Planned obsolescence rant

**RAFlorida** · 07-08-2008, 11:02 AM

Same here. I buy the cheapest coffee pot

at wally world and it'll last for a years or so. Bought the higher priced units and same length of time of use. Go figure. I do use two HP printers and they have been working for a little over 2 and a half years, but they too are the cheap ones. HP 3930 and the HP psc 1210v.

**LinuxRandal** · 07-08-2008, 11:09 AM

I have never bought an all in one, although I am now considering a color laser one for my limited use (commercial grade). No help there.........

Coffee machines, as long as regular coffee (no idea on "expresso", or that gunk) Bunn� Commercial 12-Cup Coffee Brewer-Pour Over, used in restaurants, etc, and as long as you don't let water stand on the burner, we have averaged 10+ years out of them. (brother had has one at his job, they let water stand on the burner, it boils and gets underneath, into the connections, and they get three years out of them)
Or, Stainless Steel 60-Cup Electric Coffee Urn
These are the things you see at churches, schools, etc.

Transmissions...............

FWD transmissions, never last as long as rear wheel drive ones (and are more expensive to replace), but even rear wheel drive ones depend on use (van weighs more and hauls more then a car).

**gsmittle** · 07-08-2008, 11:17 AM

Can't help with the printer (I've never bought a multifunction), but we've had good luck with Black & Decker programmable coffee pots. The last one lasted 14 years, and we replaced it only because LOML (the only coffee drinker) wanted one a little more modern-looking.

g.

**jonmulzer** · 07-08-2008, 11:37 AM

Back in the day, I bought a cheapy Epson inkjet for like $69. Being young and not as savvy as I like to think I am these days......I realized why it was cheap. Ink cartridges for it cost me like $80 and it gummed up within a year. The cheap printers are like razors. You can buy the whole starter kit for $10, or 5 blades for $12. Now I have had a refurb Epson Stylus CX6400 All-in-one that I picked up for $150 on clearance at Fry's. I have had it 3 years without a hiccup. *knock on wood* I think it being a refurb has helped. It has been through quality control twice.

The real shame is that people who upgraded to Vista had to replace a bunch of their peripherals. I have a friend who had to replace his All-in-one when he upgraded and now it has crapped out on him. His old printer is still going strong at a friend's house.

**jonmulzer** · 07-08-2008, 11:38 AM

Originally posted by gsmittle

Can't help with the printer (I've never bought a multifunction), but we've had good luck with Black & Decker programmable coffee pots. The last one lasted 14 years, and we replaced it only because LOML (the only coffee drinker) wanted one a little more modern-looking.

g.

You replaced it, now the new one will go out next month. lol

**crokett** · 07-08-2008, 11:47 AM

Germdoc,

Interesting. I have an HP P1000 printer I got in 2001 that still works fine. We are getting rid of it only because we got an all-in-one for my wife's business. The only thing wrong with the HP is there is no support for Vista. I actually had 2 printers for several years - before the P1000 I had a DeskJet that I kept only for the black and white stuff. When I gave that away two years ago it was still working. Our coffee pot we've had at least 2 years. My wife found it at Goodwill in nearly new shape, so dunno how old it actually is. Finally, we have a Plymouth van with 140k miles on it. Other wear-out parts (water pump, timing belt, etc) has been replaced, but not the transmission. OTOH, a couple guys here with Honda cars have had to go back for tranny work recently.

**dbhost** · 07-08-2008, 11:50 AM

Your luck sucks.

I have the same HP LaserJet 5N I bought at a second hand store 10 years ago doing laser printing duty, as well as the HP PSC1315 all in one machine I bought 4 years ago churning along just fine. I print a LOT too...

As far as coffee makers go. I have a B&D Space Saver that 6 months ago replaced a Proctor Silex my ex wife gave me as a birthday present when I was 23... I was sick of looking at s*&t she had anything to do with... The coffee pot I have at work gets 4 pots a day run through it between myself and my cube mates, and it has held up fine for the last 3 years. (Mr. Coffee programmable 4 cup mini pot).

I am not sure what could be screwing up your printers. And mind you, yes I do know they plan for these things to be obsolete very quickly.. But I can generally run a printer until consumables for it are no longer available...

And of course transmissions. My 1984 Jeep CJ-7 with a factory Torque Command (A.K.A. Chrysler Torque Flite 727) transmission lasted 350,000 miles before the pump blew out in it. My 2000 Ford Ranger had a factory glitch as did my '04 F150, both handled under warranty. The Ranger was swapped out at 100K miles with no further trouble. My F150 is currently sitting at 62K miles with no further trouble.

