I need a printer.

@narfcake Brother FTW!

@narfcake I have a Brother all-in-one. It uses four different ink cartridges (one for each color). If ONE of them runs out, it will not print (even if you set it to BW. I did find a workaround.)

@narfcake I got a B&W that color scans to PC as a PDF or JPG, for documents. I got it because I can fill the toner myself if I would ever choose. I wish I got the Google printing, it will definitely be on the next PC.

rant:
Seriously Google. WTF Apple users don’t need a PC running to print from their tablets. They don’t need an Apple certified printer, their stuff just works.

@sgrazi Almost every color printer has that same issue. You should be careful as well to choose color settings when printing in accordance with the output you want. Printers often waste color ink when printing black and white documents unless you specifically specify grayscale.

@caffeine_dude why are we blaming Google for the lack of support on products they don’t make?

@jbartus
Tradition

/giphy "blame google"

@daveinwarsh Almost all HP printers now have a chip in the cartridge that responds back with its ink/toner level. Embedded in that chip is also its manufactured date/expiration date. Some HP models will refuse to print if the cartridge is expired, regardless if its unused.

Canon, Epson, and Samsung also use a lot of chipped cartridges, but last I know, they didn’t have a self-expiration like HP.

Never mind the brouhaha a couple months ago when their security update blocked third party cartridges …
https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/29/hp-issues-non-apology-for-blocking-third-party-ink-cartridges/

@narfcake That sucks. Thanks.

Costco refills cartridges. They replace the chip on many HP cartridges with each fill & reset the chip on many Canon and Epson cartridges.

@mamawoot
That is good to know.

I dumped my printer in s garage sale after they staring auto expiring the cartridges. Assholes.

@narfcake I need a printer too. Is this complicated to figure out how to set up and use it? I don’t know anything about printers.

@Barney It shouldn’t be, but I will admit that I’ve worked on computers for nearly 30 years now too – and one time, I wanted to print a coupon out at a thrift store, so I grabbed a Brother printer off the shelf, set up its wireless, and printed what I needed off my phone.

Then I used that coupon to save $10 and bought the printer.

@narfcake
Any good network printer/scanners from Brother?

@f00l This one scans/prints on the network.

Brother printers even work with Windows Phone, which is why I bought it. The $7 Dell I previously bought (with 90% toner remaining) doesn’t.

@narfcake Target has this for $118 and free shipping. Do you know anything about ordering from them?
http://www.target.com/p/brother-dcp-l2540dw-compact-laser-multifunction-copier-black-brtdcpl254/-/A-50835971?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&CPNG=PLA_Electronics+Shopping&adgroup=SC_Electronics&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=g&device=c&location=9024247&gclid=CN3YuKWOp9ACFRCRaQodr8wEog&gclsrc=aw.ds

@Barney Haven’t ordered from Target online before, but they should be fine. And $12 is almost another catshirt, so that’s nice too!

I will say this – if you’re not in a super rush, wait and see if Black Friday/Cyber-Monday/whatever-sale-we-feel-like comes up in the following few weeks. That could be a few more dollars saved.

@narfcake This is going to be a birthday/Christmas gift from me to me, so there is no hurry. I’ll be following all the ads.

@Barney

Well that’s not right that you’re buying yourself a gift. You won’t be surprised.

@PlacidPenguin The surprise will be if I can get it to work.

If you have the Target RedCard you get 5% off and free shipping!

@narfcake @Barney I have this printer. I love it. Staples puts it on promo/sale very frequently, so check their black friday circular as well.

@narfcake Thanks, I’m buying this one. I put a camelcamelcamel price watch on it, and if it doesn’t drop by mid-December, I’ll just buy it then.

@Collin1000 I get their specials email, I’ll be watching there, too. Thank you.

@narfcake
With this printer can you just set it up network and start printing w/out installing massive drivers on a pc?

Or plug it in, setup a Bluetooth connection, start printing? I want a printer where I don’t have to go thru a painful installation process and use printing sw I hate.

@f00l Everything needs their own drivers, so you’re not going to escape that part. The wireless is wi-fi, not Bluetooth; it’ll connect on your existing network.

(In my on-site setup/test, I also grabbed an old router and did a reset on that for the printer to connect to.)

@f00l
I remember once wasting more than 4 hours trying to install hp printer drivers and sw for a brand new hp printer/scanner onto a brand new hp desktop for a friend.

The install failed and failed. Both products were less than 6 months onto market. Finally after much googling, got it going. Was kludgy to use also.

One of the reasons I started avoiding ho stuff. Have to admit their business printers are magnificent tho.

