I’ve said it here a million times but Vince and I met online. The way it happened . . I knew less about computers then that I know now but I was apparently braver (or dumber). I can’t remember what happened first but there was an online forum for whatever computer I had at the time and I got on there and asked about printers because I didn’t have one. I think the printer was first. Later I asked about a scanner. Remember when they were separate things? Later, I wanted to upgrade the modem in my computer. The first time I got on and asked, Vince responded . . asked all kinds of intelligent question . . What do you want to use it for mostly? How much do you want to spend? Does speed matter? Remember this was a long time ago! He recommended a few printers. I went to Office Depot or Staples . . whatever we had there in town . . bought one and hooked it up by myself.
A few months later, Chad, who was probably 5 or 6 at the time, wanted a way to copy something he was playing with. I got back on and asked about scanners. Other people answered the question but a few days later, Vince responded and said he remembered me looking for a printer and asked if I had been able to hook it up. So . . that’s how this all started.
When he was here in November, I asked him if he would hook up a printer for me. He doesn’t seem nearly as excited and agreeable as he did back when he was answering my questions on the computer. I guess there’s a lot of water under that bridge.
So, he hooked up two – the HP that had been in the sewing room in Texas and an Epson that he may have bought here. It’s one we’d never used . . that’s all I know.
He ordered extra ink for both of them but asked me to use the HP because the ink was cheaper.
I printed a couple of things — really, maybe a dozen pages, with the HP and it worked fine. Then I went in to print and it says something like “Print Failure. Contact HP.” What? I’m not contacting HP. I contacted Vince! He told me all kinds of things to try but it still says the same thing. Then he told me to use the Epson “if you have to use a printer”. Yes . . that’s what I would have done because it’s the only printer working! But, what he meant was . . try not to use the printer! Then he explained that the latest firmware update prevents us from being able to use off brand ink and all he bought was off brand ink. Yesterday I had to print ONE page and the Epson tells me I’m out of black ink. Great.
This morning I called Vince and asked him if he would order authentic Epson ink so I could use the printer. NO! He was NOT spending $100 on ink. OK. I can live without a printer.
Then I said “There’s another HP – an 8517 or something like that. Can I make that one work?” I never understood if that was one that he bought here or he bought on sale years ago but it had never been used. It was supposed to have “setup ink cartridges” but they were missing from the box when he opened it. He ordered more ink so I hooked everything up but without the setup cartridges, it won’t get started. I read online how to reset it, tried that several times. No other option but to call Vince. This is where the conversation went rapidly downhill! He said “Well, I didn’t expect you to break two printers!” WHAT? It isn’t like I spilled Dr. Pepper in them! The old HP just died in its sleep and the Epson works fine but he won’t spend $100 on ink! I wanted to say “I didn’t yell at you for ruining a tire when you had a blowout because it wasn’t your fault” (and I wouldn’t yell anyway!) but I figured the less I said, the sooner I’d get a printer that worked.
He did a little research and found that the HP really will not ever work without those setup cartridges. Who ever heard of such? He found some on ebay – never used, seller has good rating so he ordered those and then he ordered real Epson ink . . which is what I asked for in the beginning and, all I said was . . thank you!
Diana says
it’s always something
Helen says
Men can be so frustrating! (I love my man, but he does make me crazy sometimes.)
Judy Laquidara says
I think after he thought about it, he figured he was in hot water because in a later phone call, he said “I didn’t mean YOU broke them . . I meant . . I didn’t think both printers would stop working before I got back.” But, the Epson didn’t stop working . . it just won’t take the off brand ink. That’s like saying my car is broke because it’s out of gas.
vivoaks says
The hardest part of the whole thing is that when it’s all said and done, the husband still feels like his wife is the dummy and he’s frustrated having to deal with it, while she’s frustrated that the husband thinks she’s a dummy and she knows better, but has to deal with the male ego. I feel your pain….
Judy Laquidara says
Thank you.
Mary E Atchison says
I am the tech in our house. I bought ink a few weeks ago and cried as I paid. I am being very, very careful. Something is haywire and I have to connect my laptop to the printer to print now. The wireless feature was a pain in the fanny to connect, but has worked for several years. I think it is just outdated software and that is that.
Judy Laquidara says
If this household depended on me to be the tech, we’d just box it all up and move to a cave in the middle of nowhere. Wait . . we kinda did that when we moved to Texas. 🙂
Vince buys off brand ink. Has for years and we’ve always had good luck til now the Epson printer won’t accept it. I’m sure that printer is going to the landfill when Vince gets back if he can’t get that limitation removed.
That would be a pain to have to connect to print! We have printers that are 10 years old and they’re still working wireless but I have no idea how or why.
Nelle Coursey says
Very frustrating!
