Posted by brooke/ca on 11/18/08 7:31pm
Msg #270017

my brother the idiot, revisited

I have to say, after years of workhorse HP's; one day I went out and frantically bought a Brother, as Staples did not have much else and I had to print docs(obviously not in the last six months would I have been this frantic}. Anyway, the printer worked great, was faster than my HP's, but then, BAM, stopped. Needed a new drum. 200 buckaroonies, almost the price of the printer. I did everything , following instructions, cleaning the drum, etc. Then purchased a new drum, ouch. Still didn't want to cooperate. Long story long. I have never pulled my hair out more than over Brother printers ( I won't go into how I bought another one and had the same dang problems). Since then I have replaced my HP with a refurbished one and am a happy camper again. I can without reservation say, yes, all my brothers are idiots, except the four human ones.

Reply by MichiganAl on 11/18/08 8:04pm
Msg #270027

I've owned both as well. I'll never go back to a Brothers.

Bought one, two months later the drum had to be replaced. Got another, six months later the drum went bad again.

Reply by Claudine Osborne on 11/18/08 8:18pm
Msg #270029

Re: I've owned both as well. I'll never go back to a Brothers.

I love my HP, as for my human brothers 2 are great 1 is an idiot! lol

Reply by Erwin Nudel on 11/18/08 8:21pm
Msg #270031

Re: I've owned both as well. I'll never go back to a Brothers.

I had a Brother when I first started the notary business. The drum went bad, and they wouldn't fix the printer because I used toner cartriges that were not Genuine Brother cartriges. The Brother cartriges for this printer cost more then the printer and the drum costs $20.00 more than I paid for the printer new. The tech who I brought it to said that "Brothers don't work well unless you use the genuine Brother cartridges."
I am very happy with my HP. It doesn't even have a drum, and I can buy toner cartridges for much less.

Reply by Brooke Squyres on 11/18/08 8:26pm
Msg #270033

Re: I've owned both as well. I'll never go back to a Brothe

yeah and guess what, I can refill my Hp 1300n for SEVEN dollars a bottle, and the cartridge lasts 4-5 refills! You could never say that about the Brother, at least the ones I had. Hey, Michigan Al, how is biz in your part of the world? Glad to see you are still going strong...

Reply by MichiganAl on 11/18/08 9:40pm
Msg #270036

I've been very fortunate

My business continues to do well despite the odds. I never stop marketing, networking, and trying to make contacts. Things have definitely changed. It used to be 90% refis, now it's more bank purchases, loan mods, reverse mortgages, and other alternative sources.

I can't speak for others in my area. Michigan (and especially Detroit Area/Wayne County) has been hit so hard with foreclosures, poor housing sales and values, economic woes, worst unemployment in the country, and now major issues with the auto industry which is the life blood for so many. It's bleak times for many Michiganders and I know that has affected many of my colleagues.

Reply by Calnotary on 11/18/08 10:40pm
Msg #270043

Re: I've owned both as well. I'll never go back to a Brothe

I have opposite experience. My HP-3015 with only 15K pages on it just started with a very black shadow and I just use it to print my google maps and driving directions. One of my brother printer is almost 100K pages with the original drum and I have one cartridge with I think 10 refills.

Reply by MW/VA on 11/19/08 9:11am
Msg #270058

Re: I've owned both as well. I'll never go back to a Brothe

I'm in the same boat & horrified to think of how much I have spent on printers so far.
I started with an HP3050 all in one (prints too slow to be used for doc printing), bought an HP1022 (prints legal only), bought an HP4050 from an office machines co. who set it up for me with extra memory, etc (worked great most of the time, but had ongoing "memory" issues, etc.). I finally bought a Brother 5250DNT. So far I love it--really fast (30 ppm), cost effective for toner cartridges, etc. I bought it from Office Depot with an extended warranty & I will make sure it either works or they will give me new ones. Yet I know people who have bought little Samsung printers that were really cheap & are workhorses. I seem to be one of those who always ends up paying way too much, and I'm only trying to invest in good equipment. The woes of the tech world!

Reply by Dorothy_MI on 11/19/08 9:35am
Msg #270060

After having spent a few years in the printer business

I can tell you, the general rule of thumb is, "The cheaper the printer the more expensive the consumables". This holds true for fax machines (think the film ones), ink jet and lasers. While I know some on this board have had good luck with the Samsung and the Brothers, full office use HP printers are work horses. And if something goes wrong, parts are readily available and it is not at all difficult to find repair men. When we were in business, we built our business by repairing the not so common machines that most repair shops didn't want to touch.

I've had an HP+ for over 10 years. It still prints just fine, just SLOW, so I invested in a refurbished HP 4100 -- fast, dual tray and a real work horse. Also have an HP 1320 for my car office set up -- not as fast but light enough that I can take it in and out of the car if necessary. And it gives me another backup printer.