Does anyone know anything about HP Printers?

[SW FL Dem]

Mine keeps giving me an error message that the print cartridge service station is stuck, the cartridges move just fine. The printer is out of warranty and HP wants $40 just to talk to tech support. I paid less than $300 for the printer 3 years ago - it's an HP 7550 photosmart printer. At this point, I am tempted to just get a new color printer and take my pics to Costco for printing.

[Longhorn]

1. I had the exact same problem with HP concerning my Photosmart

only mine said the paper was jammed when there was nothing there. I took it to Best Buy and paid their minimum service charge ($30, I'm thinking!) and they called and said they couldn't fix it because HP would not even share a schematic, let alone any replacement parts.

HP "generously" offered one free courtesy call during which the customer no-service guy asked me things like, "Is the printer plugged in?" The only other option they offered was to sell me a refurbished Photosmart for $499 when the newest model was selling for half as much!

I vowed NEVER to do business with HP again and bought a Canon S820 instead. I did have a problem with it under warranty and it was fixed in less than 24 hours though I did have to take it in. I bought the extended warranty just to make sure I didn't end up in the same predicament as I had with HP.

My condolences!

[trotsky]

2. I would not mess with the home photo printers for that reason.

They just haven't been very reliable, in my experience. Plus to maintain the special inks, etc. - the costs are greater than what you would spend just taking your memory card in to Costco.

Get a good old reliable HP DeskJet, Canon BubbleJet, or Epson printer. All of them seem to do really well for normal desktop printing.

[SW FL Dem]

3. Thanks guys!

I have given up using the printer for pics, it doesn't do a great job and the ink cartridges are outrageously expensive. Unfortunately, I just bought $100 of refills at Costco. Of course, the cartridges I have don't fit into the next generation of printers. It looks like I need to buy a new printer. My fax and scanner are both at least 5 years old. Anyone know anything about the all in one machines? Last I heard, they tended to have more problems than most but it would be nice to free up some desk top space.