Search the Community

Hi, I plan to print on trading card prototypes, I use proxies to test quality for my own game design, so that being said I have been into a lot of pain lately trying to decide between the two models, I came to realize pigment is very bad for gloss and mediocre for matte, at least the epson ones we have here, so something sub 300 euros will be okay, I have other tools ready and I plan to first print on thick-ish glossy paper (medium quality), so I need some printer experts help, I tried in the past a L3251 and it was causing marks before the inking process (spraying process), that was likely from the feed, The Inks here are harder to find for Canon at least after market ones, the total cost of inks for a full refill would be 78 Euros for canon while the total cost for a full refill for the epson would be 28 euros (cheapest I found while avoiding after market or fake inks). That being said, I care about cost of consumables as much as for the paper to not be damaged, it may or may not be polymer but I also tried with Epson on the Epson one, needless to say I DOA it and got the money back to get one of the above printers, currently I preordered both and they are ready to pick up, but I have to decide today. I will also print photos, family photos and scan/copy, print of documents etc, an all-around machine. The G640 comes with their store/franchise warranty for 4 years, and the cost is 280 euros, the epson is at 230 euros without the warranty because I ordered it from another shop. Key questions: Does the Canon also cause such harsh wheel marks as the ecotank ones? if so, is it possible to find a cheaper ink for the canon printer if I decide to go for that? I noticed the epson is faster also, according to its specs, if anyone owns or knows both machines, please help me make an educated decision, money is not an issue at this price range as I want to keep it and enjoy it, it is a hobby and I want to make it count, I will also print n' play a lot, so consider that if you can. Anything will help, I need to decide today which is why I write this post. THANKS A LOT IN ADVANCE!

Essentially I replaced it from a DOA and it seems to have issues with printing pure black on the photo paper, which in this case is glossy, I was wondering if anyone experienced here could help, the store suggested it to me as a better alternative (official retailer, not just some corner shop), the print speeds etc are all good, its an Ink tank too which is very good for economy but it just doesnt get black printed properly, its a tinted blue black rather than black-black (K), the home grade printer I returned was providing for some reason an absolute black with ritchness, this one does not and it bothers me since I gave essentially a difference to buy it worth double the initial printer's price. It is a bit frustrating because I generally get tired of returning products more than once. Now I only bought the more expensive one because it is a more sturdy build (quality of components, work hours endurance etc) and I had the best intentions but it feels like it backfired in this case unless I can somehow get this fixed. Maybe there is some setting I missed or perhaps some gimmick that is causing this. Thanks in advance.

Hello everyone. I have a Brother DCP-L2520DWR printer lying around. It was used a little before, it printed only 12,500 pages, but it fell off the table a couple of times without serious damage. I connected it, updated the firmware, there were problems with paper jams, I disassembled it, corrected all the rollers, improved contact with the rubber shafts and it began to print normally. But I discovered that when printing some bold text or a dark image, it will ghost. I read it on the Internet and decided to order a drum unit and a new toner. I installed it, the situation has improved a little, but the ghosting is still visible. Following advice on the Internet, I measured the distance from the image itself to its repetition - 78mm. The fuser roller is approximately this diameter. And the drum is 94mm The most interesting thing is that ghosting occurs only at the beginning of printing after idle time (the first 3 pages). It seems to me that when printer waking up from sleep mode, it does not have enough time to warm up the fuser roller. But i don't know for sure. Checked fuser roller and pressure roller for visible issues and it looks like there are no problems with them. Any ideas what i can do?

I manage a building that sublets individual offices to business people. They pay us something like $0.10 for each copy/fax/print/etc. I used to have I think it was a very old Brother brand machine that had the ability for the users to put in a 4 digit code and then they could print, copy, fax, scan, whatever. We could then run a report at the end of each month and determine who used however many pages of each service and charge them accordingly. That old machine died awhile back and I wasn't aware they were using said feature until a few months later. Needless to say I disposed of that old machine and all documentation with it. I need to find a new machine that has what I can only think to explain is a "billing profile" but even my google searches are not helping. Can anyone advise if "billing profile" is what I should be searching and/or if they know of some machines that would meet this requirement? Also, the other requirements are this is for about 10 people so I don't need a machine that costs several thousands of dollars. The budget is probably around $400 but could be up to say $800 if I had to given the annual revenue from last year was I think in the $400-600 range.

