The General thread for Computers And Internet

[John Thomas8]

I've had my brother laser printer for around 18 months. Still on the factory toner cartridge, print out a dozen sheets (two sided) a month.

[neonzx]

Same here. Black dry toner. Far fewer moving parts, too. No muss, no fuss. Just works.

[keith]

I've had my brother laser printer for around 18 months. Still on the factory toner cartridge, print out a dozen sheets (two sided) a month.

18 months is a long time for the manufacture to keep a particular laser cartridge form factor. By the time you go to chase up a new one they will have stopped making them and new 'old stock' will cost a fortune. Using refilled aftermarket supplies is hit and miss. My old HP color laser was always leaking toner all over the place from refilled and/or non-genuine cartridges. The aftermarket ones cost $80 apiece (so times 4 for 4 colors), while new original ones were pushing $200. Towards the end, genuine ones were completely unobtanium.

I now run a Brother Ink Jet Ecotank or what ever they call it - super efficient with ink. I've had it probably 6 years now and am on the second set of cartridges.

[John Thomas8]

I've had my brother laser printer for around 18 months. Still on the factory toner cartridge, print out a dozen sheets (two sided) a month.

18 months is a long time for the manufacture to keep a particular laser cartridge form factor. By the time you go to chase up a new one they will have stopped making them and new 'old stock' will cost a fortune. Using refilled aftermarket supplies is hit and miss. My old HP color laser was always leaking toner all over the place from refilled and/or non-genuine cartridges. The aftermarket ones cost $80 apiece (so times 4 for 4 colors), while new original ones were pushing $200. Towards the end, genuine ones were completely unobtanium.

I now run a Brother Ink Jet Ecotank or what ever they call it - super efficient with ink. I've had it probably 6 years now and am on the second set of cartridges.

I stocked up from Amazon. I''m 62, if I keep it clean I figure my son will inherent it.

[Reality Check]

IMHO I'd get a low-mid-range HP laser.
They 'just work' in my experience, the B/W toner cost/page is pretty low .. and the toner doesn't go bad or have to go through printhead-cleaning-ink-wasting cycles.

When I was doing a lot of consulting from home I had to be able to print and scan 11 x 17 engineering drawings so I bought a Borther ink jet that woyld do all of those things. As long as I used it frequently it was fine. However, as my work slowed down I started having trouble with the print heads drying up. Eventually it got so bad that no cleaning kit would fix it and I had to trash it. I bought a $200 HP color laser at Costco on sale. Since 2018 it has performed well despite sitting for 5 months while we are in Colorado every summer.

[Shizzle Popped]

IMHO I'd get a low-mid-range HP laser.
They 'just work' in my experience, the B/W toner cost/page is pretty low .. and the toner doesn't go bad or have to go through printhead-cleaning-ink-wasting cycles.

When I was doing a lot of consulting from home I had to be able to print and scan 11 x 17 engineering drawings so I bought a Borther ink jet that woyld do all of those things. As long as I used it frequently it was fine. However, as my work slowed down I started having trouble with the print heads drying up. Eventually it got so bad that no cleaning kit would fix it and I had to trash it. I bought a $200 HP color laser at Costco on sale. Since 2018 it has performed well despite sitting for 5 months while we are in Colorado every summer.

We had the same exact problem with our Brother large format inkjet. We bought an Epson ink tank large format printer last year that's been fine so far but I'm crossing my fingers that we don't have the same problem as Foggy. I will say that we use the Epson more. I think it's because we don't have to wait for it to warm up and I don't have to fight clogged print heads every other time we use it.

The best printer I ever owned was an early HP Laserjet. That thing was a tank and ran for years while hardly ever running out of toner. But Mrs. Shizzle wanted something that could print color and scan so one of the kids got a really nice hand me down.

[keith]

Yeah, I agree the old mono HP laserjets were the bees knees. But when you go to color... hoo boy.

Since I dumped the HP color laser, I've had a Brother inkjet MFC that lasted 10 years without a hiccup until a cheap 3rd party refill cartridge 'exploded' all over the insides.

I replaced that with my current Brother MFC ecotank and it has been flawless.

[johnpcapitalist]

Yeah, I agree the old mono HP laserjets were the bees knees. But when you go to color... hoo boy.

Since I dumped the HP color laser, I've had a Brother inkjet MFC that lasted 10 years without a hiccup until a cheap 3rd party refill cartridge 'exploded' all over the insides.

I replaced that with my current Brother MFC ecotank and it has been flawless.

