Out of the Blue

[Jul 28, 2009, 09:19 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

Working with technology can cause one to anthropomorphize their devices, inspiring comments like "I think printers hate me," which is something I uttered more than a couple of times yesterday. I think one of the problems is I keep getting these all-in-one printer/scanner/fax machine dealies, which suit my needs, but obviously have more ways to fail. Anyway, over the years my printers have tended to be cruel to me, and yesterday another went tango uniform, right as I needed to send a fax (decoding the error message, it was telling me "you're screwed"), so I am now on my fourth all-in-one in about five years, spanning three brands and various price points. I think if I suffer another premature device demise I'll just give up and buy separate a printer and fax. Maybe it's my fault for overburdening, since we do average about a page a week in printing, which doesn't even account for the added impact of 10 faxes a year.

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22 Replies. 2 pages. Viewing page 1.
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22.

Re: All n One's

Jul 29, 2009, 08:29

kanniballl

My only question is who the hell still uses faxes and why?

It's faster than scanning to a .pdf and mailing it.

Also, for whatever reason, some places will only accept certain things either via mail (perhaps registered) or fax. I asked a place once if I could email a scanned copy of something and they said "no" (and wouldn't elaborate).

I find it funny, as it's just a easy to forge/alter something being faxed than a scanned (or printed-to-PDF) copy. Since the Fax quality is usually quite poor you might not see the tell-tale-signs of a fake.

I'd imagine there might be something along the lines of a company having a strict SOP that says how they can accept X, Y, and Z. Perhaps the SOP is old, perhaps not. In either case someone there thinks it's either not worth the bother to change the SOP or are scared at the potential for forgeries/fakes/viruses/etc.

To play devil's advocate on the fear, if you email something IMPORTANT then I imagine there's a greater chance of it being retrieved by someone in the vast Internet and I doubt many consumers (or companies) are setup to do any kind of email encryption.

With a fax it's pretty much site-to-site unless someone is tapping the line or whatever. So then you only have to worry about your staff not leaking something.

This comment was edited on Jul 29, 2009, 08:33.




"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

21.

Re: All n One's

Jul 29, 2009, 01:03

sauron

My only question is who the hell still uses faxes and why?

It's faster than scanning to a .pdf and mailing it.

I recently started printing direct to pdf and just emailing the pdf. Works great except for those times where you just need a paper copy for pencil editing. Very recommended.




Kittens!

20.

Re: Measuring Calories in a Liquid

Jul 28, 2009, 22:06

Enahs

I seem to recall, years ago, measuring the calories in substances by burning them and weighing the difference.

That is simple calorimetry, yes.
But not ultimately 100% correct for food calories. You can burn cardboard and measure the energy content in calories. But you are not going to get in calories out of it if you eat it.

How do you measure calories in a liquid? You can't burn it and if you dehydrate it, don't you inevitably wind up drawing off some calories?

If we are talking food, yes you can dehydrate it and remove water and then do the simple calorimetry. Sugars, fats and proteins are not going to boil away at those temperatures.




I am free of all prejudice. I hate everyone equally. - W. C. Fields

19.

a solution for the fax issue..

Jul 28, 2009, 18:15

shul

Blue, if you need to fax there are ways to fax from your computer, here is one: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/hwandprograms/printfaxscan.mspx (didn't try it, but u should)

18.

Re: Out of the Blue

Jul 28, 2009, 18:13

shul

yeah, brother are no better, believe me... it's all a matter of luck+buying good products (and they are rare)

17.

Re: Out of the Blue

Jul 28, 2009, 17:59

Hoop

We had major issues with combo printers at work until purchasing a Brother printer, fax, scanner.




Um .. Behind you...

16.

Measuring Calories in a Liquid

Jul 28, 2009, 17:40

unaloony

I seem to recall, years ago, measuring the calories in substances by burning them and weighing the difference. How do you measure calories in a liquid? You can't burn it and if you dehydrate it, don't you inevitably wind up drawing off some calories?

15.

Re: All n One's

Jul 28, 2009, 17:40

PHJF

My only question is who the hell still uses faxes and why?

It's faster than scanning to a .pdf and mailing it.




Steam + PSN: PHJF

14.

Re: All n One's

Jul 28, 2009, 16:55

Blue

My only question is who the hell still uses faxes and why?

I dunno, I contacted them by telegraph, but they never replied.

I think my Morse Code may be rusty...




Stephen "Blue" Heaslip Blue's News Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, El Presidente for Life

13.

Re: All n One's

Jul 28, 2009, 16:46

Cutter

My only question is who the hell still uses faxes and why? They really need to try coming into the 21st century.




"There are two kinds of people in this world; people who love delis, and people you shouldn’t associate with.” - Damon Runyan

12.