Cynthia says
HP has a program that you pay a very minimal price to print a set number of pages a month. They send you ink based on how many pages you print. They monitor how much you print and it’s very reasonable.
Judy Laquidara says
Nope. Not ever doing that. We bought it. I want less interference in my life, not more. Doesn’t even matter if it’s a cost savings, which I doubt. We go months without printing anything and I’ve printed several full color 20+ page cross stitching patterns in the last couple of weeks.
Dorothy Matheson says
We had that HP thing where they send the ink for the number of pages a month. However they were charging us for much more then we were actually using. So we stopped the service and it was hard to get it stopped.
Rebecca Haughn says
I know printers can be a pain, for us quilters though we should all look into the epson or brother or any other ecotanks, they take the bottled ink which is way cheaper than cartridges. Look for the ecotank that prints like 5o k pages though. Also I found that you can order an maintenance box, one for your printer I think there are different ones. they are only like 10 bucks and over all the best way to print things these days. Good luck in the future for these printers they can be maddening. Glad you two found each other that way it is a very good story to share. Be well.
Judy H says
Tell Vince to look into HP Instant Ink. We get charged a few dollars a month and ink comes in the mail like magic just before we need it. It’s pretty convenient!
Judy Laquidara says
He buys ink or the HP printers online and it’s way less than buying HP ink. So far, the HP printers still accept it.
Linda in NE says
When you mentioned an Epson printer i was going to jump right in & tell you about that update. Too late, Vince had already found that out. I will NEVER buy another Epson product but their photo paper. I had a lovely Epson printer/scanner that used 3rd party ink just fine. Then came the firmware update. I was not paying more for the ink than I paid for the printer. So I bought a Canon printer that uses the compatible ink just fine. Recently there was a notice that there was an update I could install. NO NO NEVER NEVER will I install a firmware update on any printer I own that will use the compatible, cheaper ink! My lovely Epson that scanned so well and I loved the software is now a doorstop. I refuse to even donate it somewhere because I don’t want to stick someone else with the problem.
Judy Laquidara says
He’s never been an Epson fan but I think he bought that one here out of desperation and he’ll definitely never buy another one.
Diana G says
Ahhh… Technology supposed to make our lives better. Not so much.
Susan Nixon says
Oh, you are so sweet, Miss Judy. What’s the point of having the Epson if you don’t have printer ink for it? LOL The last time my printer broke, about 2.5 years ago, I was so sad to say goodbye to my HP that died. It was perfect for me – did what I wanted, connected to my computer every time, scanned perfectly, copied, it was just perfect. I bought the closest thing I could find at Office Max, also an HP, brought it home and almost went crazy before I got it to work. I came so close to throwing the whole thing out the second story window! Even now, it doesn’t always do what I want it to. Sigh. Why do things have to get more complicated? Some of us aren’t interested in upgrading out of sight! LOL
Judy Laquidara says
Right. New and improved isn’t always better . . at least for us old folks. I guess companies have to “improve” so things don’t last as long and consumers have to buy newer models sooner.
Rebecca says
Oh, man…sometimes when I have to buy something, even as simple as a thumb drive, I have to dig through all the “capabilities” it has. I don’t WANT it to do ten different things; just do its job!
Simpler is easier, and often better.
Judy Domke says
And here I am a total Epson fan! Almost 2 years ago I bought an Epson that has the ink tanks. I use that thing constantly. I do not have to buy cartridges ever. Each time I did with the last printer it cost me $65. Just last month I finally had to buy new ink for the tanks and to fill all 4 it cost me $65. I feel like my Epson has more than paid for itself. I have never had an issue with it that I had not caused myself.
I so love how your love story started.
Sheryl says
I have an Epson that I love and it uses refill bottles instead of cartridges. The ink prints tons of pages. It’s an Epson ET-2650. It came from Walmart.
Katherine says
We got a laser printer and it goes years before we have to refill with ink! We have a black only, but I think they make color ones that have gotten cheaper
PamO says
Take the empty black cartridge out of the printer. This forces it to use the color for black.
Karen says
I have a Canon four in one that I really liked. But all of a sudden it wouldnt print! So I googled the heck out of it and it is a known issue. If I tell the software I’m using photo paper it will print. But if I forget it won’t print. Canon knows about this issue and expects you to just buy another printer! When I run out of ink, or patience, I’m going to buy a HP.
Judy Laquidara says
HP has been our preference for years but I’m not sure Vince is thrilled with them any more but probably still the best for us.
Dar in MO says
I have an old HP that is more than 8 years old and I stopped buying “authentic” HP cartridges. Now I order Jarbo in cartridges on Amazon and I can get 10 cartridges for what I paid for 1 or two of the HP ones. My printer notifies me the cartridges are not HP and I hit the OK and keep on going, Have not had any trouble in over 2 years with the ink. Good luck with yours.