My better half has one of those Brother ecotank printers and loves it. Her former 20-year-old Epson inkjet was eating a set of cartridges after less than 100 pages. The new one has been a champ, and she loves it. We just bought the XL black replacement ink filler for ~$60 (that's USD = about $4,917.52 AUD) and that should be good for at least 5,000 pages.

The printer cost a lot more ($350+ versus $100 for one with regular cartridges), but it's worth it for the calm that comes from not cursing the need to replace cartridges all the time. I gave up color when I bought a new work laser printer at the start of the pandemic for the same reason -- I'm tired of exorbitant ink cartridge scams -- and haven't really missed color. I can always get photos printed at Walgreens if I really want hard copies.

[MsDaisy 2]

Question…

My computer is an (I think)11 year old macbook pro model A1502 ——365A max. Crammed on it are 22,678 photos and 1,684 videos and now nothing can save anywhere because it’s out of space. What I need is an external hard drive to off load all that shit from my computer. What I need to know is what kind of device and what size I should get to put it all on.

[chancery]

I'm a fan of G-Technologies drives. They're not the cheapest, but they're sturdy and reliable. They have also provided me with helpful tech support by phone & email, even for devices for which the warranty has expired. Look for a solid-state drive.

You'll need to worry about the kind of cable, because your ancient Macbook presumably has a USB B port, while your next Mac will have a USB C rev 2 (or later). So you'll need to think about whether you want the inconvenience of a dongle now or later. Get at least a couple of terabytes; you probably won't save much by getting a smaller drive.

And, umm .... are your photos and videos backed up anywhere?

[MsDaisy 2]

I'm a fan of G-Technologies drives. They're not the cheapest, but they're sturdy and reliable. They have also provided me with helpful tech support by phone & email, even for devices for which the warranty has expired. Look for a solid-state drive.

You'll need to worry about the kind of cable, because your ancient Macbook presumably has a USB B port, while your next Mac will have a USB C rev 2 (or later). So you'll need to think about whether you want the inconvenience of a dongle now or later. Get at least a couple of terabytes; you probably won't save much by getting a smaller drive.

And, umm .... are your photos and videos backed up anywhere?

Only in my computer as far as I know

[Flatpoint High]

I'm a fan of G-Technologies drives. They're not the cheapest, but they're sturdy and reliable. They have also provided me with helpful tech support by phone & email, even for devices for which the warranty has expired. Look for a solid-state drive.

You'll need to worry about the kind of cable, because your ancient Macbook presumably has a USB B port, while your next Mac will have a USB C rev 2 (or later). So you'll need to think about whether you want the inconvenience of a dongle now or later. Get at least a couple of terabytes; you probably won't save much by getting a smaller drive.

And, umm .... are your photos and videos backed up anywhere?

after one too many failures, one of which took my complete collection of Miyazaki films and another which took all my audio FX/musisc, I now use SSD drives. Less likely to fail

[MsDaisy 2]

I'm a fan of G-Technologies drives. They're not the cheapest, but they're sturdy and reliable. They have also provided me with helpful tech support by phone & email, even for devices for which the warranty has expired. Look for a solid-state drive.

You'll need to worry about the kind of cable, because your ancient Macbook presumably has a USB B port, while your next Mac will have a USB C rev 2 (or later). So you'll need to think about whether you want the inconvenience of a dongle now or later. Get at least a couple of terabytes; you probably won't save much by getting a smaller drive.

And, umm .... are your photos and videos backed up anywhere?

after one too many failures, one of which took my complete collection of Miyazaki films and another which took all my audio FX/musisc, I now use SSD drives. Less likely to fail

I just googled SSD drives, DANG they go anywhere from under $100 to nearly a thousand! What size/kind would I need to be looking at?

[Flatpoint High]

I'm a fan of G-Technologies drives. They're not the cheapest, but they're sturdy and reliable. They have also provided me with helpful tech support by phone & email, even for devices for which the warranty has expired. Look for a solid-state drive.

You'll need to worry about the kind of cable, because your ancient Macbook presumably has a USB B port, while your next Mac will have a USB C rev 2 (or later). So you'll need to think about whether you want the inconvenience of a dongle now or later. Get at least a couple of terabytes; you probably won't save much by getting a smaller drive.

And, umm .... are your photos and videos backed up anywhere?

after one too many failures, one of which took my complete collection of Miyazaki films and another which took all my audio FX/musisc, I now use SSD drives. Less likely to fail

I just googled SSD drives, DANG they go anywhere from under $100 to nearly a thousand! What size/kind would I need to be looking at?

what size is your current HDD? I have two 1T SSDs one for media & one for backup

[chancery]

You should backup your files PDQ.

