# LEXMARK: Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!



## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

:imwith: I needed a new printer.

My two antique printers, neither of which are worth the price of a cheap black ink refill, and which still use parallel cables, are being unceremoniously retired to the nearest Goodwill outlet. So, in anticipation of putting a Wi-Fi network in my apt, I needed a new printer with USB connectivity.

Yesterday I was in Wally World, my second home, getting a life-saving prescription filled and picking up a few groceries to stave off starvation until my hot meal delivery guy, Rev. Norman, resumes his 4-day-a-week hot meal deliveries next Tuesday. Somewhere between the HDTVs and the bananas, I decided to pick up an el cheapo printer just to make do until I could do my due diligence on a more substantial printer, not that I do _that_ much printing -- perhaps an occasional flyer or a note to my technically-challenged 2nd cousin over in Willacoochee, home of the infamous 'No Name Bar', once officially designated the "Best ******* Bar in Georgia" by none other than the late Lewis Grizzard, but I digress.

Almost on a whim, I enlisted the nearest "associate" person in Women's Underwear to help a poor, handicapped Old Fart pull down this Lexmark X3470m printer/scanner/copier, which, of course, was logically and conveniently stacked 8' high on an 'end cap' at the end (naturally ) of the gunwad aisle, which hasn't had anything to do with guns since we won the big one back in '45, into the basket of the store's only working courtesy electric 0.5 mph handicap person cart I was proudly driving . (Hey, I had already lurched halfway around the mall earlier in the day to walk off my first Philly cheese steak since November 8, the day after my 67th birthday last year, so I didn't need the exercise, ok?)

:soapbox:

So anyway, to make a long story short (is it too late for that?) I got the USB printer home, opened the box and guess what! NO FREAKIN' USB CABLE! The idiot sheet -- you know -- the one with the step-by-step 1-2-3 pictures :contract: said in no less than _four_ languages and in very, very small type "Note: box may or may not contain USB cable." 

I got the "may not" box! Lucky me! I would have had better odds playing the lottery.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Lexmark! What would a short 6' USB cable have cost them -- probably 10¢ in quantity? A couple of years ago I grabbed a 6-pack of USB cables off a peg at Big Lots for $5 -- less than a buck apiece -- just for times like this, but since I just rearranged my life, acquired a housemate and stored some junk, naturally I can't find my emergency supply of spare USB cables, and what's worse, I have no clue where they are at the moment. I suppose I'll head off to RS and pay an arm and a leg, plus gas, for what I already have -- somewhere in a storage box. Geez!

:grrr: Kick me! Kick me! Kick me! :kickbutt:

:rant:
.
.


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## ntexasdude (Jan 23, 2005)

After 4 or 5 printer purchases over the years I kinda learned that the cables don't come with the printers. In a pinch, you could always rob the cable from your bedroom webcam until next week after you've eaten all the freebie meals-on-wheels and it's time to go back to the world's largest retailer.

Don't forget to pick up a ream of paper and some sunflower seeds.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

It's not just Lexmark. It's pretty much standard practice not to include cables with printers. In my computer life time I've owned 6 printers from 1995 to present, a Radio Shack, a Brother, 2 Compaqs, a Lexmark All In One and now my wifi ready HP Deskjet. None of them came with their respective cables, USB or parallel, but the HP did come with an ethernet cable.

I know this is after the fact but if you're going to use a printer as part of a network I'd recommend a networkable printer. With a regular printer if you want to print from a PC that the printer is not connected to, you have to turn the computer it is connected to on. This got to be a major pain, then I went the wireless printer server route, I don't know if it was my Lexmark, Windows or what but I never got it working right and I tried print servers from both Motorola and Linksys.

In the spring I was looking at new printers when my Lexmark started going flakey and fell in love with the HP Deskjet 6980. I never hooked a USB cable up to it. Just connected the ethernet cable to my router during the initial installation and configuration, then at one point during the install there's the option to stay wired or have the printer automatically detect your wireless network. Set up was a snap, maybe 10 minutes, 15 max, including configuring the WEP encryption for my WLAN, as opposed to the $350 and couple weekends I spent messing around with the printer servers. Quality is excellent, for regular printing it's pretty fast. There is maybe a 5 second delay from when you send a document to the printer to when it actually starts to print.

What's also really cool is like any network device you can enter the printers IP into your browser and from any PC on the network change settings and what not. Configuring the printer for on a second and third computer is easy too, and after the initial set up you never have to hook up the Ethernet cable again, if you get another computer, reformat your hard drive, etc, it's all done wireless.

I picked up mine when it retailed for $169 and Office Depot had a $30 mail in rebate, and if you put it on your Master Card you got a $20 coupon off your next purchase, which I used when I got my UPS.

My old Lexmark now sits in the junk room, my mom uses it as a copier, I was never a fan of all in ones so I'm kinda glad it went to hell.


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## ntexasdude (Jan 23, 2005)

Steve, contrary to my asinine, semi-useless reply (Nick, please, no hymen lectures ) you actually took the time to post something us semi-tech saavy weirdo freaks might find useful. 