I'm in a bit of a pickle here and could use some advice on fixing my Brother laserjet printer (DCP-L2541DW). I've attached some sample prints to show you the issue I'm dealing with – smudge marks and annoying vertical lines that just won't go away! Here's the deal: I had this printer fixed recently, but as luck would have it, the problem resurfaced soon after I replaced the toner. What I noticed was that the new toner cartridge had ink on its body, and while I managed to clean off most of what was visible and reachable, there was some residue that ended up in the printer. And that's when the smudge marks and lines made their grand entrance. Now, the tricky part is that the nearest printer repair shop is a 30-minute drive away, and parking there is a nightmare. Plus, I'm a student, and I'm constantly churning out prints – around 500 sheets per month, and sometimes even more. So, going back and forth to the repair shop isn't exactly ideal. Edit 1: I suspect that the box containing the refilled cartridge I received might have had some toner powder residue, which could explain the ink on the cartridge's body. (I inspected the box a few minutes ago). If the cartridge did indeed leak, what are the potential causes for this occurrence? Do generic cartridges commonly experience leaks? A genuine cartridge is a bit costly for me right now. Currently, I have two cartridges: one that came with the printer and another that is generic. In my country, toner powder costs $6 for three bottles (100 grams per bottle). A 100-gram bottle can refill the cartridge four to five times while purchasing a genuine cartridge costs $40, and refilling the cartridge from a shop costs roughly $8. I'm hoping some of you printer-savvy folks out there can guide me through a DIY cleaning process. I'd really appreciate any advice on which parts to clean and how to do it effectively. Also, I've been wondering if it's possible to refill the toner at home. The shop owner charges an arm and a leg for refilling, and considering how quickly I go through cartridges, it's not very budget-friendly. Can I use a generic company toner powder to refill my toner? Does the company make any difference? I've noticed that on the generic powder, some specific models are mentioned. Is the toner powder specific to a printer model? So, any tips, tricks, or suggestions on fixing this printer mess, possibly saving some money on toner refills, and navigating the world of generic toner powder would be a lifesaver right now. Thanks in advance for your help, and here's hoping we can get this printer back in shape! Edit 2: I just removed the cartridge and roller assembly from the printer and to my surprise when I separated the cartridge from the drum assembly there was a significant amount of toner powder inside. I have attached the images for your reference. In your opinion, what could be the reason for this excess toner powder? I have included a total of five images, labelled as Image A, Image A1, Image B, Image B1, and Image C. Image A shows a specific region of the cartridge, while Image A1 provides a complete view of the cartridge. Similarly, Image B displays a portion of the drum assembly (roller), and Image B1 offers a full picture of the drum assembly. Lastly, Image C illustrates the amount of powder that emerged when I separated the cartridge and the drum assembly. There is still some amount of toner ink on the drum roller. No ink, apart from the residual ink, fell out from beneath the cylindrical region shown in Image B. Could this residual ink be from the previous refill, which was included in the box? (Images related to Edit 2 are at the end of this post)

The family printer has been having problems forever, and it just gave up its last breath. (It is an EPSON XP-760) I know asking for a good printer in this era is laughable, but I really am super tired of bullsh*t printers. My question is if there is a colour printer that is reliable, has good driver support, a usable UI, and non-expensive ink/none at all? Subscription services and all that stuff are a no go!

