Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: Hawkmoon on November 29, 2022, 09:02:57 PM
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Has anyone ever heard of them?
https://www.amazon.com/Pantum-Monochrome-Convenient-Networking-Efficiency/dp/B08HLV5T67/ref=sr_1_12?crid=B5Z8SIGHUGHT&keywords=wide%2Bformat%2Blaser%2Bprinter%2B11x17%2Bblack%2Band%2Bwhite&qid=1669773362&sprefix=wide%2Bformat%2Blaser%2Bprinter%2B11x17%2Caps%2C84&sr=8-12&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0&th=1
I'm thinking of this as an economical replacement for my H-P LaserJet MFP that got friend by my recent electrical outage.
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My take?
(I used to run the creative services group/printer czar at a major group of campuses of a Fortune 100)
Get something that you recognize the name...
it's all about consumables and interface. The interface should be okay with most "name" brands. You want to be able to get toner, etc., cheap.
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Brother is pretty good for cheap laser printers.
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I used to buy used HP printers by the pallet... Rape the deaders for parts, toss 'em, and you're still ahead...
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In no particular order: Cannon, Brother, HP, Lexmark, Epson, Oki(data), Panasonic
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Never heard of them.
Looks delicate
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I was using them for "print on demand" training manuals...
Hit "print" on 120+ pages, and then the next job would go to the next open machine.
Had very few malfs after I got a couple of deaders out of the chain.
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Reading deeper into the comments brought to light the fact that they only scan to JPEG, not to PDF. That's a deal breaker right there.
For a few $$$ more I'm going to get an older model Canon MFP. It won't have wireless, but the H-P that dies didn't either, so no loss. It'll be sitting right next to a network switch with open ports, so I'll plug it in and make it a network printer on the LAN.
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I have this Brother, no complaints in the last 5 years. Works great on Wifi, I even print from my Andriod phone and iPad.
https://www.amazon.com/Brother-Monochrome-HL-L2350DW-Two-Sided-Replenishment/dp/B0763WDSYZ/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1KYLO8ZM2JZHZ&keywords=brother+duplex+laser+printer&qid=1669780719&sprefix=brother+duplex%2Caps%2C529&sr=8-3
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I'm using an HP OfficeJet 3830 All-in-One Printer mostly for scans and the rare color job but my main workhorse is an HP LaserJet P3005x.
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Brother is pretty good for cheap laser printers.
This.
Canon has been trying to force you to use only their toner or ink
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I'd definitely look at Brother as a "best value" alternative to any no-name brand. "Best value" meaning you may pay a little more than the unknown printer made by monkeys, but it will last much longer. I have a beast of a Brother MFC that's going on eight years with zero hiccups. It does everything I need an MFC to do, and I have zero plans or need to upgrade.
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Just found this on the Pantum Global site in their "about us" section...
"Since the launch of the first Pantum printer in the Great Hall of the People in 2010"
In case you're still unsure, the Great Hall of the People is located in Bejing. On Tiananmen Square.
Changed the font color because it just seemed to be... appropriate. :rofl:
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This.
Canon has been trying to force you to use only their toner or ink
The all do.
I set up an HP monochrome laser a couple weeks ago. Small office printer. Would not print, until I got online and set up an HP account for this customer. Really wanted to rope them into the HP ink subscription.
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Has anyone ever heard of them?
https://www.amazon.com/Pantum-Monochrome-Convenient-Networking-Efficiency/dp/B08HLV5T67/ref=sr_1_12?crid=B5Z8SIGHUGHT&keywords=wide%2Bformat%2Blaser%2Bprinter%2B11x17%2Bblack%2Band%2Bwhite&qid=1669773362&sprefix=wide%2Bformat%2Blaser%2Bprinter%2B11x17%2Caps%2C84&sr=8-12&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0&th=1
I'm thinking of this as an economical replacement for my H-P LaserJet MFP that got friend by my recent electrical outage.
Anyway, never heard of them. Buy an HP. But not an HP inkjet. And some of the lasers are annoying too. I'll dig for details later.
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The all do.
No issues with my brother. Just put a new generic toner cartridge in it this fall.
ETA: Its a HL-3170CDW
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No issues with my brother. Just put a new generic toner cartridge in it this fall.
My biggest problem with Brother is folks buy cheap low end Brothers, that should be spending more on an office grade HP Laserjet, and complain stuff doesn't work the way they want. "Looking at you, particular customer" (using $89 Brothers when the software spec called for "office grade Laserjet").
Epson
don't make laser printers any more. Take a look at the Ecotank (https://epson.com/ecotank-pro-ink-tank-printers) line.
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I have a Cannon all in one B&W laser, and MF3240. Had it for a bunch of years now... Wow. I bought it in 2011.
I had some issues with getting the drivers to install properly, and have only ever had partial functionality (print and, if I mess with it long enough, basic scanning) with windows 7.
Not a huge deal to me.
I'm still printing with the short toner cartridge that came with it. That tells you how little I print.
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Oh, and I'd refill my own toner cartridges too... I got my per-page cost down under 0.02...
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Joe-Bob's Toner Warehouse, refilling everything from a bulk tank in the back.
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My Office duty HP LaserJet P3005x PCL6 is a beast of a printer and the cartridges last me a LONG time! It duplexes too!
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Been using at home a Brother 2280dw laser printer for ~11 years now. Other than the toner cartridge that came with it it's been fed a steady diet of ~$15 3rd party toner cartridges and has been running flawlessly without a single jam this whole time.
