Print

[w3526602]

Hi,

Just because I'm paranoid, it doesn't mean they are not out to get me!

All the warning lights on Barbara's mobility "scooter" have gone on the blink ... or is that "blinks" in the plural? A mass of assorted flashing lamps, with no drive. She is now relegated to a traditional wheel-chair, until the engineer calls.

The security CCTV screen, that shows who is standing outside the front door, is now blank. This has happened before, more than once, but came back to life several days/weeks later ... just like that. Its been several months this time.

My printer, a Cannon 25505, not very old, has decided not to print. Various messages, ranging from something like "USER INTERVENTION REQUIRED" to "CONTACT SERVICE ENGINEER". I suspect it would be cheaper to buy a new printer.

The multi-handset wireless telephone seems to fits of the sulks. When the phone rings, I have dash for the corded phone, and quickly plug it into the socket on the other side of the room, before the caller hangs up. I could leave the wire lying across the floor, but then Barbara's now foot paddled chair (not a scooter, nor a traditional wheel-chair) would have to roll over the cable. Solution? A new extension cable nailed to the wall behind our armchairs ... and while we are at it, another socket on the other side of that wall, to feed a hand-set in the kitchen.

Some months ago, I found a strange man kneeling under our bedroom window (bungalow) with Barbara still in bed. It turned out he was running fibre optic cables from the pavement to the hatch in our front wall. For some reason, we have a similar hatch on the back wall of the bungalow.

We've always resisted "cable", but maybe it's time to drag ourselves into the mid-20th century, so some questions.

If we go cable, would we need to change the AOL bit of our user names, to suit the new supplier? Or would we have to pay for both the cable, and the AOL Service Provider?

We seldom use the TV in our bedroom, but if we did, would that have be cable too, or would be optional? Desirable? Are more channels available?

Any other answers, to questions that I didn't know needed asking, would be appreciated.

602

[DogDave]

Re the email you got lucky. AOL isn’t one that charges to keep email when you leave their broadband (BT and Talk Talk do probably others)

https://help.aol.co.uk/articles/can-I-keep-my-aol-email-account-if-I-leave-aol-broadband?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvLnVrLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAEEsbE4BPJOv4lzEt3aWT9f8QpfkjCBifHXBxPygjvOWDpZxHAuEDhqgZxrOsyxyIdVS20YHZxOpdyJiiDrSfcXg9jDY2K7ZK0SampAqR8y0CjI2VLNcbohN-mWzV2DDKNaTTUZiEys98DmCKLEEn8Fb3NSnTvZSlsPkES5vB6YX

Having cable wouldn’t stop you using any other type of TV like satellite or digital, but could give you more choices- don’t think it’s cheap though.

Afraid we are over a mile from nearest place that gets cable tv so can’t tell you if it’s worth it, it won’t to fix the scooter or printer anyway

[Wittsend]

The AOL advice ^^^ there is spot on 

AOL email is not connected to your ISP, so it doesn't matter if you leave AOL Broadband and go to another provider or you move countries, you can take your AOL email with you.

For example, we are with BT for our Broadband connection.
I have never used the BT email address that comes with their package.
I have my own personal email address which I can access/use anywhere - much like your AOL address.

How old is your printer ?

Dump it and get a new one 

Do you need colour ? can you manage with just B&W ?
If so, just buy a half decent laser printer (it will come with a built-in scanner, fax and photocopier).
I got one recently from PC world at about £100, comes with a toner cartridge.
I bought 2 HP replacement toner cartridges for £45 and I'm still on the cartridge it came with.
A cartridge should give you around 1000 printed sheets - depends of course on how much text you have.
The printer I got is WiFi which means I can access it anywhere around the property with a variety of devices (phone etc.) with no wires 

If you need colour, then it's an inkjet jobbie.
You've had past issues with this.
Just buy the printer,  Don't sign-up for any service deal 
I prefer HP kit.

The problem with inkjet is that if they are not regularly (more than once per week) used the jets block up, the ink dries out and you have to keep buying new cartridges which cost the earth and you need to use special photo paper which ain't cheap either.

If I remember correctly inkjet inks are one of the most expensive fluids on the planet 

IF you just need an occasional colour print then use a 3rd party print service. We use the online Moonpig service
You email your image and they print it on a postcard and post back to you next day - or to any address you specify.
This type of service works out much cheaper than a set if inkjet cartridges.

