Corey

iTrader: (1)

I picked up an HP 1610 all in one printer for Christmas.

Great color, and a good scanner too.
You can also make color or black & white copies with it when the PC is off.

Problem set in after a few weeks, it quit picking up paper, and gave the out of paper signal.

Tried cleaning, I finally contacted HP around a month or more back and they sent me a bare bones unit that I had to transfer my ink, lid, and face plate over to, and then send the first one back.

The new one printed perfectly, but when operating the scanner, the guide rails for the scanner would squeak like they needed to be lubed.
I suspect that the one they sent to me was a refurbished one.
But still, it printed.

That is until a few weeks back.
Same thing!
Out of paper

I called them up yesterday and after the tech had me run though a few things, he said he would send me another one out, then I send this one back.
I told him it better not be a refurbed unit, and that it had better work.
He assured me it would, and it will be here tomorrow when I get home.

I swear, if this unit fails after a few weeks, I am going to chop it up and send it back to them.
It will be well worth the $129 I spent on it, and I will never ever touch HP again.

If it fails, I will look into a Cannon.
They have a model 500 that I hear is really good.

I still like the all in one concept though, as it takes up a lot less space, and having it to be able to make copies like it does with the scanner and then print them out with or without the PC being on is not something you can do fast if you had a separate printer and scanner.

Anyone else have this unit, and if so, has yours been trouble free?

marko3xl3

Sadly, I never owned this unit or know anyone who does/did, so I cannot comment directly on that, but I do own a used HP LaserJet 1100, which had paper feeding issues of it's own.

My problem used to be that it would always want to grab more than one piece of paper and when that happened (just about everytime), the print would get messed up. Turns out that many other printers of my kind had that problem and that HP gave out free "fix-it-yerself" kits. Except, the ordering page was very nicely hidden in their site, but, I got it anyways! Take that HP. I doubt you'll have that option with this one as it's new though.

I also have a buddy who owns a very large bulky old HP Laserjet that also has paper feeding problems. Basically, it doesn't work anymore. But it's old, for whatever that's worth.

Now after reading your "review" it makes me glad that I didn't buy an HP buy but rather an Epson Stylus Photo R200. I love it. I love it enough that I would recommend you looking into Epsons. They don't manufacture the R200 anymore, but they do make a R220 (which is basically a better R200) or a R340 which has the color screen and all the goodies which let you print w/o a computer. I never needed that though, since I do all my printing for my computer, saves quite a bit of inital money. Here are the URL's:

R220:
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/c...s&oid=58654761




R340:
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/c...s&oid=58654762



And since I am already at this marathon post, I'll add a little something about my experience with the R200, in case you want to consider the Epsons.

The printouts are great, especially if you print photos. They come out amazing. I can't compare it to a Canon, because I never owned one but the Epson makes top-notch print outs. One problem that does exist is that if you have an edited picture in photoshop, the print tends to be darker, so you either make it a little brighter in photoshop, or spend some inital time setting up custom printer settings once (which I did) and have great printouts forever. It can be tedious though and wastes quite a bit of ink. Which brings me to the ink. My printer has 6 cartridges (black, +5 colors) and I have yet to replace each ink seperatly. They always empty themselves together and I am on my 3rd or 4th set. The black always tends to run out faster, esp. if you like to do text printing in between. Don't get me wrong though, it's a real nice feature to have them seperate; it has the potential to save you money and Costco has them quite cheap. Also the cartridges are just that, they don't have nozzles on them like older HP's so that saves money. Never had a feeding problem with this printer either and the alignment stays tight for a pretty long time and isn't that hard to fix if it gets out of spec. And to top it off, it has a CD tray so you can put CD's on there to print directly onto them. Great stuff.

I think I am done here, I hope my knowledge has helped you. If you have any other questions, let me know, I'll jump to answer. Oh yeah, Epson also offers a $30 rebate and the two models above

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Mark, I did look at the R200 & R300 when they first came out, saw it as Fry's a few years back.

For printing on DC/DVDs though, they say you have to use special discs that are coated to hold the ink, which kind of turned me off as I use Memorex discs only.

Churnd

HP took a hit in the quality of their printers when that crazy woman CEO tried to "turn things around" a while back and put the majority of their focus on the home PC market, instead of milking their cash cow... printers. I don't like HP right now either, and it'll probably be another year or two before I will again.

DH6twinotter

oh, man. I've got the same printer! I got it back around Christmas, but haven't really used it much (actually never). I use the PC in the lab here on campus mostly. I hope mine isn't as buggered up.

My parents have a HP 722C printer. It has worked great ever since they bought it about 8 years ago or so. They still use it too.

marko3xl3

Marko

I also use Memorex ones only, but I buy a big pack of CD labels and then apply them with an applicator (really easy) and then stick it into the tray. It works real well actually.

So what did you think of the R200, R300?

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Polo

I have the label maker too, it is the CD Stomper brand.

