity cartridges, so they don’t last as long as the ones you pay full price for. Personally, I would just buy a small color laser printer, because they are pretty affordable nowadays, and the toner is usually at least half the price of inkjet ink, per page.


19 posted on 02/26/2013 8:03:38 AM PST by Boogieman
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To: Steely Tom

“That’s $10,000 per gram”

The Columbians are chumps when it comes to the drug game!


20 posted on 02/26/2013 8:05:30 AM PST by Boogieman
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