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New printer needed in UK (Resolved)

printer

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#1
Channeal

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Hello Geeks,

I think that our Dell All-in-One Photo 944 printer/scanner - which gave title to what turned out to be a very long topic here on GTG earlier in the year when I had problems reinstalling it - has finally given up the ghost! The cartridge is stalling all the time now. After I re-align it, it does print for a little while but there is an area on the left of the printed-out page which is always distorted. The printer is about 8 years old and was purchased at the same time as our Dell Dimension 9150 computer on which we are still running Windows XP. I think the time has probably come now to replace the printer/scanner!

Looking on the internet, there are so many printers around.... and I have no idea which to choose! The printer is only used to print out a few web pages, the odd greeting card, maybe some tickets for an event we are involved in organising occasionally. The scanner is used regularly to copy (and enlarge) pages from a text book, so that bit is pretty important.

I really do not know whether to go for another Dell: the ink seems to be quite expensive and it can be a pain to always have to send away for it. On the other hand, this printer has lasted a long time and has been very reliable up to now.

Do printers have to be compatible with the version of Windows you are running? If so, will we still be able to get one compatible with XP okay?

Does anybody know any good buys which might suit us, please? We are in the UK.

Btw, the computer itself is still running like a dream... thanks to all the amazing help I got from you guys in Geeks to Go. It is just this printer which is still being naughty!

Thanks in advance for any help that anyone can give,
Chris


PS Am not sure if I am posting this in the correct place. Is buying a new printer upgrading?.... possibly not!


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#2
phillpower2

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Hello Chris,

 

Cannon are a good brand and a lot more user friendly than HP, avoid Lexmark as they can be problematic + their ink is expensive and finally wireless printers are not much more expensive now but are a lot more convenient if you also have a wireless notebook/desktop and router.

 

Canon PIXMA MG3550 (wireless) Canon specs here

 

Canon Pixma MG 2450 (non wireless) Canon specs here

 

Dell C1765nfw  Colour Multifunction Laser Printer with Fax better print quality and the ink lasts longer, a lot more expensive than the Canons but £137 less expensive than direct from Dell, Dell specs here


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#3
Channeal

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Hello Phill,

Thanks for your reply. I hope you are well.

The Canon printers look good. I did not even know there were such things as wireless printers though! We do have a wireless router: mostly I use wireless only for my phone, but when our daughter is here she uses it for her laptop upstairs. If we had a wireless printer, would that mean she could print directly from her laptop? She often has stuff to print when she is here, but emails it for me to print for her!

Thanks again,
Chris.
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#4
phillpower2

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Good morning Chris,

 

All is well here and likewise I hope it is with you and yours  :thumbsup:

 

The Canon wireless printer for £4 more is your best option, you can print from any compatible wireless device within range (upstairs/downstairs) such as the daughters notebook etc, I have a wireless HP** printer that I use with my notebook and I find it so convenient and would not go back to non wireless.

 

** I never suggested a HP printer as I have helped so many people on the forums with HP installation issues, this regardless of what OS was being used XP up to Windows 8.1 etc, the printers that I suggested each state XP compatibility but I would ask that you do read the detailed specs to confirm this for yourself before making any purchase.

 

You are welcome btw  :)


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#5
Channeal

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Hello Phill,

 

I only looked at your reply quickly on email this morning and missed the Dell printer (you probably added it later). I was going to change my mind and buy that one, as you said the print quality is better.... however, I cannot see that it scans as well as prints. Is that correct, or did I just misread it?

 

Btw, do all wireless printers print from Android devices as well? I saw that mentioned on the Dell one.

 

We are all well here thanks - and enjoying the Indian summer at the moment! :)

 

Thanks again,

Chris.


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#6
phillpower2

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Hello Chris,

 

however, I cannot see that it scans as well as prints. Is that correct, or did I just misread it?

 

 

An err on my part I'm afraid, when I googled Dell all in one printers I didn't double check the specs  :oops:

 

The correct Dell printer has now been added and thanks for the heads up  :thumbsup:

 

The user manual for the handset will tell you if your phone can print to wireless but I cannot see why it will not.


