planned obsolescence

[shankle]

Bought a Canon Camera years ago. Three years later my still good camera was no
longer supported by Canon. Needless to say I was ticked.
I no longer buy Canon Cameras but I guess all of them are in the Obsolescence
Business.
Hewett Packard - guess what, they are also in the Planned Obsolescence racket.
I have a 4-5 year old Officejet Pro L7580 printer. When I bought a 64-bit computer,
the printer prints 75% smaller rendering a working printer useless. They do not
have drivers for what they consider obsolete printers. Will I ever buy another HP product? Do I need to say more? IMHO this is a very bad business
practice.

[hutch--]

Jack,

Its a plot to gouge you for more money. usually the more you pay for something the more chance you have of it lasting longer and being supported longer. I waited years to buy a digital camera as I was not going to use the crappy lenses that the cheapies came with. I had a collection of K mount Pentax lenses that fit the digital camera body I paid a fortune for.

A printer is much the same animal, I own a HP laser that must be 10 years old and I can still buy toner cartridges for it. The difference was it cost me $1700 AU 10 years ago. These days you can buy a throw away laser printer for about $50.00. As soon as you buy a new toner cartridge for it, its cheaper to buy another throw away printer.

[dedndave]

microsoft is the worst example of this

but - it applies to everything you buy
see how long you can get a coffee-maker to last - lol

[MichaelW]

I too have had problems with HP doing this, no drivers for newer versions of Windows, or not fixing serious bugs in existing drivers, in one case for a very expensive printer. Or providing updated drivers that are not certified and instructing you to just ignore the warning.

[dedndave]

yah - i have an old scanner that i have had since win98 days - HP ScanJet 5100C
i had to do some repair work on it
and - i have to use Hamrick VueScan because XP does not support it with drivers
it may not have the resolution of newer scanners, but it has a large bed and i like it - lol

[Vortex]

Hi Jack,

What's the type of your Canon camera? Is it a DSLR or a compact machine? Unfortunately, the lenses are very expensive. I have a Canon EOS 550d camera and wish to buy a f/2.8 lense which is not cheap. Digital photography is a very nice but expensive hobby.

[shankle]

Thanks fellows for your responses.
At least I am not the only one suffering with this predicament.
I miss quoted the camera in my post. It was a Kodak digital point
& shoot. I have had my Canon Powershot for less than a year so
I can hope for 2 years more. Whopee!

If I am forced to get another printer I have been researching the Okidata
LED MFP. This is a new technology that scans the entire line without any
moving parts. This is the coming Organic Light Emitting Diode technology.
Any time you see printers advertised as "Laser" that is not the new tech.
So far the Okidata is the only one I have found with this new tech.
I am not in Hutch's class. Mine will be about $300-400. :(

[hutch--]

Jack,

That was 10 years ago but the old HP Laserjet still works OK if you bother to keep up the toner cartridges. Its just that I cannot think of a good reason to print anything these days, I even do formal communication by email these days. If you are buying a new laser printer these days, it should be in the $50 to $150 price range.

[FORTRANS]

yah - i have an old scanner that i have had since win98 days - HP ScanJet 5100C
i had to do some repair work on it

Hi,

   I bought an HP color flatbed scanner, and it worked for
many years.  Died sometime this year.  Any resources for
repair hints?  Last tried, it did nothing at all.

   As for printers, after a series of Canon ink jets, that lasted
a few years each, and then died of clogged print heads, I got
an HP Color LaserJet.  We had used them at work, and they
worked well.  I made sure that the ones at work supported
PostScript.  And did so for home use.  Should never have to
worry about drivers and the like.  May have to think about
spare cartridges...  So far, so good though.

Regards,

Steve N.

[dedndave]

nothing at all makes the power source suspect, Steve
not saying that's what it is - as many things can cause it
but - it is a common problem - and usually easy to check and repair

other conditions can cause it, of course
like mechanical parts being in places they do not belong (lead screw beyond end of travel, etc)

check and eliminate the easy things first
power supply - cables - connections
general rules that apply to anything broken

i don't really know of any good source for info
as with most things, i opened the box and played it by ear - lol
50 years of electronics background helps (that includes learning from mistakes)

[shankle]

I want to correct my statement about HP. Their not at fault but it
was my lack of knowledge of GoAsm 64-bit that was the culprit.
I tried running my MASM32 program on the 64-bit computer/printer
and low and behold it worked. Why or how I have no idea.
Anyway I found the error in my 64-bit program. :icon_redface:

Curious as how Hutch can buy a $50-150 laser. All that I have seen
go for about $300. Must not have Obamacare priced in it.

[Ryan]

I have one similar to this:
http://www.staples.com/Brother-HL-2270DW-Mono-Laser-Printer/product_887222?cid=PS:GooglePLAs:887222&KPID=887222

Automatic duplexing and Wi-Fi capable. $149.99

[shankle]

Yes, know I see why the price is so inexpensive.
Not so for a MFP LED (not laster)

[mineiro]

I don't buy anymore printers to home use in my life.

You can also check if the capacitor (condenser?, Leyden Jar), is stewed or overflowing, and also check the solder. They are cheap components.
Without multimeters, oscilloscopes is difficult, and also has the mechanics.

[FORTRANS]

Hi Dave,

   Yeah, checked with a VOM to see if something got
unplugged.  Power supply seems likely.  I am not sure
how to open the thing up.  I don't see enough screws
at first try.  A quick search mentioned the dread Torx
though.  Anyway, it would probably have to be about
as obvious as a blown fuze.  (My brother took apart
Mom's TV, and that was it!  So I suppose it could
happen again.)

Cheers,

Steve N.