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In 2017, installing printer is finally no longer a headache.

B

bman94

Member
I just a HP printer from Best Buy because of their sale. I'm a teacher so It gets annoying to go out to fed ex to make a bunch a copies even if it's just something small like 60 or so pages. I got a new one cause my old wireless printer (a Canon) stopped working wirelessly and butchers anything that has color now.

Holy shit I'm so surprised how easy it was to install this new printer. I remember with the Canon and some other wireless printers I've had in the past it was a huge hassle to get it to connect with the wireless network, it constantly being dropped from the wireless network, having to put in the long passcode for the network over and over and over again...

All there is now is a link to the website, just download a general installer, it finds your printer automatically through the software, sends a test print and starts installing the drivers right away. It even gave me a email address so I can print shit when I'm away to the printer. Shits fucking dope.

Even non-wireless printers was a huge headache in the past. With printers taking forever to install drivers and software. CD's sometimes just crashing the software and having to install all over again, USB sometimes not reading the printer, some printers just flat out not including the USB necessary etc. It's kinda cool we are at the point where it can easily print off of mobile devices as well.

This sounds like the most fuck you consumer thing ever, but I'm slightly tempted at it, they actually have a fucking subscription service for HP that you pay tiered pricing and the printer senses when you are running low on ink, sends a message to HP or whatever and they send you new ink cartridges to your home. It's a bit unsettling to think about but sounds super convenient.

Now if we could just get printers to last longer than a few months and ink to not costs the price of your new born we would be in a good place.

edit: Also I'm glad this process is so much easier cause my parents are completely lost when it comes to installing printers and I would always have to do it growing up.
 
P

Pankratous

Member
In my work we support a client who uses very old technology and I've occasionally had to set up old industrial printers and it's fucking horrible.
 
P

Patrick Young

Member
I still set a static IP as a precaution for wireless printers for our employees that wan't their own printer on their work laptop. We still get instances of Windows not finding the printer when the IP changes.
 
B

bman94

Member
CarpeDeezNutz said:
You don't have a printer in your classroom? Or use the office one?
Click to expand...

Nope, which is a huge annoyance. Usually I don't have to print from work but when I do It's like a journey to find somewhere to print. For whatever reason my school issued laptop isn't connected to any printer in the building except for the book keeper's office weirdly enough. There was never a printer in my class room.

Earthbound64 said:
Yeah, wait, I just noticed the OP said they go to FedEx to make copies... like, what the heck? Why would you do this?
Click to expand...

For a few reasons: I teach music, and while some stuff like Theory work sheets can be used for all my classes, there's a lot of specific music from many different resources and books that in order to get it the way I want to, I would have to lay out a HUGE list of instructions to print services at my school.

The other reason is that copying in my school is a hassle. In order to get stuff copied, I have to get a few signatures from those above me including my department head (who can be hard to find a lot of the time) and have a whole form signed out with instructions on the form. If I'm lucky I get the copies back a day after I put in the request. If I'm unlucky, usually 2 to 3 days. In my music classes unless I put things weeks in advance it would be a logistical nightmare.

Another reason, sometimes I need things printed right away. If I buy digital sheet music from JWPepper I can print them right away from home or print a copy set and take them to Fed Ex to make copies. If I'm making an arrangement for any of my groups I can just arrange it through the day or when I get home and just print off my printer for a quick basic set for my students to start to learn the next day.

Last reason, I print a lot of shit for my group. My Chorus is looking like around 30 this year. My Advanced Band around 50, my beginning band around 45. So it's a ton of stuff I need to make copies of (and extras, cause they are middle schoolers and they WILL lose it). This is what I printed just today:

T8Vt38T.jpg
Click to expand...

Thankfully teachers get a discount. I made over 3000 copies just today.
 
F

Fast Forward

Member
In my case, I've found a Wi-Fi printer with Google Cloud Print is the way to go. No installing drivers, and works with Chromebooks. My favorite printer I've even owned.
 
E

Earthbound64

Banned
bman94 said:
The other reason is that printing in my school is a hassle. In order to get stuff printed, I have to get a few signatures from those above me including my department head (who can be hard to find a lot of the time) and have a whole form signed out with instructions on the form. If I'm lucky I get the copies back a day after I put in the request. If I'm unlucky, usually 2 to 3 days.
Click to expand...