The rule of thumb for backup is to get one that's 3-4 times the size of your MacBook's internal storage. Checking the specs for your model, you likely have 128, 256, or 512 gigs of storage. You'll want at least 1 Terabyte; I'd get 2T.

And you'll need to figure out your port situation. It looks as though you have Thunderbolt 2 and USB 3.0, both of which use type B connectors. It might be hard to find a drive that uses those connectors, so you'll need a dongle. I'm reluctant to give you specific advice, because it's been years since I had to puzzle through the intricacies of the change from Type B to Type C connectors, and don't recall the details.

The sales line at G-Technology can probably help you sort it out. But please, get those files backed up.

[MsDaisy 2]

You should backup your files PDQ.

The rule of thumb for backup is to get one that's 3-4 times the size of your MacBook's internal storage. Checking the specs for your model, you likely have 128, 256, or 512 gigs of storage. You'll want at least 1 Terabyte; I'd get 2T.

And you'll need to figure out your port situation. It looks as though you have Thunderbolt 2 and USB 3.0, both of which use type B connectors. It might be hard to find a drive that uses those connectors, so you'll need a dongle. I'm reluctant to give you specific advice, because it's been years since I had to puzzle through the intricacies of the change from Type B to Type C connectors, and don't recall the details.

The sales line at G-Technology can probably help you sort it out. But please, get those files backed up.

2 Ts okay, but what's a dongle?

[MN-Skeptic]

... but what's a dongle?

Wikipedia - "A dongle is a small piece of computer hardware that connects to a port on another device to provide it with additional functionality, or enable a pass-through to such a device that adds functionality."

So, a short cord with a USB-B on one end and a USB-C on the other. As one example.

[MsDaisy 2]

... but what's a dongle?

Wikipedia - "A dongle is a small piece of computer hardware that connects to a port on another device to provide it with additional functionality, or enable a pass-through to such a device that adds functionality."

So, a short cord with a USB-B on one end and a USB-C on the other. As one example.

Okay thanks

[chancery]

Or you may be able to find a cable with an older connector on one end and a newer connector on the other. A few years ago G-Technology drives, or at least some of them, came with several different kinds of ports and a half-dozen or so different kinds of cables.

I bought a MacBook 12" in 2017 and a MacBook Air in 2020. Both of them used USB 3.1 rev. 2 ports, and I recall that there was a bothersome difference with USB 3.0 ports, which you might have. More than that I don't remember.

[MsDaisy 2]

Actually I texted my youngest son Brian Patrick mostly know as BP and bless his little knowledglble heart he's coming over on Friday to do whatever needs doing to fix the damn thing. He's a totally spoiled brat that loves and would do anything for his dearly beloved mama. And don't think I don't play on that any time any electronic shit fucks up that my demented brain can't figure out!

[chancery]

[northland10]

Same here. Black dry toner. Far fewer moving parts, too. No muss, no fuss. Just works.

But what about the White Toner?

Now dead birther Hermitian/Henry made some claim regarding white toner because of course he did.

[Flatpoint High]

Or you may be able to find a cable with an older connector on one end and a newer connector on the other. A few years ago G-Technology drives, or at least some of them, came with several different kinds of ports and a half-dozen or so different kinds of cables.

I bought a MacBook 12" in 2017 and a MacBook Air in 2020. Both of them used USB 3.1 rev. 2 ports, and I recall that there was a bothersome difference with USB 3.0 ports, which you might have. More than that I don't remember.

I needed a dongle for my ethernet cable(s) for my MacBook Pros

[keith]

I think you guys are talking about USB-A not USB-B.

-B is the old peripheral connector, most often used on at the printer or scanner end. I know Apple is weird but even they wouldn't call a macbook a peripheral would they?

USB A to USB C cables are a dime a dozen, but please realize they wont make a USB 2 port move as fast as a USB 3 gen 3.2x2. Its gonna take time to move hundreds of gigs. Be prepared is all I'm saying.

Also be aware they are constantly changing the technology generation names in order to maximally confuse the consumer. What used to be called USB 2.1 (which included USB 1 and 2.0) got folded into USB 3 and has gone thru several name changes and is now called USB 3.2 gen 1. This allows manufacturers to print "USB 3" on the memory stick packages and let people think they are getting fast devices. I hate that and its gonna get worse when USB 4 arrives ennydaynow.

Here's a reddit post describing the nameing bullshittery

[chancery]

USB B to USB C cables do exist. I've got one somewhere. But I think it it got trickier with 3.1 rev 2.

Edit: Just read your reddit explainer. Worse than I knew. A few years back I was able to figure out what I needed to know to get my new Mac to work with older hard drives, printers, and scanners, but never had the full vision. Is bad. Changing designations in midstream is very, very bad.