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#7
Channeal

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Hello Phill,

 

No problem! I thought for a long time it must be my mistake and kept reading it over and over again! :)

 

I have ordered the amended Dell one: it looks good and I am really looking forward to trying it out!

 

Thanks again,

Chris.


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#8
phillpower2

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Hello Chris,

 

Thank you for your forgiveness :thumbsup:

 

The Dell looks a great printer and at such a bargain price from  ebuyer who I have purchased items from before and found to be very good.

 

Let us know how you find the print quality and speed etc.

 

As ever you are welcome  :)


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#9
Channeal

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Hello Phill,

 

Sure..... will let you know how we get on with it. :)

 

Cheers,

Chris


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#10
phillpower2

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:thumbsup:


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#11
Channeal

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Hello Phill,

Just to let you know that our printer arrived (rather bizaarely, at 10:40 p.m. on Tuesday night!), but that I have not yet had time to do anything more than remove it from the box!

I have to say I am amazed how big and heavy it is! Also, I had not fully appreciated the difference between an ordinary printer and a laser one! I have just been reading through the manual and it looks amazingly complicated to me.... but no doubt I will work it all out eventually (maybe in a year or two, knowing me!). :)

I will be sure to let you know how we find it.... if and when I finally manage to get it all set up! It should keep me out of mischief for a while, anyway! :)

Chris.


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#12
phillpower2

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Hi Chris,

 

Being the most determined lady that you are I am quite sure that you will be up and scanning/printing in no time :thumbsup: 

 

As an asides, laser printers can be quite small but yours is an all in one which has a lot more going on and that is why it is larger, the next model up is the equvelent of an office type machine btw  Dell C2665DNF A4 All-In-One Colour Laser Multifunction Printer


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#13
Channeal

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Hello Phill,

 

Lol! You obviously remember my epic cloning adventures!  :)  Maybe you also remember my problems reinstalling our old printer too..... I am hoping that this new one will not cause me such difficulties!

 

So far all I have done is connect the power cord and add the date, time etc! I am taking my time and gradually reading bits of the manual first. I think I am gradually getting one or two things clear in my mind that I couldn't understand at first though, which is good! It is always a very slow process with me, unfortunately! :)

 

Bye for now,

Chris.


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#14
phillpower2

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Hello Chris,

 

The most important thing to remember is installing the software before connecting the USB cable, this unless the user manual directs you otherwise  :)

 

No epic btw. with your assistance we did after all resolve the issue  ;) 


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#15
Channeal

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Hello Phill,

I am very happy to be able to tell you that I have managed to install the new printer! I had a few problems along the way; the instruction manual was quite hard for a computer dummy like me to understand, but I got by with just ignoring the bits I did not understand and relying on common sense for the remainder! I still have a lot to learn about the printer, but I am really so very pleased that it is working now, especially as I need to use it this week for a language class we belong to which is starting up again.

 

The quality of the printing is amazing, so much better than our old printer. I also really like that the paper is so much easier to load than our old one which had to be loaded so carefully. It is really fast too! I managed to download an app for my phone and succeeded in printing out a document from there. I probably will not need to do that very often.... but it is just so cool that I can do it! Lol! (I so much love playing around with all this computer stuff; it is just all so mind-blowing! :))
 

I have absolutely no idea how on earth we are going to be able to print from our daughter's computer when she is here though. Will I have to download something to do that, or what? It will no doubt take me another good few hours to work out how to do it! :(

To sum up, I am really loving this printer so far. My only worry is that I did read somewhere that the ink (or toner?) for it is really expensive. I have not actually checked the prices yet (possibly because I am too nervous to do so!). Dell - of course - say that you can only use their ink in it, but I am wondering if it might be a possibility to use alternative sources. I will just wait for now and see how long the present ink lasts.... hopefully it will last a good while!

Anyway.... yet again I have to thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to help me out with this purchase. I would never have found the Ebuyer deal by myself, for sure. So, a very big thank you goes your way. If my computer could talk, I am sure it would say 'thank you' too: it seems very happy and healthy at the moment thanks to the big changes that you helped me to do earlier in the year! :)

I guess I should not talk too soon though: one thing I have definitely learned is that computers will always surprise you when you least expect it!

Chris.


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