Re: All n One's

Jul 28, 2009, 13:08

kanniballl

I hate printers, they all break. All except for the leased photocopier/printers, which cost a fortune to lease and charge per print, but funnily enough repairs are free for the one machine that never breaks

My experience is that a solid laser printer can outlast a solid inkjet.

I have an old HP Laserjet 4L. We got the thing in the mid 1990's and the thing is still trucking away. That's at least 15 years of use.

While it doesn't get that much use today, I still use it on occasion. And during the 1990s and early 2000's it was used VERY heavily for schoolwork by myself and my brothers for varying levels of school.

Granted it's quite slow by today's standards (particularly when it has to warm up) and the resolution is too low to bother with images and sometimes even for maps, but for a non-smear Laser print of text it works quite well.

Meanwhile my mother has had to replace her color printers a few times over the last 5-10 years. I think it's been 2 Inkjets and 2-3 all-in-one's.

This comment was edited on Jul 28, 2009, 13:16.




"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

11.

Re: All n One's

Jul 28, 2009, 13:01

I hate printers, they all break. All except for the leased photocopier/printers, which cost a fortune to lease and charge per print, but funnily enough repairs are free for the one machine that never breaks.

10.

Re: All n One's

Jul 28, 2009, 12:41

shul

Except that it was my Canon MX830 that died lol As a current sysadmin not far away from you I'd suggest to declare this as a loosing battle and work around it with contingencies - for example, buy separate fax and printer and get two of each (not the same kind, so we get redundancy) - this way if one goes out you always have a replacement. Oh, and don't buy refurbished. ever.

Re: All n One's

Jul 28, 2009, 12:09

Kxmode

I have this mental image of Blue as Michael Bolton from Office Space, smashing the hell out of his printer/fax.

"PC Load Letter"? What the fuck does that mean?

I'm more like Samir when he says "No, not again. I... why does it say paper jam when there is no paper jam? I swear to God, one of these days, I just kick this piece of shit out the window."

To which Blue would say, "You and me both, man. That thing is lucky I'm not armed."

And I'd reply "Piece of shit."

Bat




"It is possible to synthesize excited bromide in an argon matrix. It’s an excimer frozen in its excited state."

Re: Out of the Blue

Jul 28, 2009, 12:08

Hyatus

Just played that Cooking Mama game and I'm wondering where I can get bleeding eggs at. Also, Cooking Mama should have her name rescinded as apparently she leaves most of her food very raw.

Re: All n One's

Jul 28, 2009, 12:01

Hazard

The other brand I've had trouble with was HP, but I know people who swear by the most recent models.

I also used an HP and a Canon. The HP was nothing but trouble. None of the components worked well and the drivers were horrible. Plus the ink had a tendency to clog up, even with regular use (and yes, official super-expensive HP ink).

I am much more happy with the Canon now. A much better machine: good printer, good scanner/fax, good copier and ink is quite cheap.

But then again, I've only had it for half a year, so maybe the bad stuff is still coming.

All I can say is that getting a separate printer and fax is probably redundant. While the printer is simpler, the fax still also contains a scanner and a printer, even if these components have lower quality. I don't think you'll reduce the likelihood of something going wrong - you will probably still end up with just as many problems, only localized to a single function.

This comment was edited on Jul 28, 2009, 12:03.




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Re: All n One's

Jul 28, 2009, 10:35

InBlack

I for one welcome the coming of our artificial overlords see no problem with smarter-than-human machines.

After all thats what life is. Biological machines.

Recent neurological advances have show that the human brain is much more like a machine than we thought previously, and many of our so called "conscious" functions are more or less done on a very sub-conscious level.




I have a nifty blue line!

Re: All n One's

Jul 28, 2009, 10:28

nin

I have this mental image of Blue as Michael Bolton from Office Space, smashing the hell out of his printer/fax.

"PC Load Letter"? What the fuck does that mean?




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Re: All n One's

Jul 28, 2009, 10:16

Efflixi

Blue: This is just for you! http://www.videosift.com/video/You-Know-What-s-Bullshit-Printers

Re: All n One's

Jul 28, 2009, 10:13

Blue

I came in here to suggest the Canon MX860, but I see HardCore beat me to it.

Except that it was my Canon MX830 that died, just like the Canon that preceded it. I loved them when they worked, but each died with a similar abruptness, and researching my latest vague error message for solutions just lead to numerous other people with the problem, but no solution. So basically I'm off Canon for now. The other brand I've had trouble with was HP, but I know people who swear by the most recent models.

I ended up getting a pretty full-featured Epson pretty cheap. I like it so far, but I liked the Canons too until they died, so the real test will be if this has any longevity.




Stephen "Blue" Heaslip Blue's News Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, El Presidente for Life

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