Thursday, August 10, 2006

Bouquets & Brickbats


The other day our laser printer started making a noise like a dying buffalo. After 3 turbulent years I thought it had given up the ghost. With a purchase price just shy of £200 almost all its residual value is in the consumables, and with it gone they are useless, so I was keen on fixing it.

Initial signs were not good. Well out of warranty, I was looking at call-out fees alone approaching £100. Even lugging it in for an assessment was in the £50 mark.

So I managed to locate the initial sales folk and they said it was worth trying the manufacturer (Epson) help line (0870 44 3 77 66 - select 'sales' and then go with the flow). And I must say it worked out very well. I eventually reached a human after the longest voice menu drill down in history. And, with luck, tproblemelm has been resolved. A free repair advice that saved all round.

That's the bouquet. The brickbat is the status print.

Why on earth is it necessary to such so much ink out on that bar on the left? Surely if it's a roller test one can have a narrow lengthwise and vertical bar to test coverage?