Does all of that apply to copying too?

I would always print stuff at home, and then make copies at the school.


EDIT: That said, copying 3514 things at the school isn't something that I would want to do (or would have been able to do), and $80 would be easily worth it for having someone else do that.
 
B

bman94

Member
Earthbound64 said:
Does all of that apply to copying too?

I would always print stuff at home, and then make copies at the school.
Click to expand...

My bad, bolded should have been "copying". Copying is the hassle as I have to go through other people to make the copies. It's just easier to make copies on my own.
 
O

Ogodei

Member
Trouble said:
When boarding passes went digital I lost the last reason I had to ever print anything.
Click to expand...

Pretty much in the same boat. Since i got laid off two weeks ago i've needed to go to the library twice for printing, but one of those was to print job application materials, the other was to print ID cards for my car insurance, and even they gave me the option to just mail it to me.
 
C

CarpeDeezNutz

Member
bman94 said:
Nope, which is a huge annoyance. Usually I don't have to print from work but when I do It's like a journey to find somewhere to print. For whatever reason my school issued laptop isn't connected to any printer in the building except for the book keeper's office weirdly enough. There was never a printer in my class room.



For a few reasons: I teach music, and while some stuff like Theory work sheets can be used for all my classes, there's a lot of specific music from many different resources and books that in order to get it the way I want to, I would have to lay out a HUGE list of instructions to print services at my school.

The other reason is that copying in my school is a hassle. In order to get stuff copied, I have to get a few signatures from those above me including my department head (who can be hard to find a lot of the time) and have a whole form signed out with instructions on the form. If I'm lucky I get the copies back a day after I put in the request. If I'm unlucky, usually 2 to 3 days. In my music classes unless I put things weeks in advance it would be a logistical nightmare.

Another reason, sometimes I need things printed right away. If I buy digital sheet music from JWPepper I can print them right away from home or print a copy set and take them to Fed Ex to make copies. If I'm making an arrangement for any of my groups I can just arrange it through the day or when I get home and just print off my printer for a quick basic set for my students to start to learn the next day.

Last reason, I print a lot of shit for my group. My Chorus is looking like around 30 this year. My Advanced Band around 50, my beginning band around 45. So it's a ton of stuff I need to make copies of (and extras, cause they are middle schoolers and they WILL lose it). This is what I printed just today:



Thankfully teachers get a discount. I made over 3000 copies just today.
Click to expand...

Wow that's some struggle except I think I get paid less than you. I have a ton of resources given to me. I teach block coding and engineering at a poverty level district but anything I need is given to me, only con of my job is the pay scale.
 
X

XenIneX

Member
bman94 said:
Now if we could just get printers to last longer than a few months and ink to not costs the price of your new born we would be in a good place.
Click to expand...

You want a laser printer.

Yes, the up-front price is a bit higher, but they'll easily last for more than a decade with minimal maintenance. And yes, toner cartridges might seem expensive, but they're good for a thousand or more pages, giving a substantially cheaper cost per print. And with no liquid ink, there's no clogged nozzles or prematurely-dry cartridges. (My grandmother is still printing from the starter-cartridge that came with the laser printer we got her a decade ago.)

Also, no ink smearing, no rippled pages from ink-soaking, and printing is lightning-fast at even the highest quality.
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
Unknown Soldier said:
Buying an inkjet printer? Sounds like you really hate money.

Laser printers are much much cheaper to operate over their lifetimes.
Click to expand...

Pretty much.

Went with a Samsung laser printer that does color too for $175 on Amazon (right now it's 260 on Amazon) once the HP printer decided to die. Man, fuck inkjet.
 
nekkid

nekkid

It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is our plan.
I haven't owned a printer in years. It's so rare I actually need a hard copy of anything.
 
L

LinkSlayer64

Member
Oh sure, installing a printer isn't a headache for you.
But people still struggle with going to the link and installing the software and whatnot. Oh, and the driver/software won't work on someone's system for sure.

And maintaining it? HA! Don't get me started. I hate working printer calls.
 
T

Thoraxes

Member
bman94 said:
Nope, which is a huge annoyance. Usually I don't have to print from work but when I do It's like a journey to find somewhere to print. For whatever reason my school issued laptop isn't connected to any printer in the building except for the book keeper's office weirdly enough. There was never a printer in my class room.