Jessops camera shop and Staples had a walk-in service - but I think they have gone bust now.
But there must be other shops offering a print service - Yellow Pages

But you are also having problems downloading images from your camera.
  You really should get down to your local computer shop and seek their help.

Your electric scooter probably has a duff battery.
This could be down to bad battery management, not keeping it charged up.

You must have the instruction manual ...
Or phone the place where you got it.
Or search online for the maker's website and look for the instructions.

Probably the same problem with your phone(s).
How old are your handsets ?
You shouldn't have to be running wires round your home.
Have you looked at/considered the new BT phones that work over the broadband


You shouldn't have to wait weeks or months to get this stuff fixed 

[Peter Holden]

I need colour for other things that i am involved with and I bought a Brother all in one, cheap to run, seems happy to be left a while but runs a cleaning sequence as part of the intitialisation.(The process does not appear to use any ink

Peter

[A-Ro]

I’ve signed up with HP Ink, I pay £1.99 a month and they send me ink through the post whenever it starts to run low. I don’t print very much and it may be dearer than buying ink myself but when I need to print I need it there and then not a week later after I’ve realised the ink has run out.

[geoff]

I’ve signed up with HP Ink, I pay £1.99 a month

On the face of it it sounds like a good deal as I generally use 2 x black and 1 x colour cartridges a year so well over fifty pounds.

Are there limits on the amount of printing you can do with this monthly charge, is this for both B&W and Colour ?

[A-Ro]

It’s both B&W and colour and it’s for 50 pages a month. I don’t print anything like that many but I have on occasion printed a lot more which you can manage by altering your monthly payment otherwise you pay a fairly hefty charge for every 20 pages. It’s probably not for everyone but it certainly works for me.

[geoff]

Thank you for the reply I'll look further into this it sounds like it will suit my needs 

One more thing just popped into my head can you " bank " unused print allowance much as some companies do with unused mobile data ?

[geoff]

^^ Google tells me I an roll over up to 100 pages 

[Exile]

I disliked my inkjet printer.

Always changing cartridges, but when I didn't use it for a while the nozzles blocked.

I have a Brother laser printer, copier, scanner linked to the laptop now.

It does everything without fuss, and it doesn't matter if I leave it for weeks without printing.

Downside is that it's huge - (and I haven't had to renew the toner yet. Hope that isn't too difficult.... )

[Gres]

I opted for a Lexmark colour laser, similarly finding inkjets to be unreliable with my infrequent printing.

They can hold hidden costs with £20 cartridges, of which there are four, developer units, waste toner bottles etc......and printing kids homeschool information!

However, it's only really cartridges that need replacing, usually one every now and again and I have had two similar printers, bought cheaply, to harvest for the other more expensive consumables.

[Wittsend]

A colour laser is a useful bit of office kit - the colour prints are almost photo quality depending on the paper you use.
They are big & heavy and take up space, but no more than an inkjet really.
It's the toner cartridges that cost (but I think better value than inkjet cartridges) - red, yellow, cyan and black - they do last a long time.

... and as with ink cartridges - Sod's law says they will run out just when you have something important to print.
Good plan to have a spare set and order in an other spare set when you replace.

The question is, and it's one we can't possibly answer:- "How much colour printing do you do/need ? "
and "How frequently are you going to be printing ? "


 

[w3526602]

All the warning lights on Barbara's mobility "scooter" have gone on the blink ... or is that "blinks" in the plural? A mass of assorted flashing lamps, with no drive. She is now relegated to a traditional wheel-chair, until the engineer calls.

Hi,

Back to my opening mail.

The engineer called.

It took him seconds ... literally ... to fix Barbara's mobility buggy.

He just flicked one of the levers that disengages DRIVE to one of the rear wheels.

All the flashing lights went into CALM mode.

That will be £75, please.

Surely somebody in the CHAIN OF CARE should have been aware of this potential cure.

The buggy was purchased from, and the problem was discussed with, a nationwide (I think) retailer of care equipment, ... specifically their Milton Keynes branch, less than 5 miles away. I anticipate that a visit is imminent.

602

[A-Ro]

Ah! The good old switch it off and switch it back on again. I made a damned good living on the back of that phrase.

[BettyWhite]

Similar thing happened to me years ago, an engineer turned up and fixed the fault  my dishwasher in 3 mins.

He said smiled, presented his invoice and said "I'm not paid for what I do, I'm paid for what I know".

Good luck
BW