@f00l Ditto. I have had some products that should just ‘work’ natively due to being from the same company that were a super PITA to install/setup.
@narfcake …sigh, 30 years… yep, I can remember using an old teletype setup that was linked to the mainframe at Mc/Douglas when I was in High School. You would dial in (rotary dial) then drop the handset in the cradle to connect. You had to type in all the code for your program, and when you disconnected after running it, NONE OF IT WAS STORED. If you wanted to run it again, you had to start over.
My first personal computer was one I bought using the old “computer shopper” magazine/catalog that was ordered piece by piece and assembled by a company and was running DOS. From that point on I started just getting the parts and building them out myself. Now I can’t get close to the same capability for anywhere near the price I can buy a complete system… my, how times have changed!

@PlacidPenguin That’s an inkjet. So if you need to print in color this would be the best option.
Otherwise, laser printers are way more economical.

@ELUNO

Correct.

@ELUNO unless you’re paying for a high end unit from Epson or Canon or the like that uses pigment based inks for higher color fidelity there’s nothing better about an inkjet for color. O_o

@jbartus Uhm, how about price?

@ELUNO the yield from inkjets is far lower on a per cartridge basis, it’s a false economy.

@jbartus I was talking more about upfront costs, plus, on a per cartridge basis? It is usually measured on a per print quantity.
I am pretty sure prices have come down since I last checked, but inkjet was more economical than laser color prints.
Plus with laser you have to factor in more maintenance. (toner, fuser, drums, etc.)

@ELUNO they have higher up front costs but are more economical in the long run. For one thing you’d be amazed at how much ink is wasted just cleaning the print heads on an inkjet. Cartridges are laughably small and, while cheaper, still quite expensive.

Take for example the printer @PlacidPenguin has, the cost per page is 3.8 cents for grayscale, 11.3 for color. By comparison there are many laser units on the market offering far better economy, more like ~1.5 cents per page for grayscale and a similar reduction for color.

Toner and Ink are equivalents so I’m not sure why you called toner out separately. Fusers are not overly expensive and yield around 60,000 pages before they start developing problems on even low end machines, far higher yields on machines with a higher monthly duty cycle. As for drums, depending on the manufacturer there may or may not be an independent drum unit. I know Canon has some cartridge models now that integrate the drum and toner units, they work quite well and eliminate the concern of a drum failing at the worst possible time while only modestly affecting the toner price.

The biggest key to getting the most out of your laser printer is to nut up and front the extra money for the High Capacity toner cartridges, almost every manufacturer has one and, while they are quite expensive relative to normal cartridges, their output life is usually double or more.

With all of that said, unless someone is printing graphics-heavy documents from home all of the time there’s really no reason to go to all of the expense of buying a color laser printer and filling it with toner, your prints will be more economical but you’ll also be sitting there with at minimum five or six hundred dollars worth of money tied up in machine + toner. My objection was simply to the idea that Inkjet somehow meant better color printing.

… but you’ll also be sitting there with at minimum five or six hundred dollars worth of money tied up in machine + toner.

@jbartus Not here. My Minolta color laser was a curbside find; it didn’t work because there was a piece of paper stuck inside. Removed it, and all has been well. Page count when I picked it up - 273.

@narfcake But you’re the Secondhand Saint. None of the rest of us are as lucky that way as you.

@narfcake
Please send me your bargain hunter skillset during the next Meh exchange.

@narfcake that’s just unfair, how am I supposed to fit that kind of utter stupidity on the part of the prior owner into my fiscal analysis?

On a similar note I scored a $1000 generator for $100 because someone didn’t know how to reset the oil level sensor (unplug sensor, start generator, plug back in). Number of hours on generator: 2

@compunaut Black cats.

http://shirt.woot.com/offers/the-new-good-luck

@f00l Got any tape?

http://shirt.woot.com/offers/make-your-own-luck

@jbartus Nice! Expanding from the other thread, the first Dyson I bought because it didn’t suck well; it looked like the filter had never been washed. The second one didn’t suck at all. Right at the store, I pulled the hose, saw a paper wad stuck inside, dislodged it (and the hairball behind it), and it was good to go. And it was half-price for that colored tag that day.

@Barney

You had help with taking pictures/uploading them. You’ll get help with working a printer.

(I nominate @narfcake to help you. After all, he said himself that he has over 30 years experience.)

@PlacidPenguin I’m blaming you that you misread “nearly” as “over”.

@narfcake

There’s a reason why I said what I said in regards to how I said it.

