>The manufacturers are in the business of making money. So having pared
>down printers to the point where they last almost under 1 year (i.e.
>warranty), the only way to lower customer price and still make $$ is to
>mark up something that is not covered under warranty. This is not a new
>idea, but I am surprised that customer lobbies are so slow reacting to
>this ? They are not robbers, they have found a legal loophole in customer
>rights laws (the ones that oblige them to publish prices in ads and stand
>by them etc.), and are happily grazing in that pasture. Have been for a
>while now.

        Peter, you will think it's strange, but I LOVE IT

        Look at the beneficials:

        1 - I can get a printer for CHEAP. Man, I said CHEAP. Did I said C H E A=
 P???? An inkjet printer that costed about $500 now costs about $50. Cheap=
 as hell, as americans say. In Brazil, even the poorest can afford an=
 inkjet with photo quality print.

        2 - The carts CAN be refilled. Or as said in Brazil, "remanufactured".=
 Some can't but there will be a way to do. www.nomorecart.com gave me a=
 great idea - their product/idea can be adapted to every lovely printer in=
 the world. I'm in process of modifying an old HP500 to use a BIG bottle of=
 ink, and giving it to someone who prints a lot, like my neighbourhoods=
 (wow, this is hard to spell, sorry if I got wrong). If it works, I'll do=
 it in "some" tens of Epsons I have in my locker. And never mind changing=
 carts again. Epson printers can even use the tube directly connected to=
 the pins that sucks the ink from the cart, I THINK. Time for some=
 experiences here.

        3 - Old printers are cheap sources of great parts. I got tens of Epsons=
 500, 600 and like, to scrap batteries, MOSFETs, EPROMs, small gears=
 (robotics are a passion), motors, belts, screws, funny ICs, PSUs, LEDs and=
 others that children love, and electronics' beginners need ;o) Maybe an=
 "electronics 101" in the local comunity house, for poor people and small=
 children - do you remember when you first energized a motor? And=
 controlled the bright of a LED with a potentiometer? ;o)))

        4 - obsolescence - if I used the right word. I have an OLD (man, that's=
 what I call OLD) Canon BJC 4100. Do you know why? Because IT WORKS. Every=
 time. The inkheads doesn't gets clogged and the carts are cheap. Of course=
 the printout compared with new printers is like comparing a 3DfX with an=
 old MSX or Sinclair Spectrum. But I only need it, I seldom print anything.=
 And when I print, is one or two pages. Just for reference. Now that I have=
 a palmtop (man, Palm Vx RULEZ!), I don't even need to carry any piece of=
 paper with me. Even photos I store on the palmtop. But if I want (and open=
 my hand, and maybe taking off that old spider from my pocket), I CAN=
 afford a brand new printer, with photo quality and like.

        5 - Experiences. Have you tried to use an inkjet printer to print a CD? It=
 CAN be done and I DID! Of course, without alignment and quality. But only=
 because I'm too lazy to build the entire mech necessary to draw the CD=
 correctly thru the print mecha. Of course, a "PC Board Printer" is also in=
 the works - change the ink of the cart by the acid-resistant one, and feed=
 the board thru the mecha of the printer, modified to use a paper=
 "something" thicker. Here you have your "Poor's man PC Board printer". Of=
 course it can only be done because an HP500 costs around $10 nowadays. I=
 even gave one 520 away to my lovely (hmmm, insert the female of "landlord"=
 here, forgot the dictionary somewhere). As you see, now you can do lots of=
 crazy experiences that bring knowledge and praticity (?) to your life.

        6 - Fun. You can do anything with printers - even smashing it with your=
 new 6-kilos hammer. It's fun! Trust me!

        As you can see, why not have "discardable" printers? So bad we don't have=
 discardable palmtops and digital cameras yet...wait...in Japan, there ARE=
 discardable digital cameras! Oh my! ;o)))


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Alexandre Souza
taito@terra.com.br
http://planeta.terra.com.br/lazer/pinball/

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