Thanks!:grin:


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## zmark (Apr 18, 2005)

They leave the cables out because stores like WalMart demanded they do. The USB cable only costs a couple dollars to make, if that. But, WalMart can sell a USB cable for $15 with a huge profit margin. Now, if the cable came with the printer, they wouldn't be able to sell that $15 cable which probably nets them more profit than the printer.


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

ntexasdude said:


> After 4 or 5 printer purchases over the years I kinda learned that the cables don't come with the printers. In a pinch, you could always rob the cable from your bedroom webcam until next week after you've eaten all the freebie meals-on-wheels and it's time to go back to the world's largest retailer.
> 
> Don't forget to pick up a ream of paper and some sunflower seeds.


No, it's not "Meals-on-Wheels" no more than Domino's is, and it's sure as hell not free.
You're not one of those peeps who goes through life ass/u/ming a bunch of facts not in
evidence, are you? I have reams of paper, thanks, but if you want to be useful, email me
a 6' USB cable -- quick!


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## ntexasdude (Jan 23, 2005)

Sorry for the supposition. No harm intended. I have a 6' uber thingy but I can't get it attached to the email. Besides, I don't know yer real email.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

ntexasdude said:


> Steve, contrary to my asinine, semi-useless reply (Nick, please, no hymen lectures ) you actually took the time to post something us semi-tech saavy weirdo freaks might find useful.
> 
> Thanks!:grin:


Anytime. I guess 1 post out of 7,965 uh opps 6 ain't too bad :lol:


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

_"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"_

I [email protected] you should never, never, never buy Lexmark. They just are a name for other brand printers. Ink costs more.

Last two low end printers I bought both came with the USB cable. Both were too short!


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

zmark said:


> They leave the cables out because stores like WalMart demanded they do. The USB cable only costs a couple dollars to make, if that. But, WalMart can sell a USB cable for $15 with a huge profit margin. Now, if the cable came with the printer, they wouldn't be able to sell that $15 cable which probably nets them more profit than the printer.


Not true. Printers, as a rule, have NEVER been sold with cables. Nothing is going to piss you off more than to go home with a printer with cable, only to find the cable is too short. If you were to go to the web site of any manufacturer, you'd find that only a few ever include cables. I've been buying printers for 25 years and have never gotten a cable with one, regardless where I bought one.  
Re: WalMart's pricing on printer cables: you can always go to Circuit City, Office Max or Best Buy and get the identical cable for ten dollars more!:eek2:


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## AllieVi (Apr 10, 2002)

If every product that requires a USB cable actually included one, we'd all eventually be up to our ears in them. The printer (and other) makers probably expect the user already has a spare cable. Quite a few are lying around here.

I read somewhere that early USB cables can't handle the higher speeds of USB 2.0. Any truth to that claim?


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

Just a thought but fora WiFi Network you might want to think abouta network printer. It can connect via ethernet or wirelessly. Usually you need the ethernet cable to do the setup even on the wirelsess. But they also tend to come with the cable.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

If I were to purchase a new printer, it better have a network interface. None of this "Share printer with network" stuff.

Of course, I'm still running a old HP Laserjet 4.... with a 10BaseT network card.... and it still runs great. Who needs this color stuff? Until I can no longer get parts and toner, I should be OK.


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## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

My mom just bought a new printer, an hp, and had the same problem as you Nick. The instructions said almost exactly what you quoted, that boxes may or may not include a cable. It didn't have a cable. The reason she was getting a new printer was because I had given her an old one we had around here, and got her a USB to parallel cable adapter. I use one of these on an old Canon LBP-430 and it works well, but my mom's computer had problems reading it. So she got a new USB printer. Without a cable. At least it was only a short drive for her to get one. I have a number of extra cables around here. Stop by and I'll give you one. 

Hey, I've used the electric carts a lot over the past few years. Just a few weeks ago, after spending most of the day on my feet at the state fair, on the way home we stopped by Target. I used one there because my knees just weren't going to take any more walking.


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

I'vee never been a fan of Lexmark printers. Their print quality is not as good as Canon, Epson or HP. When my last printer died, I bought an HP Photosmart 3210 All-in-one printer. It's networkable, uses six separate print cartridges, has a built-in scanning capabilty for negatives and slides, PictBridge interface and has memory card slots for CF, SD, MMC and Memory sticks. It has an LCD screen for previewing photos, Without a doubt, it's the best printer I've ever had. Print quality is excellent for documents and photos alike. You can find it for as low as $219.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

Cholly- We've been buying printers for a long time and my experience has been mixed. All my cheap printers 4 Epsons, two HP's came with USB sq to flat adapter cables 6 ft. But my Minolta Color laser printer did not as it was a network ready printer. All my older printers came with the parallel cables and yes, I do have a box full of them, both the USB and older parallel printer cables. The old "may or may not have" seems to have been in my favor and not yours


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

DonLandis said:


> Cholly- We've been buying printers for a long time and my experience has been mixed. All my cheap printers 4 Epsons, two HP's came with USB sq to flat adapter cables 6 ft. But my Minolta Color laser printer did not as it was a network ready printer. All my older printers came with the parallel cables and yes, I do have a box full of them, both the USB and older parallel printer cables. The old "may or may not have" seems to have been in my favor and not yours


It seems to have a lot to do with packaging for the retailer, as mentioned elsewhere.  In the past, I've noticed that stores like Sam's Club and Costco have sold printers by the major manufacturers with cables included. On a few instances, I've seen some Lexmarks at Wal-Mart with cables. At other big retailers (CompUSA, Circuit City, Best Buy), the rule seems to be no cable. The same seems to be true with most online vendors I've used in the past, which makes me curious as to where you shop  
I've noted over the past few years that most printer manufacturers have had a "package contents" note on the box, which states whether a cable is included or not.


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## bobsupra (Jul 12, 2002)

Any of you all have any thoughts on OEM vs remanufactured print cartridges? I go through about one Black every 10 days and the color will last about 45 days. (Yea, I do a lot of printing on my HP 7310). My unscientific experience is that the remanufactured cartridge is good for about 500 pages, while the OEM works for about 750 pages. The pricing for OEM vs. remanufactured, on-line, seems to point towards remanufactured as making sense. What are your experiences?


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## ntexasdude (Jan 23, 2005)

I've bought knock-off cartridges for my Epson 320 (6 separate cartridges) from printcountry.com They've worked great and saved me a small fortune.


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## cdru (Dec 4, 2003)

AllieVi said:


> If every product that requires a USB cable actually included one, we'd all eventually be up to our ears in them. The printer (and other) makers probably expect the user already has a spare cable. Quite a few are lying around here.


But by the same logic, computers and monitors shouldn't come with power cords because it could be presumed that the customer can just reuse his old computer's cables. But what happens if the customer never had an old cable to reuse?

Many of the USB devices that I have either have the wrong style end (extension cable), the wrong size (digital camera and camcorder), or are permanently attached to the device (webcam, IR transceiver). I think I only have one "extra" USB cable that doesn't have something attached to it, and I only have that because my kids talking Elmo doll doesn't need to be downloaded every 5 minutes.


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## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

I've been using remanufactured toner cartridges in my laser printers for 2 or three years now, and have had no problems, and no noticible drop in quantity.

I have also been using remanufactured or knockoff cartridges in my photo printer, and the only problem I have had is when I opened up one box about a quarter of the ink had leaked out. That cut down on the life of that cartridge, but the difference in cost is huge. The cartridges I have been using were from abcink.com. I just ordered a new supply from another supplier, but have not actually used one yet, so I can't recommend them.


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## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

cdru said:


> But by the same logic, computers and monitors shouldn't come with power cords because it could be presumed that the customer can just reuse his old computer's cables. But what happens if the customer never had an old cable to reuse?


I read somewhere that cables should not be used forever, because with use they will become less efficient. In particular, power cables should not be reused. Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions on this? Is this valid, or is it just a ploy by cable manufacturers to sell more cables.


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## AllieVi (Apr 10, 2002)

cdru said:


> But by the same logic, computers and monitors shouldn't come with power cords because it could be presumed that the customer can just reuse his old computer's cables. But what happens if the customer never had an old cable to reuse? ...


That's a valid point, but I expect the majority of purchases are to replace existing equipment. USB cables and power cords have been standardized for a long time, so most of us should already have what we need.



cdru said:


> Many of the USB devices that I have either have the wrong style end (extension cable), the wrong size (digital camera and camcorder), or are permanently attached to the device (webcam, IR transceiver). I think I only have one "extra" USB cable that doesn't have something attached to it, and I only have that because my kids talking Elmo doll doesn't need to be downloaded every 5 minutes.


I agree that a manufacturer must supply a cable that has a unique connector. Attached cables are, of course, supplied.

My collection of unused USB cables is now about five. They're hanging on a hook in a closet. That's in addition to the many devices that are currently connected via USB cables. I don't need any more cables.


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## AllieVi (Apr 10, 2002)

Bogy said:


> I read somewhere that cables should not be used forever, because with use they will become less efficient. In particular, power cables should not be reused. Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions on this? Is this valid, or is it just a ploy by cable manufacturers to sell more cables.


If a cord (power or signal) is routinely handled, moved, plugged/unplugged, there may be a case for that claim. In such cases, the strands of wire can eventually break due to repeated bending and stretching.

On the other hand, if cords are seldom/never moved and no sharp bends are allowed to exist, it's hard to make a case for replacing them (unless, as you say, you're business is making cables).


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## CoriBright (May 30, 2002)

I don't remember even getting a parallel cable with my ancient Canon BJC4000 purchased in 1985.

No printer comes with a cable.. at least not a consumer product printer.


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## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

Especially you never got a parallel cable with a printer. I remember the first printer I bought, in about 1990. I bought it in St. Louis, when we were living 70 miles out of St. Louis. Got home with it, and no cable. And in those days, Wal-Mart did NOT sell cables or anything else to do with computers. The closest I could find a cable was a RS about 45 miles away.


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