For a few reasons: I teach music, and while some stuff like Theory work sheets can be used for all my classes, there's a lot of specific music from many different resources and books that in order to get it the way I want to, I would have to lay out a HUGE list of instructions to print services at my school.

The other reason is that copying in my school is a hassle. In order to get stuff copied, I have to get a few signatures from those above me including my department head (who can be hard to find a lot of the time) and have a whole form signed out with instructions on the form. If I'm lucky I get the copies back a day after I put in the request. If I'm unlucky, usually 2 to 3 days. In my music classes unless I put things weeks in advance it would be a logistical nightmare.

Another reason, sometimes I need things printed right away. If I buy digital sheet music from JWPepper I can print them right away from home or print a copy set and take them to Fed Ex to make copies. If I'm making an arrangement for any of my groups I can just arrange it through the day or when I get home and just print off my printer for a quick basic set for my students to start to learn the next day.

Last reason, I print a lot of shit for my group. My Chorus is looking like around 30 this year. My Advanced Band around 50, my beginning band around 45. So it's a ton of stuff I need to make copies of (and extras, cause they are middle schoolers and they WILL lose it). This is what I printed just today:

Thankfully teachers get a discount. I made over 3000 copies just today.
Click to expand...

I was gonna ask if you were in music making that many copies, haha. As a grad assistant, our department actually had our own printing department (yay private conservatory), but I had to fund the printing of my orchestra and band compositions out of pocket. Between the revisions of the scores (and I was forced to bring full, paper scores in each time), and then the eventual making of all the parts, I was out like $400 out of pocket from that in just a semester. My professors had crazy paper grade requirements too, and the scores were mostly on cardstock, not to mention I did all the binding by hand on my own since I didn't want to lose more money. Even had to make new versions of parts just to accommodate better page turns for the recording sessions.

I learned so much about paper that year, haha.
 
J

jstripes

Banned
There's no reason printers should need drivers these days anyway. It's not like the old days when they were dumb machines directly controlled by your computer. I can send jobs to my printer using AirPrint, and it works seamlessly.
 
B

bman94

Member
Thoraxes said:
I was gonna ask if you were in music making that many copies, haha. As a grad assistant, our department actually had our own printing department (yay private conservatory), but I had to fund the printing of my orchestra and band compositions out of pocket. Between the revisions of the scores (and I was forced to bring full, paper scores in each time), and then the eventual making of all the parts, I was out like $400 out of pocket from that in just a semester. My professors had crazy paper grade requirements too, and the scores were mostly on cardstock, not to mention I did all the binding by hand on my own since I didn't want to lose more money. Even had to make new versions of parts just to accommodate better page turns for the recording sessions.

I learned so much about paper that year, haha.
Click to expand...

Holy shit that sounds brutal. So you went to grad school for composition? How's that's been since you graduated?
 
A

Apathy

Member
All that convenience will come at a cost. Namely your first born child when it comes time to refill the ink
 
N

NoblesseOblige

Banned
B

bman94

Member
NoblesseOblige said:
Mostly because my job is in IT and printers are the most BS device to deal with on a daily basis. But also because they're insanely wasteful and pointless in a digital age.



Every school I've worked for already did. So sure?
Click to expand...

You must have worked for extremely affluent schools. You're not going to find that in the majority of public school in this country. The school districts that can pull that off are schools districts that are small to begin with. My school district has over 100 elementary schools alone, that's never gonna happen where every student has that technology.

Regardless, technology isn't the end all be all for education. Since moving to majority computers for state assessment it has been a headache for testing. Can't test everyone at the same time because of lack of computers. So when we did paper based testing, testing would get done in a week or two weeks max. With Computer Based Testing last year my school took 4 weeks of testing with an additional week for make ups. It was absolutely terrible. Not to mention shit problems you get with Computer based testing that you don't get with paper based testing like laptops failing to connect to the internet, freezing, students forgetting passwords or log in nots working, laptops not fully charged, and a myriad of other issues.

It's not wasteful, it's much more convenient in most situations especially for music.
 
F

FyreWulff

Member
Wired ones seem reliable. Windows still seems to have an issue where if the router moves the printer on the network, it never attempts to look for it at it's new address, but still pretends the printer is usable.
 
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