Why don't the new printers last?

[rpaul666]

I'm curious, is it me or do the new printers on the market not last as long as the old ones?

I never encountered printer problems until the last couple of years. I have gone through five printers in less than two years. Before my printers would last indefinately.

Since June I have gone through two that just quit working. When I try to get tech support forget it.

I used to spend beaucoup bucks for top of the line printers that were big and heavy. Now I can't find that type of printer any longer. The new ones that are supposed to be of the same quality weigh a fraction of what the old ones did. Of course, these new printers are about half the price or less than the old ones. And ink doesn't last for a ream of paper anymore and I used to get much longer service from an ink cartridage. Poor quality, ink cartridges that don't last, and the printers don't last, not to mention no tech support are just a few of the deficecies I now am aware of now.

Is it just me?

 

[TRDCorolla1]

No, it's not just you. I agree with you. Printers are made cheaper these days. I'm using my third new printer in three years, go figure. You really don't need top of the line printer. The cheaper $50 ones from HP works great, maybe not as fast but quality is there. WHen your ink runs out, don't buy new inks. Buy a new printer. Printers are so cheap (DIRT CHEAP) that I can buy a brand spanking new HP printer for the same cost if I were to buy a whole new set of ink. Printers are getting to be as cheap as cars. Not made to last, disposable seems like.

 

[catalyst1]

I think everything is getting made cheaper these days. I can't really say that for my printer though. I have one of those HP all-in-ones, and it's lasted me for a good three years now. Also, i've only bought one color cartridge and a few black cartridges since I've owned it. Granted, I don't print too often, but still - that's a long time.

 

[wozelbeak]

get yourelf a lexmark printer. i didn't think that i would ever say this, but they have great customer support. i had a printer for about 9 months, it started to act up a bit. after i tested it about 20 times i found that the interface between the cartridge and the printer was not working correctly. i rang lexmarks customer support who answered fairly quickly. the techy lady made me do various tests on it. (although i assured her that i had done them 10 times before) then she said please dispose of your old one, we will have a new one with you in three days. well i nearly fell off my chair! and true to their word i had my new all in one centre within three days.
so all credit to lexmark.
woz

 

[rpaul666]

Wozelbeak,

I am glad that you have had good luck with your Lexmark, I have not had good luck with mine.

On the advice of a friend, after my more expensive HP took a dump last spring, I purchased a Lex at the local Wal Mart at the end of June. Less than a month later I was back at the store to return it, with little trouble. No Tech support from LEX. I pruchased a newer more expensive ($79.00) model Lex and took it home. I printed two or three times with it during the first couple of weeks in July and had to hit the road. I noticed that the first page of every document I printed was darker and heavier print than subsequent pages. Another problem, every time I tried to print after restarting the computer I was prompted to check connections and other things as connectivity could not be established. I would unplug and plug the USB into the computer and this solved the problem, just a little frustrating.

When I returned I began experiencing problems from the start and finally the other day while attempting to print the unit quit and has never operated since.

I unistalled and reinstalled the software, no help. I again e-mailed for Tech Support no answer other than the auto replies. So, I'm not going to put out anymore money for a Lex.

My HP Office Jet R-60 that produced reams of printed paper over a five years period finally gave it up last year after many years of faithful service. BTW, I never had a problem with early HPs either. Bought a new Office type printer, scanner, copier, FAX machine from a well known computer store and purchased the extended warranty. This unit gave up after about 9-10 months service. HP or the computer store would do nothing for me when I told them I used the unit for work related projects.

So, I sit here this weekend with no printer contemplating which one to buy. As the earlier post stated, it is now cheaper to buy a printer on sale (59 to 69) than go buy a new print cartridge. And the new print cartridges don't get moer than a ream of paper on them and they are out. Some don't even get a full ream.

I was at the local cost saving store today and they had an Epson on sale for $70.00. Maybe I'll buy it and give it a try. And I don't buy anything that offers a mail-in rebate, they never arrive in the mail.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Kage]

Yeah, they are made cheaper, and now are costing less than the ink to buy... so they don't last as long, no.