On 1/25/2020 6:24 AM, John C. wrote:
Tonight I tried to print a grayscale portrait of my late uncle and aunt on
some nice, glossy photo paper. After waiting a long time for the job to
finish (the XP drivers for the HP 855C really suck badly), I was astonished
when the paper came out exactly as it went in... BLANK! This was after I'd
gone into the settings (with which I am intimately familiar) and made sure
the were all correct for the job.

I took out the black cartridge to clean it a little and when I tried to put
the thing back in the printer, the cartridge lock broke and threw pieces in
random directions. How DARE it! I mean, I only bought it back in '96. The
printer was so expensive that at the time, I made a promise to myself to,
no matter what it took, use the thing until it paid for itself.

Instead of getting upset at it breaking, I only said the full version of
"WTF?" under my breath and felt a combination of ennui, sadness and relief
that the machine was finally gone. A long time ago, it lost the ability to
print in color because the cartridges (although still available) are so
expensive and dry up so fast. It's always required periodic roller cleaning
in order to get any paper to feed correctly too.

Now all that is at an end.

Over the years, I've been watching the dismal developments with printers,
watched how printer ink has become almost the most expensive substance on
earth per ounce. Watched how inkjets have become the industry's
"loss-leader" throw-aways in order to get you hemorrhaging money for their
ludicrously over-priced cartridges.

I've also watched carefully and taken note of the way that almost all
inkjet printer reviews carefully avoid discussing the capacities of the
cartridges and confuse printing cost issues.

I would not buy another inkjet printer if you held a loaded gun to my head.
However, I still want to be able to print in color ...and reliably.
Searching on the internet has resulted in my impression that the best color
laser printer available for home use is the Brother HL-3270CDW, which is a
single-function printer. That it's not a MFP isn't important to me because
I have a good flatbed scanner already.

Does anybody have any comments about this choice, pro or con?

TIA


I have what must be the previous version of the Brother Printer, a
HL-3170CDW, and it has been flawless for the few years I've had it.