printers

Dennis' Canon printer isn't working anymore. He's replaced the cartridges, but it still doesn't print. What can he do? Leo says that if he goes into the printer setup and looks in the maintenance manual, there will be a "clean print head" utility. There's a good chance that ink has dried into the head and the clean print head utility will clear that out. He should run it several times. If he still gets nothing, there's a good chance the print head has died. But some models replace the print head when replacing the cartridges.

Benny wants to know what's a good all-in-one printer. Leo says his favorite is Epson's EcoTank series. However, a laser printer is a better option if the printer won't be used much.

Barry needs a new printer that can print on Legal paper sizes, but can also fax. He's looking at a Brother, HP and Epson. Leo says that it depends on how much you use it. If he's rarely going to print, then a laser printer is a better choice because the ink doesn't get dried out in the nozzles. But if he's printing a lot and needs color, then an inkjet will certainly suffice. All three make good printers, but Leo prefers Epson. However, Brother makes very inexpensive yet very good laser printers.

Peter wants to know why his printed color pages have lines in them. Leo says that if he doesn't print a lot with an inkjet printer, lines will occur because the ink simply dries up in the print head. He'll need to run the ink check/self cleaning utility on the printer to clean the printer head. The downside is that will use up a lot of ink. That's why Leo says that inkjet printers really aren't a good idea for people who print seldomly. A laser printer is better because it uses a dry toner.

Rex is having issues with his printer and was told to delete the printer driver to fix it. Will that work? Leo says that if he deletes a bad driver, Windows will look for a new one and reinstall it. But it will be the latest driver that Microsoft certifies, and that could fix the problem. Rex could also be dealing with a bad spooler. Leo recommends using Hamrick VueScan as his scanner driver. It has better settings, and could work better for him.

Mike's color printer is clogged up. Leo says that inkjets don't work well in a low use scenario. Mike was wondering about the Epson EcoTank printer, but Leo says it's really best for higher capacity printing. If he's occasionally doing color prints, then a color laser is a better option and they are less expensive than he might think.

(Disclaimer: Epson is a sponsor)

Clyde bought a new printer, but it wasn't compatible with his Windows 7 computer, so he had to return it. What printer should he get that will work? Leo says that HP has a whole page of Windows 7 compatible models. It could also just be that he needed to download a printer driver.

Nathan has an inkjet printer but he's having issues with print quality. Leo says that inkjet printers aren't very economical for infrequent printing because the jets can become clogged with dried ink unless he uses them every day. That's why Leo recommends a low cost laser printer. He can get a Brother laser printer for under $100. It's ideal for students.

Mary wants to upgrade her printer, but she doesn't like having to pay for ink every time they run out. Leo says that the Epson EcoTank is great over the long term because it comes with a two year supply of ink. But if she doesn't print regularly, an ink jet can clog. So Leo suggest going with a laser printer. He likes Brother.

(Disclaimer: Epson is a sponsor)

Nick wants a wireless laser printer, and his old printer was a Brother. Rich says that Brother has served him well since he bought his seven years ago. It's great for business. He should stick with Brother and just get a newer model.