@PlacidPenguin I don’t hear @narfcake enthusiastically supporting your volunteering him to help me. I guess he saw how hard it was to get me to figure out how to post pictures.

@Barney

He really does. He just doesn’t know it yet.

@Barney The penguin’s right.
/giphy purple helping hugs

@narfcake @Barney

Of course I’m right.

Wait…
Right about what exactly?

@Barney Printing is easier than it used to be, but it is still the hardest thing most people do with computers. First, if you only want to print in black/white, you likely want a laser. If you only want to print photos, you likely want a photo printer. Otherwise, you likely want an ordinary inkjet printer.

The printer will come with setup instructions. Once set up, printing will work most of the time…

@PlacidPenguin That I’d help @barney if it won’t connect.

You’re also correct about Animaniacs. And being the scapepenguin of the month.

@sligett Hmm, set up instructions: Place tab A in slot B? I’m in trouble. Confession time: Mom was the computer geek in our family. She had a Dell color printer, that is just about worn out. But we didn’t use the color printing very much, so I’m a thinking of a laser printer.

@narfcake

1. It’s unlikely I’d get Animaniacs or Tiny Toons wrong.

2. Scapenguin

@narfcake I’m going to be sitting on your doorstep.:) (thank you)

@Barney
Just follow the flying catshirts and you’ll find @narfcake’a doorstep.

@f00l
https://meh.com/forum/topics/catshirtswoot

@PlacidPenguin

There’s a reason why I said what I said in regards to how I said it.

Please explain why you said what you said in regards to how you said and something about a “reason” also.

Or was that a “raison d’être”?

Whichever. I’m patient.

/giphy raisin

@f00l

I don’t eat raisins.

@PlacidPenguin

Do you consume raison d’être?

@f00l

@PlacidPenguin Porpoise?
/image porpoise

/image purple porpoise

/image purpose porpoise

@PlacidPenguin

From google

rai·son d’ê·tre
ˌrāzôn ˈdetrə/
noun
the most important reason or purpose for someone or something’s existence.
“an institution whose raison d’être is public service broadcasting”

Sure, French; ¿why translate? This phrase appears in English literature, essays, journalism, legal and academic writing all the time. In England the “chattering classes” use it with some frequency in formal and casual speech.

Urban Dictionary

raison d’etre

1. sense of purpose, your individual sense of purpose in life.
2. Dogfish Head Ale makes a tasty beer called raison d’etre, it is %8.0 alcohol, it is brewed with raisons and a sense of purpose.
   Jason: So Bob how’s the new job?
   Bob: I love it bro, I’ve finally found my Raison D’etre.
   Jason: What the fuck are talking about, your raison tree? Dude you’re such a loser. Why the hell would do you use words that nobody else knows?

raison d’etre
(n.) Ray-sohn D’etrah.
In French, literally, "Reason of being/ Reason (of) to be."
Raison D’etre is a term used to signify one’s own existence. It is used to show that one has rights to be where they are or to do as they are doing.
“John lost his girlfriend, and as well his future, lost his raison d’etre. They found the body that afternoon when the school called to report his absence.”

@f00l

I’ve never seen it in any literature (of any kind) which I’ve come across.

@narfcake

/giphy nibbling on a porpoise

@PlacidPenguin

A few examples. I just dug these up. Had already read some of them.

Angela Davis
"My idea of philosophy is that if it is not relevant to human problems, if it does not tell us how we can go about eradicating some of the misery in this world, then it is not worth the name of philosophy. I think Socrates made a very profound statement when he asserted that the raison d’etre of philosophy is to teach us proper living. In this day and age ‘proper living’ means liberation from the urgent problems of poverty, economic necessity and indoctrination, mental oppression."

Stephen Chu
"Education in my family was not merely emphasized, it was our raison d’être."

Norman Jewison
"I try to find stories that I would think that everyone would find interesting, and just a good entertaining story, and then if I can find a story that has a raison d’etre behind it that I feel is important then that’s the best for me."

Edward Said
"The central fact for me is, I think, that the [role of the] intellectual… cannot be played without a sense of being someone whose place it is publicly to raise embarrassing questions, to confront orthodoxy and dogma (rather than to produce them), to be someone who cannot easily be co-opted by governments or corporations, and whose raison d’etre is to represent all those people and issues that are routinely forgotten or swept under the rug."

Sascha Radetsky
"Performing, not rehearsing, is a dancer’s raison d’etre, and I’ve been lucky to ‘etre’ in some extraordinary places - Cuba, Paris, Mongolia. In particular, a two-week stint in Greece leaps to mind. We danced in the Acropolis’s Herodes Atticus amphitheater, once a venue for gladiator spectacles."

