In 2008 I had the unfortunate experience of having to purchase a new printer. Prior to doing so, I had purchased a Lexmark printer through an online auction. Got a great deal, a penny would get me this brand new in the box printer. All I had to do was pay the cost of shipping, in total $24.99. Plus one cent. That printer retailed in stores for $269.00
I used this printer and all of its functions to the fullest.
Then it happened, in 2008 my perfect printer stopped working.
I had to take other methods of purchasing a printer. An online auction was not the way to go at this point and time. I needed a new printer as soon as possible.
I went to my near by Staples store and had no problem finding a new printer.
I purchased a Dell printer, all-in-one. It was on sale for around $100. They make great computers so why not try their printer? The Dell I decided to purchase was white and compactly designed. I bought my pretty little printer home and the next day was eager to install it. I was surprised that all the functions did not work properly. So I packed it up in the box and returned it to the store.
Staples gave me no problems in returning it with the receipt and original box. I simply exchanged it for the same model Dell all-in-one printer. I returned home and began the installation of the printer. All went well and the printer was working fine. Three days later, the printer stopped working. Putting it back in the box, I was on my way again to Staples. I explained what had occurred with the printer and proceeded to choose a new printer; again Staples gave me no problems. I decided at this point maybe Dell was not the brand for me. I found a Lexmark all-in-one printer.
I went through the installation process, the printer worked fine, all was well again.
Three months went by and one day while printing some documents, something shot out of the printer. I thought "well, that wasn’t good." This time I had had the printer for three months so I didn’t think I would be able to just exchange it again. I contacted Staples and again they were very helpful. I was able to bring it in if I had the original receipt and the box it came in.
The one thing I learned from my mother, always keep everything when you purchase such an item, especially the box.
I returned to Staples once again and carefully looked over the printers. I ended up getting an H.P. all-in-one printer this time. The good part was, Staples had a large variety of printers on sale, priced at or around $100. I decided to go with a Hewlett Packard printer.
The bad part of this is, the printer ink is so costly, and once you open it the store will not even give you a credit for the value of the ink. You can recycle it and get $3.00 for it. Hardly worth it in my eyes when you’re paying out between $25-$40.00 per ink cartridge.
You can purchase other types of discounted cartridges online. I have done that in the past, but I have found them to run out of ink faster than a store- bought cartridge. In some cases they won’t work at all in the printer.
I finally hit the jack pot. The H.P. all in one 5610 was my favorite printer. This printer was golden in its performance. By the time I ended up with this printer it was around the start of August 2008. All was going well between the relationship of my H.P. printer and me. In May 2009, the printer stopped working. I had just purchased two new ink cartridges from Staples only days before. I was printing out some documents and my printer let me know it was time for ink refills.
I changed the ink, first the black, but then the printer was saying the cartridge was incorrect. "Impossible," I thought. "This is the same number cartridge I have always purchased for my printer." I removed the black ink cartridge to make sure the number was the same as what was on the box. Then I put it in the printer again, it read the same. I tried to remove the cartridge again and it would not come out.
I thought great here I go again. I called H.P. to find out what to do because the printer was now almost a year old. I was told I needed to register the printer online before they could help me. I disputed this telling the representative on the phone, I did register it online when it was first purchased and I have the email confirmation for that.
H.P. representative proceeded to register it again. I was told I had to pack up the printer and send it to them. They would check the printer and determine what the outcome would be. Either they would repair it, if it was repairable, or send me a certificate for the value of the printer.
"Well," I thought, "either way this will not help me right now." I needed a new printer at that moment. That procedure would take weeks.
So I called Staples and explained my situation. I was told I could bring it in and switch it out with a new one, as long as I had the original receipt and box with contents for the printer. So I brought it in and had no problems, except the printer I purchased last was no longer in stock. Again I needed to pick another printer. I really did love the performance of the H.P 5610. I decided to stick with the H.P. brand of printers and got the H.P. Office jet j4580 all-in-one printer.
I hate having to purchase new items such as this. How do you know what is good or bad? It is important to research an item prior to purchase.
All is well with my newest Hewlett Packard all-in-one printer. I love the performance of this printer; as for the ink cartridges, about $30, 00 per cartridge, but the bonus is both black ink and color are the same numbers. So this makes it less confusing when you need to purchase new ink.
