Oy. That Dell 948 was just trouble. I spent quite a bit of time with it to see why I was getting these random white lines across the printouts. i did find a few bits of paper in there but nothing that would obstruct/jam the machinery. I loosened every screw on that thing and still found nothing.
Now it’s in my garage – a very large scanner, basically.
Lessons learned:
- I bought a new color AND black and white cartridges before testing. I should have just bought one (the cheaper one, b&w) then tested. Now I am out an extra $20 or so.
- Buy a printer from someone who makes printers.
- Check warranties. Mine expired in July – not sure that would have helped much here but once your Dell warranty expires you cease to exist.
I did a bit of research for an inexpensive replacement. I figured that anything I get will last two years max, so I kept the search near the magic $99 range. I also needed a scanner for copying dox and scanning photos. The WiFi stuff was optional, but it seems to almost always be included.
I ended up with an Epson NX515 from Amazon. It received a darn good review from CNET and the price was right - $120 with free shipping.
So far, so good – very good. It is fast. Very fast. Printouts look great. Here’s the best part – when you put something on the scanner and hit the scan button – it actually scans, and when you hit the copy button, it actually copies. No weird dialog boxes, driver problems, or hesitations or hang ups. Wow.
Yes, the WiFi does work. I set up my wife’s XP notebook to print remotely. Shockingly simple.
Anyone interested in some very new Dell 948 cartridges?
Oh I have a Dell printer as well and it always gets jammed! I hate it! I will buy an HP or Cannon next time!
- SparkDad
Posted by: SparkDad | January 12, 2010 at 09:09 AM