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I have this Brother, no complaints in the last 5 years. Works great on Wifi, I even print from my Andriod phone and iPad.
https://www.amazon.com/Brother-Monochrome-HL-L2350DW-Two-Sided-Replenishment/dp/B0763WDSYZ/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1KYLO8ZM2JZHZ&keywords=brother+duplex+laser+printer&qid=1669780719&sprefix=brother+duplex%2Caps%2C529&sr=8-3
Gotta copy of that myself. 5-6 years on and zero issues. I don't print a whole lot as I'm only on my 3rd toner cartridge which includes the one that came with it but both replacements were the high yield option cartridges.
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My Office duty HP LaserJet P3005x PCL6 is a beast of a printer and the cartridges last me a LONG time! It duplexes too!
My LaserJet was probably at least ten years old, if not closer to fifteen. It was doing fine until the electrical system in the house went nuts. The LaserJet wasn't the only thing that got fried.
In the end, I decided to go with a Canon. I just ordered this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01K1KUQHK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I think it's an older model, and it doesn't have some of the bells and whistles newer models offer, but it'll do everything I used the H-P for, and that's what counts.
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I have a Brother DCP-L2540DW multi purpose black print laser printer. On the 2nd cartridge and I have a spare. It's several years old and works great. I don't recall the price for the printer and replacement cartridge (TN600), but I don't recall it was too pricey. I got it at Office Depot.
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PS: My HP Laserjet weighs as much as a laser equipped jet!
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Update: I bought a Canon MP236n, which is a B&W laser multi-function device that prints, scans, copies, faxes, allows USB and Ethernet connections, and can do Apple Airprint. It arrived a couple of days ago, I have it set up, and it works okay. I'm not at all happy about the output catcher, though. It's not a tray -- it's a flimsy little tongue that pulls out of the front of the machine. Canon was clearly trying for a minimal footprint with this thing, which I think was 9and is) foolish. I suspect that the vast majority of people who are going to buy a laser multi-function device are not likely to push in the paper catcher, remove the paper from the feed tray, and fold the feed tray into the machine between prints.
But what do I know?
Anyhoo, the price was decent from Amazon, and it prints. Scan quality isn't as good as that H-P machine that dies, and Canon's scanning software is vastly inferior to the H-P software. But ... it get's the job done.
I also called several H-P repair places in the area, and the consensus is that the H-P is toast. The prevailing wisdom is that IF it can be repaired, the replacement parts and labor will be considerably more expensive than a new printer.
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I bought a $125 kit for mine that had a fuser and a bunch of other wearing parts, grabbed my tool kit, and ripped into her after watching several YouTube tutorials. I got the printer because it was squeaking and streaking the pages it printed. Once rebuilt, it has worked great ever since.
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I bought a $125 kit for mine that had a fuser and a bunch of other wearing parts, grabbed my tool kit, and ripped into her after watching several YouTube tutorials. I got the printer because it was squeaking and stinking and streaking the pages it printed. Once rebuilt, it has worked great ever since.
I'll look into parts kits, but the problem with mine is that the circuit board is probably fried. If I had a schematic and if I were a qualified board-level technician I could test each capacitor and replace the ones that got fried ... but I don't have a schematic, and if I did I wouldn't know what to do with it.
If I could luck out and find one that has been scrapped due to old age, that would be copacetic.
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I'll look into parts kits, but the problem with mine is that the circuit board is probably fried. If I had a schematic and if I were a qualified board-level technician I could test each capacitor and replace the ones that got fried ... but I don't have a schematic, and if I did I wouldn't know what to do with it.
No, just get a replacement board.
G00gle up the Interwebs, to see if there's an actual service manual out there. That would help a lot. parts lists, test procedures, replacement procedures, that kind of stuff.
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No, just get a replacement board.
G00gle up the Interwebs, to see if there's an actual service manual out there. That would help a lot. parts lists, test procedures, replacement procedures, that kind of stuff.
Looks like there are three boards inside: the engine (power?) controller board, the laser controller board, and the fax controller board.
Given that the problem was caused by a transient 240-volt current, and the engine controller boards come in 110-volt and 220-volt variants and the machine now will not even power up -- would the likely candidate be the engine (power) controller board?
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Looks like there are three boards inside: the engine (power?) controller board, the laser controller board, and the fax controller board.
Given that the problem was caused by a transient 240-volt current, and the engine controller boards come in 110-volt and 220-volt variants and the machine now will not even power up -- would the likely candidate be the engine (power) controller board?
To which board does the incoming power connect? Check that board first. Look for blown fuses if it has fuses, burnt traces and/or components.
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Power cord connects to the engine controller board. That's why I think that's what to look at first.
What does a burned trace look like?
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Power cord connects to the engine controller board. That's why I think that's what to look at first.
What does a burned trace look like?
A burned circuit board trace is usually pretty obvious. You will probably recognize it as soon as you see it, even if you have never seen one before.
A burned trace will look dark or even black compared to other traces on the board. That usually indicates overcurrent heating the trace. If the overcurrent was really bad, the trace can lift from the board and even burn apart in some cases. Google will turn up pictures of burned traces. Many are pretty severe, showing lots of damage to circuit boards.
Burned traces also often exude an electrical burning odor long after they have cooled. They can really stink.
If you are unsure, take a picture of anything that you think looks suspicious and post it here. There are several of us that can provide guidance about a course of action.
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I found a place that can get me an "engine" (power supply) board for $40 plus shipping. Considering what these printer seem to be worth even on the used market, I'm willing to risk $50 to see if I can get it running again. The part has been ordered and should be here Monday or Tuesday.
I'll see if I can get a decent photo of the old board when I replace it.