Andre Kertesz
"Everything is a subject. Every subject has a rhythm. To feel it is the raison detre. The photograph is a fixed moment of such a raison detre, which lives on in itself."

From Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
"She was wearing the bracelet that I made for her, and that made me feel like one hundred dollars. I love making jewelry for her, because it makes her happy, and making her happy is another one of my raisons d’être."

From Alvin Toffler’s *Future Shock"
“One after another, styles supplant one another. The most enduring twentieth-century school, Abstract Expressionism, held sway for at most twenty years, from 1940 to 1960, then to be followed by a wild succession- “Pop” lasting perhaps five years, “Op” managing to grip the public’s attention for two or three years, then the emergence, approximately enough, of ‘Kinetic Art’ whose very raison d’être is transience.”

PS. The raison d’etre of s printer is to frustrate and confound the user/operator, while functioning perfectly with the perfect unpredictable variability to discourage the user/operator from destroying the printer with modern weaponry.

@f00l

TL;DR

My brain isn’t even letting me process 15 seconds worth of reading.

@PlacidPenguin
/image penguin teal deer

@narfcake
/giphy "penguin tilde"

@PlacidPenguin do you have the forum where you helped barney with uploading photos. I would like to learn how.

@mellaine

I don’t believe it was me. However, @harrison provided this guide.

Alternatively, you can upload a pic to your favorite photo sharing site, and paste the .jpg URL in your comment.

@mellaine how are you taking the photos, it it thought a cell phone or a normal camera?

if its a modern smart phone than uploading is a breeze,

normal camera require a little bit more work

@communist my iPhone.

@PlacidPenguin thank you! I am sure it will help me.

@mellaine Here is the help thread for dummies Barney.

https://meh.com/forum/topics/how-do-i-post-a-picture

If I can figure it out, you can too.

@mellaine

If you’re using an internet connected smart device (smartphone, phablet, tablet), then you can use imgur for instance.

(Not to confuse you, but if you’re using your device in landscape mode, then the fifth icon underneath the text entry box is a built in picture uploader. However, if you use it, you may want to remove it from being a hyperlink.)

@Barney yeah! Thanks so so much

@PlacidPenguin Thanks, I am confused. This will take hours but I am determined.

@mellaine

1. Take a pic
2. Go to Imgur
3. Select a pic to upload
4. Upload pic
5. Get .jpg URL for the upload
6. Paste .jpg in a comment on Meh

There’s also a way to do it using the Imgur app as described here

@PlacidPenguin Thank you for all your help. I wrote down all the steps to follow from @barney help forum and will be reading the how to post photos from imjur. This made my night.

@Barney

@Barney I am a idiot. Where is the landscape mode or the little icon that was mentioned in your forum how to post photos.

@mellaine

Landscape mode is when the screen display is sideways.

@mellaine
You need to turn your phone/tablet to landscape mode before you hit “reply” or start to post.

Then click on the little symbol at the bottom of the posting box that looks like a tiny mountain. (This symbol will only appear in landscape, and if you are replying, your device has to be sideways before you hit “reply” or begin your post.)

Ignore all the text and just upload your pix, unless you wanna read up on the details in those linked threads. Practice a few times if you need to.

Not hard.

@f00l I am going to ask a monkey or a 3 year old because there is not a mountain to select when I want to say something. All I get is a curved arrow, a edit , or a delete x. Then a green box that says save it. Nothing else.
Thank you for your help and @barney help but I will have to ask someone for help instead of taking up someone’s forum.

@mellaine @f00l @Barney

@PlacidPenguin that is not a choice I get. The only choice I have is a arrow pointing to the left. I press that and I can text what I want to say and there is a say it box in the upper right I can chose that or cancel to the left.
Thank you. I will contact meh. Maybe something is wrong with my settings.

@mellaine

You can only see the full array of options if you’re using a laptop/desktop or if your device is in landscape mode when you load the page.

@PlacidPenguin I have been using my phone not the computer. Thank you. I just looked on my desktop and I can do it from there. Now I can finally post a photo. Thanks again

@Barney

So… When will we get to watch @narfcake help you understand printers?

I don’t mean try to, because you’ll get it right away under penalty of @narfcake suffering the wrath of the 8ball. And knowing that, he’ll explain everything simply, concisely, and with purple pictures the first time around.

@PlacidPenguin Purple pictures not gauranteed. Catshirts, OTOH …

http://shirt.woot.com/offers/computer-work

@PlacidPenguin Next year? Definitely looking, but I want a good deal and I’m really not sure which one I want. I’m waiting to see what goes on sale for Christmas shopping.

