[clug] Printer supplies - advice sought (linux Digest, Vol 85, Issue 19, message 7)

[Lana Brindley]

2010/1/8 Felix Karpfen <felix at spodzone.org.uk>:
> On Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:10:35 +1100, Miles Goodhew wrote:
>
>>> From: Felix Karpfen <felix at spodzone.org.uk>
>>> Message-ID: <hi3khg$kp1$2 at ger.gmane.org>
>>>
>
>>   I've run a Deskjet 2600 (I think - the parents have it now) Since
>> about Y2K-ish sporadically and mostly using cheap, recycled paper and
>> often with refilled carts (But I gave-up on the bother of that a while
>> ago).
>>   The only possible paper problem I can foresee might be if you put
>> too much in. I think most of their (current) baseline models have 80 pg
>> hoppers. I rarely get close to this, just stuffing 0.5cm or so in at a
>> time.
>
> Firstly, my thanks to all who were good enough to share their experiences
> with printers/papers.
>
> The following additional info might provoke a few more memories.
>
> Like Lana Brindley, I started my "inkjet-printer career" with a Canon
> Printer (and Windows 98).  That printer (with supermarket paper) lasted
> over 6 years.  When the Canon printer breathed its last, I found that
> Canon did not supply drivers for Linux.

No they don't (although I've heard a rumour that they do actually make
a few here and there. I've never gone hunting them down though). I
haven't had any trouble finding printers that will work with an open
source driver, though. I'm currently running a Canon i560 (which was
second hand from my Mum. I've had it about 18 months, and I think Mum
had it for at least 2 years prior to that). I'm running it with the
"Canon BJC-7000 Foomatic/gimp-print-ijs" driver. You might find that
you need to do a little googling to find the right matching driver,
but the Linux Foundations "Printer Compatibility Database"
(http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/openprinting/database/databaseintro)
is a good place to start.

>
> So I switched to HP.  And that is where the trouble started.  But I am a
> slow learner, and it took time for the penny to drop.
>
> My instinct is that the problem relates to the geometry of the paper
> feed.  The paper feed on my Canon printer was from the top (and assisted
> by gravity).  On the HP printers, the papers are picked up from a
> horizontal wad of papers that lies at the front of the printer. So the
> paper feed gets no help when it has to overcome the surface friction
> between consecutive sheets.

I think you're on to something there ...

>
> If that is the problem, then the right question is:
>
> Are there any other suppliers of better quality white A4 printing papers
> in Canberra?
>
> For the record, the cost of buying a ream of printing papers from HP is
> greater than the cost of my latest printer (HP D2560) from ebay.

Maybe the better question is - which printer do I buy instead?
especially if the paper is more expensive than the printer ...

L

-- 
Cheers! Lana

Writing gives you the illusion of control, and then you realise it's
just an illusion, that people are going to bring their own stuff into
it.
  - David Sedaris

-----------------------------------------------
http://lanabrindley.blogspot.com
-----------------------------------------------

Please avoid sending me Word, Powerpoint or Windows Media attachments.

See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html for more information.

------------------------------------------------