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no more video tapes :(

"Mad-Mike" wrote:

> I hate lexmarks with a passion, so much so that I've pretty much
> dumped every one that someone "gives" me to get rid of it (becayse
> they are crap).

Oh yeah, I agree. I swore a oath to myself never to get one of those printers. Nothing but trouble.

We had one when I was doing Year 12 which was temporarly working & the quality of the print wasn't great either (when it did print something) before it decided to stop.

<Winge On>

Must admit though that in Yr 12 - some idiot brought in some virus which screwed around with the Printers (they simply just stopped!)

The only good times I had back then was with my friends (and even then I didn't have many) - course I managed to pass all my subjects & got some good results - amonst some average stuff (tests prove nothing IMO). At that time I wanted to leave my old home town & today I envy having ever moved from there.

</Winge Off>

CP/M User.
 
I agree, tests only prove whether you're good at taking tests or not. (That's how I managed to "skate" thru 9 years of school, never did any homework, and very little desk-work, but whenever they'd test, I'd be right there).

--T
 
I know the printer situation. Regarding four or two cartridges, I think it is a matter of taste. At work we got a Brother all-in-one fax/printer/scanner which has one cartridge for each colour. It regularly cleans the jets, and therefore consume a bit of ink. We didn't print much colour photos, so the biggest reason the cartridges had to be replaced every 4th month was due to the regular cleaning activity. On the other hand, ink will also in many cases dry unless you print every day, so that is a common reason to replace cartridges. My dad knows, he is an unfortunate Lexmark owner.

I think Epson implemented some kind of cartridge identification on their latest printers, to prevent 3rd party and refilled cartridges from being used. That leaves HP and Canon and perhaps some more manufacturer I can't remember.

Personally I prefer an old B/W laser printer (got a HP LaserJet 6L) over a new colour inkjet printer. Speaking of which, I need to replace the toner in a while.
 
Whenever I need to print something, it costs me about $12.00 per page. (I only use my Diconix once in a while, so every time I need to print something with it, I have to replace the $12.00 cartridge which has dried up). Anybody know a good way to keep them from drying? (I though I might try storing it in a jar of alcohol between uses).

--T
 
your best bet is to remove the printheads and cartridges from your printer, if you will not be using them for a while.

just pop them in an air tight bag.

the printers i use at work (as long as they are left on) can remain idle for ages, without worry of the prinheads or ink carts. to dry up.

good news, since each ink cart. costs over $200.00 CDN and the printheads are abput $100.00 CDN, and there are 6 of each for the colours for each printer!


I think Epson implemented some kind of cartridge identification on their latest printers, to prevent 3rd party and refilled cartridges from being used. That leaves HP and Canon and perhaps some more manufacturer I can't remember.
Click to expand...

That's quite a common strategy now eh?

I know that Staedtler has ink replacement systems, and they have some that are really effective at circumventing the printers' methods of detecting non-standard inks.

If I get time, I will scan in the inside of the casing of an HP ink cart. and you can see some of the circuitry.

chris

p.s.

I am like you, kind of Anders, in that I prefer b&w printers over colour ones, although i still like dot matrix.

i miss my citizen gsx-130 (IIRC).... god that thing printed great!

chris
 
My Diconix is really a battery-powered H/P ThinkJet, and the carts for them come in a little pressurized tin, but that doesn't even keep them from drying up, so they come with an expiration date on the packaging. I picked up a bunch of them several years ago, since they were expired, and clearance-priced at $.50 each. About half of them turned out to be bad.

--T
 
vic user said:
wow, i had no idea they made battery powered printers!

sorry to hear about 1/2 of the carts. being bad.

chris
Click to expand...

Oh, I'm not complaining. The good ones more than made up the difference in price. I bought 20 of 'em for $10.00, so even though I only got to use 10 of 'em, the whole lot cost less than one "new" cart.

The reason I like & still use such a vintage printer is that it uses off-the-shelf batteries. It takes standard "C" cells (x5) and is switch-selectable for alkiline or rechargeables, with charging capability built-in.

They come up pretty often on eBay, for $5 - 10.00 or so.

--T
 
Didn't anyone else noticed what I noticed about this story?

The reporter says VHS is going out, but the person quoted says something quite different.

The person quoted only said "we must expect that new releases will be exclusively digital." See? Only * NEW RELEASES * ... he is not saying that BLANK videotapes will stop being produced.