Oh that smell.

/youtube ooh that smell

@ojohn
You forget the eternal
"Rool of Overeducated Show-Off Cool"

I.E. “I socially bash you with my fab education.” Which might sometimes encounter a return bashing by a fist.

Apart from that, the phrase has been so common in literary works, essays, and journalism that it’s a commonplace of lingua franca in its 'hood and in literary English.

So of course “raison d’être” has een kleines “raison d’être”. It is a phrase. All phrases have their reasons, just like the heart. Reasons, of which, sometimes, reason knows nothing.

It’s language, baby.
Who loves ya, baby?
/image kojack

PS. Not showing off. Since I just put more much abused non-English into this post that I have ever managed to learn

@f00l @ojohn

I have no idea what either of you are talking about.

@PlacidPenguin
Neither do I.

I thought that much was obvious?!

/giphy jokers wild

@narfcake I have nothing against refurbs. Some of my best friends are refurbs. I can’t tell if it comes with toner. (Is that the word I’m looking for?) And wow, this sucker is heavy.

@Barney I would sure hope that it does come with toner, albeit it’ll most likely be a “starter cartridge” of about 700 yield (at 5%) capacity instead of the TN-660 cartridge’s 2600 yield.

@narfcake The fact that it’s not explicitly called out as coming with toner has held me back. I’ll just keep my price alert going for the new one.

@JerseyFrank Looking on Brother’s Canadian site, which sells directly, it comes with a starter cartridge.
http://www.brother.ca/en-ca/MFC/5/ProductDetail/Refurbished/DCPL2540DW

Maybe initiate a chat session with Newegg to ask?

@narfcake we’ve got the big brother Brother to this Brother. It scans duplex beautifully. MFC-8680DN. It seems to be bullet proof. Fast printing, copying, and scanning.

Got it at Costco several years ago but Costco seems to be in love with HP lately, unfortunately.

@ACraigL I didn’t know about that system. I’ve never had an inkjet that the head didn’t dry-up, clog-up or something. Occasionally, it’s a month between prints, other times I use it daily.

@daveinwarsh I’ve had heads dry up too, but generally a few paper towels soaked in windex under the heads for a night fixes that.

Mine is like the one below. Huge reservoirs connect to replacement cartridges allowing for ink forever, basically. If it runs low simply squirt more into the tanks. I did this with my last printer that was well out of warranty. When I had to replace it, I did it the day I got it home.

@ACraigL I’ve also used a CISS with great results on an EPSON printer. Generally one of my criteria for a printer is the ability to print directly on blank CDs/DVDs and I have found that the EPSON line is the one most likely to have that capability. Lately I have switched to 3rd party drop in cartridges because I can get a full set (with free s&h) for about $8 (5 cartridges) and I get $10 credit from Office Depot when I recycle them!
That being said, I also have a Brother B&W laser printer that my wife (a teacher) uses primarily and I installed a similar printer for my aged parents who rarely print anything (which meant issues with print heads drying up) and who don’t really usually need color when they do print.

@walarney I use then often (see note above) for both my wife’s printer at home and a similar one she uses at school. Never have a problem with any of them.

@pooflady HP printers are the best provided you have the volume to use the toner up in a timely manner. The moaning and gnashing of teeth over the expiration dates on the toner are mostly coming from home users who overbought on their printer and don’t use it enough thus causing them to run into the date issue. With that said, you do truly get what you pay for. Overall HP’s printers will keep running for far longer than anything Brother has ever made but the average home or small office user will never print enough volume to warrant the expense.

@jbartus LOL - I didn’t even know the toner had expiration dates!

@pooflady they are semi-artificial but once the chip says it’s done the cartridge becomes unusable.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@jbartus Yep, and that’s why I don’t recommend HP printers anymore.

@narfcake well that’s silly! They still make some of the best machines on the market they just need to be installed in appropriate settings!

@sligett

If it was the printer which was the free gift, would you still think it’s a weird combo?

@sligett A big ouch on Samsung printers is the replacement toner; a fair number of reviews on the compatible cartridges say they’re not up to the same quality in color or print durability.

@narfcake @sligett

Who cares? It comes with a sandwich maker. (Not that I eat sandwiches.)

@PlacidPenguin I bought the single version of that muffin sandwich maker (unused) for $3 several months ago.

It’s still unused.

@narfcake Man, that Ricoh is HUGE. It’s practically a 2ft cube - that’s like the size of a mini fridge.

@narfcake Ricoh printer - reviews say not compatible with windows 10 and buggy with Mac OS