Hey, been having an issue with my Canon mg5750 printer recently. It refuses to print anything it makes a lot of nosie like it's preparing to print and spits out B204 error code when trying to. Also to note it doesnt turn on and prints b203 unless i turn it on with the printer open and close it halfway through the printer head moving to the left/right it ALSO spits out b204 when doing any of the maintenance options (clean, deep clean etc) I've tried: turning it on and off, leaving it on or off, unplugging for a long time then turning back on cleaning the printer head printing different things, in colour and black and white removing the ink and putting it back in Honestly at this point i suspect an issue with the printer head but any advice would be great

Hi all, I have a Epson et-4550 Eco Tank that I got used I have done multiple (probably about 100 by now) clean print heads, at least 2-3 power cleanings (one of which included using a cleaner solvent), and have gone inside and cleaned the print heads myself at least twice. I have also played with the printer software, setting it to print slower and higher quality. The color printing works relatively well, but the black tends to be abysmal. I always have horizontal lines cutting through my paper. Furthermore, the black letters tend to be blurry. If you all have some tips, maybe parts that need replacing, I am all ears.

Hi all- I am looking to buy a new printer for my house. I currently have an Epson XP-830 and the thing has been nothing but constant problems. I have never had a good print since it was new. The printer gets used a couple of times per week so I do not suspect the ink dried up or anything like that. The printer is constantly out of ink which makes no sense, I swear there is a timer internal on the printer and it just tells you its out of ink because they want you to buy more. The cost for a new set of ink is $50-$70 which seems expensive since I feel like I am constantly replacing it. When I print something, it always gets "scan lines" through it or random splotches of ink all over my paper. We had an Epson Artisan 710 before this printer and that one also had plenty of problems. I hate printers but I still need to keep them around. 95% of what we print is black and white so I do not think we need a color printer. I would be open to seeing options for both color and black and white though if you guys have suggestions. The only good thing about the printer we have now is whenever you need to make a copy of multiple papers there is an auto-feeder on the top of this printer. It is a nice to have, but not mandatory for a new printer. I would say 60% of our prints are shipping labels for things like ebay (black and white), 35% of the prints are text documents (black and white), and the remaining 5% are color photo prints. I have thought a number of times about getting a thermal printer for the labels, but they are so expensive! I think my best option is to go with a black and white laser printer, and maybe a thermal printer?, but I am not sure. What do you guys think?

i recently got this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002O0KOV4?psc=1 for my Canon Pixma MG3620 so i could use on my network for both pc's which is all wired but no luck i dont know if it was just a dead part as i tried on some other devices an still no joy or maybe its not the right kind of part for this task if thats the case which kind of adapter should i get my budget for said part is no more then 60$ my network gear layout is as followed router - FIREWALLA GOLD (in router mode) 5-port giga-switch config is the giga-switch , nas an printer are direct to the FWG an the pc's an assorted lan devices like both nvidia shields are on the 5-port giga-switch

Currently, I'm using a HP LaserJet Pro M102a which is a Black & White Laser printer and nothing more. However, I'm sorely missing having scanning functionality and colour printing would be much better at home than going to some shop and paying an exorbitant price. I've heard raving reviews about Brother Printers and I'm in the market for one, I'm not afraid to look for used ones as well. The printer should have: Scanning Functionality (dealbreaker) Colour printing (dealbreaker) wireless (optional, would be nice to have but not necessary) laser (ofc) I thank ye in advcance

Here's a real head scratcher : I have an old pc running on windows 7 Small Business Edition that I upgrade to 10. I'm planning to use it as a printer server pc. After installing the driver for the printer on my print server pc, I shared the printer and thought that was it. However, when i got back to my own pc that's running on windows 11, I can see the print server pc in my network, but when I try to access it, it asked me for username and password although i already disabled password protected sharing in the print server pc. When I finally managed to access the print server pc, I can see the shared printer but when I click on connect, it throws an error.

So I wanted to Print some pictures but my PC Print half images. I am pretty sure that my PC is at fault because I switch printers and the problem still persists however those same Printers managed to print just fine on my laptop. To further add to this, the first printer I tried this was on a old dumb laserjet printer connected thru USB and the second printer was a relatively new HP wireless printer and I tried printing thru it over WiFi but nothing changed. I tried updating drivers and windows but all of the stuff seemed to be upto date, I tried printing thru Windows built in Printer software and didn't use any 3rd party software. My windows is currently on WIn 10 Pro N 20H2 Update. Please help me out with this.