LOL, I think the real news is that DVD is dying at an even faster rate, because of hard-disk recorders and services like Movielink.com.

With hard drives so cheap, RAM getting cheaper, online bandwidths and access methods increasing (think BPL), the very concept of having to rent physical media for any software / movie is what will become obsolete soon.

Not blank tapes. :)
 
But Evan, the story also mentions that manufacturers will not make any more VCRs. Certainly it doesn't mean that the production of tapes will end the same day the last brand new player leaves the factory, but we've been warned.

And Chris, I don't miss my matrix (Commodore/MPS-801) printer. :wink: Maybe it was on the low end of matrix printers, but I'm to this day still happy I found a buyer who was willing to consider the shipping costs too. Out of all vintage computing and associated peripherals and items, a printer is the least interesting to me. At least if I'm about to use it, and not collect for a museum.
 
true

true

But Evan, the story also mentions that manufacturers will not make any more VCRs. Certainly it doesn't mean that the production of tapes will end the same day the last brand new player leaves the factory, but we've been warned.
Click to expand...


I'm sure that tapes will be available for quite some time. Right now, in 2005, the big electronics shop (Fry's) down the street from me still has blank Betamax tapes on the shelf.
 
Terry,

I, too, have a Diconix printer (Kodak Diconix 150 Plus). I've never had an ink cartridge dry out. I know for a fact that my printer has been sitting for at least a year without being used. After priming the cartridge it printed fine. Does your printer use the HP 51604A (or Canon CJ-3A) cartridge?

My printer uses only NiCad batts, I sprung for the hi-capacity cells from Radio Shack. Every now and then I run them completely dead and charge them with a reflex charger. Keeps them from getting a "memory" and can rehabilitate cells that have developed memory.

Back to the ink, though. If you shake a "dead" cartridge can you hear the ink sloshing? Careful when you shake it, you may end up looking like a dalmation :D
 
DD,

Same printer, 150Plus. It uses the H/P carts. It's not like they dry-up completely, but one or two of the jets will plug up, leaving a blank line thru the print. They could still be used for draft or compressed mode, but forget about NLQ. I can prime & prime them and still no joy. (It's the kind that have a little rubber "bladder" inside the cart, so you can tell if there's any ink just by looking at 'em).

I've been running on the same set of NiCads (standard capacity) for several years now, and they still are going strong. So, do you have to give yours a two-finger salute to drop it into charge mode, or does it stay that way constantly?

BTW, I haven't forgotten about the D6K stuff, I still want it, just have been having other monitary priorities lately (like beer, gas, food, etc (in roughly that order)).

--T
 
Ink Jet?

Ink Jet?

Same printer, 150Plus. It uses the H/P carts. It's not like they dry-up completely, but one or two of the jets will plug up, leaving a blank line thru the print. They could still be used for draft or compressed mode, but forget about NLQ. I can prime & prime them and still no joy. (It's the kind that have a little rubber "bladder" inside the cart, so you can tell if there's any ink just by looking at 'em).
Click to expand...

One thing that used to work for me with the DeskWriter carts when they got plugged up was wash the business end in alcohol. Sometimes I even got desperate enough to soak it in alcohol for a bit. Usualy worked like a charm.
 
Yeah, I was thinking that since I only use the printer once or twice a year, I might try storing the carts in a sealed jar of alchohol between printings. The only thing I'm not sure about is whether leaching would be a problem, either into or out of the cart. I guess I'll just hafta try it to find out.

--T
 
long term

long term

I do suspect that long term storage in alcohol might be bad. I think your ink will become alcohol and your alcohol, ink. ;)
 
Like when gas and condensed water goes into the oil trough. You read the oil stick, and you wonder why the car doesn't consume any oil.. :roll:
 
carlsson said:
Like when gas and condensed water goes into the oil trough. You read the oil stick, and you wonder why the car doesn't consume any oil.. :roll:
Click to expand...

If you run it like that long enough, you'll be wondering why the engine blew.

--T
 
vic user said:
They come up pretty often on eBay, for $5 - 10.00 or so.
Click to expand...

they are so cute!

would love to hook one up to a model 100.

chris
Click to expand...

Chris,

I found another Diconix 150 Plus in ComputerHell. I plugged it in with my power supply, and it goes thru the motions of the self-test. I don't have any ink carts, so unable to test any further. You can have it for $5.00 + shipping (weighs around four pounds), without batteries or power supply (9v. D.C. @1A).

--T
 
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