Posted by Nicole_NCali on 5/14/05 10:20pm
Msg #37862

My HP 4 has just bit the dust

I feel like crying. This morning I printed 4 loan packs for signings this morning. I get home, review the packages and have them ready for shipment. I start printing my 4 jobs for tomorrow and my printer goes kaplooey. I mean I have nothing, I turn it on and off. I check the connections. I pray to all that is holy. I am depressed. I call HP to get some kind of assistance and I want to practically scream.

I have to farm out these assignments for tomorrow. Any one available for a Sunday 10:30 am in Rodeo.

Reply by BrendaTX on 5/14/05 10:24pm
Msg #37864

Oh my. Is there no one or no place you can get to print them for you?

Reply by Ernest_CT on 5/14/05 10:27pm
Msg #37865

No local Kinkos to take them on disk? Or CD? n/m

Reply by Nd_WA on 5/15/05 4:00am
Msg #37894

I know it's late, you may have already solved your problem but being that CA is flooded with SA. Could you not find a fellow SA around the block/backyard and offer to pay him/her to print the docs first thing in the morning to at least make your 10:30AM appointment?

To get by today, buy a printer to print docs for your later appointments. Consider this printer a loaner for the time being since most/all store has atleast 30 days refund if you are not satisfied.

Reply by Melody on 5/14/05 10:35pm
Msg #37868

Copy places near UCBerkeley open all night

Even on weekends.

Make some phone calls.

Reply by Nicole_NCali on 5/14/05 10:55pm
Msg #37872

Re: On the phone with them

I am sorry, I was just on the phone with Berkeley, I was informed that the earliest he could get to my order would be Monday. I also called Emeryville, same thing. No one can guarantee me a job completed by 9:00 am tomorrow. I am also calling some of the notary contacts in my area and seeing if there are any takers.

I also was informed that if I printed the docs directly from Fedex kinko at . .50 per page, that would defeat the purpose of me even doing the signing. Example: One lender I get volume, therefore I charge $175 for email docs in my backyard. This lender package is between 118-125 pages. I would have to pay $62.50 for just the first set and kick my profit down to $112. With my printer up, my costs is .07 cents per page which would equal $8.75 and a profit of $166.25. This is not taking into account, driving to emeryville at 10.5 (1.34) to my first assignment in Albany and on to Rodeo and back to Berkeley and into Oakland.

I am very serious with figuring cost when doing assignments and this little fiasco has cost me some sizeable money. Yet in the long run, it would cost me more. So on Monday, I am hightailing it out to Circuit city or best buy and buying a backup and hoping that the technician can figure out what is wrong with my printer.

Reply by HisHughness on 5/14/05 11:14pm
Msg #37876

Nicole, if you're using an HP4, you're using a printer that is older than you are. Give it a well-earned rest. The 4s are great, but they're like Model Ts -- at some point you just have to move at least into the 20th Century, if not the 21st.

Avoid Best Buy at all costs. They are legendary for their crappy crappy crappy customer service. I sued them and recovered a judgement against them for the service -- or lack thereof -- on a Best Buy TV.

Reply by Joe_NCALIF on 5/15/05 1:03am
Msg #37887

The HP1320 $100 rebate is still available. You can buy it at Staples and use the Easy Rebate to file on line. The price is $398 minus the $100 rebate. Many Staples open at 10 AM on Sunday. The HP 4 is old. Even if you do get it to work, sooner or later it will be landfill. Good luck.

Reply by John_NorCal on 5/15/05 1:05am
Msg #37888

You mean there are HP 4's still around?? Upgrade..

I agree with Hugh. The 4's are too outdated to warrant fixing. Best to upgrade, I bought a 1320 TN so I can do both letter and legal size.
Good luck!

Reply by carlosnyc on 5/15/05 1:45am
Msg #37890

Re: You mean there are HP 4's still around?? Upgrade..

Yes I agree also. I own a HP1320tn and it's great.

Reply by Dave_CA on 5/15/05 9:10am
Msg #37906

Re: You mean there are HP 4's still around?? Upgrade..

And yet another vote as I also own a HP1320tn and it's great.

Reply by jojo_MN on 5/15/05 9:44am
Msg #37913

Do you have a fax? I have an hp LaserJet 3015 that's hooked up my computer also. That way, if my printer goes down, I just print it on the fax machine. I also have my brother MFC 4800 as a back up to my fax. I just replaced that last one with the hp because I was tired of buying the drums every 2-3,000 pages. I used the Brother as my only printer for the first year I was in business. I know this is too late for you, but just a suggestion that works for me.

Reply by Nicole_NCali on 5/15/05 3:22pm
Msg #37963

Thanks All. The problem has been fixed

I am sorry that it is not an HP 4, I have one and I love it. I have a HP 4200. I bought it refurbished in Berkeley for $500. The USB cord was disconnected and apparently windows could not tell me that no device found. Sometimes I hate Bill Gates. I just had to breath and get it together last night. I do a system check, first check is to see if it is connecte, second is to see if my drivers are there. After working on this issue until 1am this morning. I am able to print.

By the way, I still love the HP4. The most reliable printer that I ever had and it has lasted me for over 9+ years. That is something to be said about the old. I have a contingency plan if the 4 gives out on me, I found a website that sells parts.

Reply by CarolynCO on 5/15/05 4:53pm
Msg #37968

Re: Thanks All. The problem has been fixed

Nicole,
I agree. I have two HPIII's -- the original I one I purchased in the late 1980's when the model was first released. Then I purchased another as a backup in the mid-90's. They are both workhorses and are like the little battery bunny beating his drum. I also have an HP4V, another workhorse. Earlier this year, I got a 1320tn for loan docs. Print speed it does circles around my workhorses, but when it comes to print quality, it doesn't hold a candle to my trusted oldtimers that I always use for all my legal/attorney work.

Reply by PAW_Fl on 5/15/05 5:03pm
Msg #37971

Re: Thanks All. The problem has been fixed

Don't blame Big Bill Gates for problems with USB. The USB peripheral bus standard was jointly developed by Compaq, IBM, DEC, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, and Northern Telecom. Anything developed by committee will have serious defects, one being the USB controller doesn't always know when the physical USB device it is supposed to be connected to isn't there.

Reply by Joan-OH on 5/15/05 5:20pm
Msg #37972

Re: Thanks All. The problem has been fixed

You're going to love the HP 4200. I've had mine for about a year. I added a 1500 page tray I found on ebay for about $200 and upped my memory by 128. Those pages fly out of there. I also get toners for $65.99 each (secondary market) from cozmin697 on ebay w/free shipping. Sure beats $170 retail and no refilling. Rated for 12,000 pages too.

Note: for TCT pdf files: they will print 1 page per 30 seconds unless you use the ps driver. Then they fly out. This doesn't work on all pdf file, but it does on TCT. Don't ask me why. :-)

Joan-OH

Reply by Dorothy/MI on 5/15/05 9:31pm
Msg #37985

Locate and establish a business relationship w/ printer guy

As some of you know, laser printer repair was my business before I got into this business. My advice to everyone is to get to know a local laser printer repair person. Many of them are home based businesses and will do emergency repairs. Also a great many will loan you a printer if they have to take yours into the shop. I have a guy literally around the corner from me that repairs printers and recharges the cartridges (recharge is not the same as refill -- rechargers do refill and replace any worn parts and test the product). I purchase all my cartridges from him (laser printer and cannon copier) so if I have a real emergency, I already have a business relationship with him.