Doesn't recognize the black ink cartridge and tells me it's an "incompatible cartridge" I've wiped the connector pads with alcohol, I've tried different cartridges, all original HP cartridges. So I thought it might be an old firmware problem or something but it refuses to update or use any wifi features, telling me that "the the printer could not connect to the server" When I connect it via USB to my PC and view it on HP Smart it tells me that the "Printer status is unknown" Am I better off just buying a new printer as they cost around 2 sets of cartridges where I live. TL;DR: Printer refuses to use black ink cartridge, also refuses to update firmware via wifi and usb

So everything was working fine until today. For some reason I can't print a Word file anymore, atleast I can't print most files. Some random Word files on my desktop can be printed. But even a month old backup of the files I already printed can't be printed anymore. Yet PDF works like without any problems still. I tried restarting the pc and also tried uninstalling and installing Microsoft Office. Not sure what else to do. Someone please help me. PS: Idk if this is the right place to post this, forgive me if I am wrong Edit: Forgot to mention that Word file printing goes to the job list and clears immediately as if it was done printing

I recently made the jump to a laserjet printer but I need some help. The printer I have is the HP LaserJet Pro M101-M106. The printer's ports consists of power in and that weird USB port. Now the printer is NOT a wireless model but I was wondering whether I could plug into my router's USB port and sorta make it wireless? Is that possible or do I have to have to plug into my PC's USB in order to print? Thanks in advance

Bought a Officejet 7720 today, set it up and installed HP Smart. But I ran into a few issues. 1. Solved with better WIFI-Connection. WIFI-Reception is very bad IMO. 1 vs 5 bars with printer vs laptop is unacceptable. Print speed is very low. The print itself happens very fast, but if I try to print more than one page over the WIFI connection, it takes forever between pages. The first one comes out, it prints about 4cm of the second page and then waits for 10-15 second before finishing. Printer says wifi connection is at level 2 of 5, so not that good, although I have 5 bars on my laptop right next to it. 2. Because of the low speed I tried the USB connection. First pages is fine again, but from the second page onward the printer prints a solid black line at the left side. Pulling the cable and trying over wifi has a clean print again. 3. So after those 2 options I tried the direct Wifi print option. Windows finds the printer, connects to it, I type in the password but then Windows says that there is no driver. HPs Homepage says to install HP Smart. I already did that, but it still says no driver. 4. So now I print over the Wifi connection. Next probelm is that the duplex print flipped over the short side. After I switched from back to front to front to back the first doublessided print works, but when I select 2 or more prints every other one except the first print is upside down again. So 1st page is correct, 2nd and onward is flipped. Why's that? What's going on that point 2 and 4 result in a bad print from page 2 onward? It's like it forgets how to print from then on.

Hey there, We bought a new HP smart tank 515, after a bit of struggle to stop it from being after setting it up, I wanted to print out some of my documents instead of the testing pages, and to my surprise it doesn't even print the border of the page, here is a scenario: I usually use a smaller margin for my docs (and yes my old Epson printer used to print them fine). Oh and also normal margin don't print too, but I need this margin to work because all of my older document use it. Now when I launching the print option from Word, the preview doesn't show the border like in the previous pic (the editing page). I thought about tweaking the settings of the printer, maybe I can manually edit its default margin but I didn't even find the other usual printer settings, just these useless settings Also the printers web interface doesn't seem to be helpful for this matter But this is the craziest part for me, in the printer's specification it says that it's capable of printing on basically the whole A4 page. Oh also I tried to make a copy of an existing document with a small border margin, and it did copy it properly, so now I'm more confused than ever, where is the problem coming from? Word? the printer? the printer's settings in Word? PLEASE HELP!!! thanks in advance.

I'm trying to access my HP m28w printers EWS to change some config options and I cannot remember the password for it. There seems to be no way to reset it as you need to access the system tab in the EWS to reset the printer. Helpfully hp don't tell you what to do in this situation and in all of their forum repsonses they just say that they've DM'd the poster the instructions negating the whole point of the forum post. Their virtual chat support agent is as usless as the printer and they want £25 to phone them once because it's 2 months out of warranty. Any ideas on what to do?

