Free Printer+advice

 

Yes, you guessed it. I love FREE! My current printer, an HP, was given to me.  That is another story of my frugality and my friend's waste. Finally, the print heads wore out, I think. Actually, I could not get down far enough for long enough to clean them. I suspect from its behavior that the print heads would have to be replaced. It will still fax and copy and send to my computer if I plug it into my computer. I need to print!

Office Max had Kodak Hero 4-in-1 on sale for $99 on Black Friday and the Saturday afterwards. I had $63 in store credit from returning the cartridges that did not work. A $10 coupon further lowered the price:
$99-$73= $26+ tax~$36. My cartridge recycling credits for more than that have not kicked in. A friend lent me the money I lacked and he will use my credits in January when they become available. So, my need was for ~$36, still covered by recycled cartridge credit that will be available in January. That makes a free 4-in-1 for me! (Yes, I had spent money on cartridges 6 weeks ago, but since I did not have the receipt, it was store credit only.)

I have never had a wireless printer. So, this will be interesting. I cannot get it into the house, so I am at the mercy of waiting for the next person who comes by. Maybe Mark will come tomorrow. Charlie won't because he is going to put the chicken defense in place and will not work in the rain, naturally. Exbf will be here on Wednesday. sigh....sigh....

HP printers have served me well over the years. I bought my first in 1993 for grad school, black ink only. Then, when it played out in 2000, I bought another, color. In 2005 my friend who worked for an attorney called me and said she knew I could fix printers and computers and did I want the office 4-in-1 that quit after a year. I said sure and grabbed current beau and his truck. He was sooooo annoyed at me. He was annoyed he had to carry it to his truck. He was annoyed he had to carry it in the house.

Once it was inside, I plugged it up, turned it on and slapped a colored ad on the bed and printed---a color copy. I called her and asked her exactly what was wrong with the printer. "Well, when I turn it on, nothing happens, absolutely nothing, no lights come on.  (Attorney) could not get it to work, either."

When I informed her ten minutes after we picked it up that it worked perfectly so far and had power, and lights came on, she was flabbergasted, wanting to know what I did to make it work. "Plugged connection into printer and the power cord into an outlet." She gasped and told me NOT to ever tell the attorney.

When I questioned her about books or paper ever falling behind the printer, she recalled that a bunch of papers, a whole stack fell off the back. Yup, the plug was knocked out of the machine, just as I expected. The machine was only a year old. Lucky me. This is the same friend for whom I "worked on" her computer to bring it back to life. Can you guess what was the problem and how I fixed her computer? Exactly. I plugged in all cords into the back of the computer. I still don't know which connection was loose.

Oh, annoyed beau? He was soooo grateful for it when he decided to attend school. Yes, I reminded him of his extreme annoyance when I got the printer and insisted he carry it. He laughed at himself and told me he was angrier than he showed because he thought I was dragging home junk. 

Yesterday, At Office Max I could have bought an HP for the same price. I have no intention of printing photos, but I just made a decision after I hurt too much from walking about the store. The front has nice white, easy-to-see buttons!  HP did not. I hope I don't regret not purchasing another HP.

Fate of current 4-in1? A friend needs a fax machine to fax resumes. So, this will be his.

Advice? Make sure things are plugged into an outlet before you declare them broken.

Your turn
Have you ever replaced a printer or another item because it was not plugged in properly? Did anyone get a great printer deal in the Black Friday sales? Has anyone used a Kodak printer?