If you were one of the unfortunates that owned a Ford Windstar minivan, there is a DARNED good reason you went through transmissions. The Windstar was a P.O.S. from the drawing board, with a known weak transmission. If you get 120K out of them, you are doing VERY good...

**pierhogunn** · 07-08-2008, 11:51 AM

I've got a laserjet 4plus at the house with a duplexer, I've run the snot out of it and it just keeps chugging along, already been through 2 refresh kits with new rollers and the like. I doubt though It will make it through another 1,000,000 pages. ( do alot of printing for Clan Gunn and the likes)

**germdoc** · 07-08-2008, 12:22 PM

Originally posted by dbhost

If you were one of the unfortunates that owned a Ford Windstar minivan, there is a DARNED good reason you went through transmissions. The Windstar was a P.O.S. from the drawing board, with a known weak transmission. If you get 120K out of them, you are doing VERY good...

You're either psychic or you remember my rant about 2 years ago when the Windstar caught fire and was a total loss. Had ~130K miles on it. When we bought it it was a Consumer Reports Recommended Buy. As for my Plymouth Voyager, I liked it and was sentimentally attached to it. The tranny developed problems at about 140K, and it went another 10K or so before it finally pooped out. The dealer took it as a trade in and told me they would cut it up for parts and scrap. I felt very sad for it, but I liked my Subaru much better.

BTW I'm planning to disassemble the Canon MP500 and see if I can fix the bloomin' thing myself. If not I will plan a spectacular send off for it involving fireworks or possibly an asphalt roller, with a wake to follow.

**rjwaldren** · 07-08-2008, 01:44 PM

The old HP LJ4's were workhorses, I still have a few around at work... We save them for when the newer ones fail. If you want a good printer that will last plan on spending some bucks. The consumer grade stuff is disposable.

For longevity on an inkjet stick with Canon, but stay away from the multifunctions of any brand of inkjet. HP tends to gum up with waste ink (but can be cleaned) and Epson's heads are a design that works great for a short time then fails completely. On a positive note Epson admits that their consumer grade stuff is disposable, and will just replace it if it fails during the warranty period.

**ironhat** · 07-08-2008, 03:21 PM

When anything electronic fails - especially if it has really been torquin' your shorts - we take it to the cabin and shoot the heck out of it with handguns. First, 22lr for small holes and some minor splitting and cracking. After that, any centerfire firearm does the trick with more dramatic disassemblage of parts. Things just don't fly apart as Hoakeywood would have you believe but it sure is satisfying. I taught my girls how to do this years ago and one of them outshoots her husband. Try it but be sure to clean up the umty-seven shards of plastic and circuitboards afterward!

**dbhost** · 07-08-2008, 03:25 PM

Originally posted by ironhat

When anything electronic fails - especially if it has really been torquin' your shorts - we take it to the cabin and shoot the heck out of it with handguns. First, 22lr for small holes and some minor splitting and cracking. After that, any centerfire firearm does the trick with more dramatic disassemblage of parts. Things just don't fly apart as Hoakeywood would have you believe but it sure is satisfying. I taught my girls how to do this years ago and one of them outshoots her husband. Try it but be sure to clean up the umty-seven shards of plastic and circuitboards afterward!

You'd be surpised how much carnage 12ga 00 shot will do to an old printer at a relatively short distance...

**kirkroy** · 07-08-2008, 03:40 PM

Originally posted by rjwaldren

The old HP LJ4's were workhorses, I still have a few around at work... We save them for when the newer ones fail.

My printer at home is a LJ4+. I will eventually leave it to my grandchildren.

I've got one sitting in my office at work too. If you just want B&W you can find these on ebay for cheap (got my Dad one that way).

**pelligrini** · 07-08-2008, 03:55 PM

Those LJ4s are really solid. I have a 2100se that still cranks out the black laser pages like a champ. The HP 5000n, an 11x17 we have at the office has been getting a workout for over a decade.

Our large format inkjet plotter, an HP 1050c, has just started to malfunction. I doesn't look like it has much life left in it. I couldn't tell you how many rolls of 300' paper it has gone through either. We got it around the same time as that 5000n.

I really hate any consumer inkjet. I've tried quite a few and all the model names should start with POS.

Planned obsolescence rant

Planned obsolescence rant

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