Hello everyone, I am here looking for advice on which 3D printer to buy. I am a dad with a toddler and another on the way and I live in an apartment so the printer needs to be quiet so to not wake the children when they sleep. Also looking for enclosed printer so the toddler would not poke fingers in it. Interested in printing in PLA for a majority of the time. Budget about 500$, but any suggestions is welcome. I am not new to 3D printing. I had a diy printer some years ago , than I had a work issued 3d printer (massportal) it was precise with good print quality and quiet. so when work from home started I used it at home. Now i moved to another department and had to give the printer back, so now I am looking to buy a printer for use at home. I had looked at some, and find the forge adventurer 3 not a bad option, but it is a bit bulky and the lack of bed leveling is a concern. Again, any suggestions are welcome, even out of the price range (within reason) . Thank you.

Hey guys I need some advice for a printer I need a model that can print in color with ink not with rolers And also I need hand in hand a GOOD recommendation of a ciss system I tried to install a ciss system on a hp inkjet, that was messy and unsuccessful If u know a model of printer that can fit some kind of these cartriges would me good I need to be able to fill them with ink later, pls no tubes and other messy ciss systems Doesnt matter what brand Epson, Brother.. Thx

Hi Everyone, I work for a small bank and we use Matica S3200HD card printers to instant issue our credit and debit cards in branch. We have been getting a large amount of card jams in the turn-over unit in almost all of our printers at least a few times a week. It will usually jam with the turn-over flipped 180 degrees pointing to the left, and on rare occasion it will jam vertically near the mag encoder. Has anyone else experienced this, or have any ideas on how to avoid this in the future. We do a full clean weekly, running sticky cards, cleaning the dust traps, and feed rollers with water. Thanks in advance for any insight you may have on an issue I'm sure very few people will have.

I've been using a HP LaserJet 5200 with PostScript (PS) on two of my Windows 10 PCs for a while now. I've never had any luck with any of HP's Universal PS drivers, so I have always depended on the compatible drivers provided by Microsoft. Thankfully, they have always worked...until today! The issue is only with one of my W10 PCs. The status of the printer says "Needs New Driver". Also right clicking the printer now shows a "Update" button. I clicked the update button, and it appeared to act like it was updating, but the same message still persists. Anytime I try to open the properties of the printer, it keeps saying the driver is not installed, would I like to install the driver? Selecting Yes, and selecting the HP LaserJet 5200 PS from the Windows compatible drivers list, it appears to install the driver, but yet, once again I still have the same errors, Needs New Driver and drivers are not installed for this printer. It's like this cycle just keeps repeating itself. So I finally uninstalled the printer and removed the printer drivers and its package using printui /s. I rebooted the PC and preceded to reinstall the printer again, but this time under the Windows compatible drivers list, the HP LaserJet 5200 PS was not listed. Is this b/c I removed the driver and package earlier? I clicked the Windows Update button and waited for it to update the list. Again, the printer was still not listed. So I'm confused, why is it missing from the list when it was there 30 minutes ago before I removed the printer, and if I did remove it, why didn't it reappear after clicking Windows Update? I'm sure they keep a database of these compatible drivers they provide. How can I verify if Microsoft is still providing this compatible driver? If they are not, is there anyway I can copy/extract the same drivers from my other Windows 10 PC or do you have any other suggestions?

Hi, just suddenly my epson printer is unable to print or scan anything. It does power on and I can navigate the menu. Whenever I try to scan or copy something it shows on the screen "starting up" and goes back to the menu after a few seconds. Usually I connect the printer using wifi but the printer's wifi function is also not working. I tried as well doing a factory reset through the setting menu but it does not seem to do anything except making the navigation sound louder. Lastly the printer hangs when turning it off, the screen will show powering off but it gets stuck on that screen until I remove the power plug on the printer. Is there a way to fix this issue? My printer model is Epson EP-805AW

There are some old Printer that the Printer provider doesn't provide new OS (Windows 10/11) but try using Virtual Box to bypass the problem. Thanks