I did not get to see the R200 or 300 in action, but I heard they were good.

The new replacement is hooked up and working as of yesterday.
So far so good.
If it craps out, I am through with HP for good.

DH6, you had best check and see if yours is working OK.

Yoda

I knew someone that worked at HP. He said they make no money on the printers, but the ink is GOLD. You notice how the prices for the new cartidges are a lot higher than the old ones?

89macrunner

Accualy Yoda they make the ink more expensive and harder to find on the older models so they force you to buy a new one.

HP still makes money on printers..not much, but they still make a $5 per printer..on PC's themselves they make anywhere from $10-100 on models...Those Speical Edition HP laptops are always junko parts in a fancy case...just to move the product.


I have noticed several 1610 printers returned back to my store..they have a paper feed sensor issue.

Every company has bad models, HP usualy puts out a good product. Epson and canon make good printers if you are looking for an alt. brand

Corey

iTrader: (1)

If this one craps out, I may blow 'er up.
Canon all in one next time for me.

marko3xl3

3.0 Headgasket issue

Anyway, you'll be happy with any Canon Corey.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

I kicked, kicked it good, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh it felt so good!

As stated earlier, this is my 3rd unit.
It only printed right for the first few weeks after I got the third one.

I am trying to print out some CD labels for projects I am working on.
They are not going to well, and the printer pulls the paper sideways.

Needless to say, I am slow to get pissed off, but I just kicked the printer so hard the back of it flew off
It is going in the trash.
I did not even get my single time one fee of $129 out of it.
$100 at Costco, but I have not renewed my membership since being back to Boeing.

Never again will I own any HP products.
Jim (mytruck) up the road has a more expensive HP 3 in 1 printer, and his works great.
But I think their software is over bloated.

I will be looking around for a later Christmas gift for me after the holidays.
I am still a firm believer in all in one machines, as it saves space, and I do not have the room in this apartment for three separate units.

There are good ones on the market in the $200 to $300 price range, so my search will be focusing on Cannon units in the near future.

The only good thing about this unit is the scanner.
It actually works great!

KD7NAC_07FJ

Naw Corey - I was talking about an HP cd rom drive that prints on the CD in the burner. They aren't cheap and only do a laser monochrome print on HP disks. I do like the looks of the Epson and will probably check it out.

I do have a little HP psc 1315xi all in one and it's worked great for me for the past couple of years. Maybe you keep getting the ones built on friday

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Oh, OK, you have the Light Scribe thing?
I already have two nice Sony DVD burners, so will not be upgrading them anytime soon.

Now here is where it gets very strange.
Besides not picking up the paper like it should, and also not printing straight, it is cured.

I just printed out some sample text, a few full size photos, and also some DVD ROM labels, all printed out straight on the paper.

The cure?
Remember a few posts back I said I kicked the printer almost as hard as I could?
Kicked it so hard the plastic cover in the back with the rollers on it flew off.

Printed yesternight and this morning, never ever better.

Violence does a printer good.
I threatened to throw it in the trash, and kicked the living crap out of it, and it has now begun to work as it should.

Lesson:
Kick the living daylights out of your PC equipment when it stops performing as it should.
Works for me.
Results for you may vary

I will still be on the lookout though for a Cannon 3 in 1 printer, but there is still some life in this one.
A little bruised, but living.

hosh

I will not buy a cannon printer. Not because of product quality but because of very poor updated driver support. I was completly happy with the all in one printer, but could not use it when upgrading to windows xp. their was no driver support and the company website said there was none planed. I personaly like HP and have loved my laptop for the past year. My hp printer is old and still works perfectly. I would look at many reviews of any printer before i bought a new one.

salvo

I have owned several different printers.... I started out with my canon that lasted me 5+ years and still worked perfectly except it couldent handle the quality i needed anymore... Went out and bought several different models to replace it over the next couple of years.... None of them lasted more than 6 months... and after fighting with a few of the manufacturers about sending me refurbished machines as warranty replacement i finally gave up... Went back to a canon about 2 years ago and the only problem i have ever had was a defective ink cartage... I will never buy a different brand again lesson learned on that one... My in laws had the same trouble replacing printers every year for at least 5 years and then they finally listened to me last year and bought a canon and no more troubles... the nice thing about the canon's or at least mine is all individually cartages and after looking around online i found then for $4:00 each... Quality is good you cannot notice the difference in a photo print...

salvo

Lat time a kicked a printer was off the back of my truck int the dump....

Corey

iTrader: (1)

So far so good still, pages are printing straight.
If it acts up again, I will show it who is the boss again.

mt_goat

I may try that with my HP (POS) Photosmart 7450. Same problem as your 3rd printer, the paper doen't feed in straight so it either prints crooked or most of the time it jams. I get about 1 out of 3 sheets to feed without jamming. I was thinking about taking it back to Office Depot and smashing into tiny bits on the sidewalk outside but I guess I'll at least try the good ass kicking first.

I'll never buy another HP product either