Paul Jay's Ponderings

After 2 year or so of ok service, my mom complained of a paper jam. She had already opened it in an attempt to clear the jam with no success. So I looke inside and managed to yank what paper I could from the top and from the back panel. Then I figured closing it would allow the feed mechanism to loosen the rest so I could go back in and get it. No dice! It wouldn't close. The alignment of the top was off. Badly. As it turns out, one of the hinges on the top broke. The plastic was too fragile, and my mom must have lifted it too far while expecting better access.

So if you have a Hewlet Packard 3200 All in One series, be forwarned - the lid hinges are fragile! Perhaps way too fragile, especially if an ol' lady break them without really trying.

But I'm kinda disappointed now. Other than the hinge, and a stupid interface that doesn't easily let you select the smaller photo paper (have to use a USB stick workaround), that printer wasn't too terrible. Now that we're back in the market for a new one, it's going to be difficult since I hear most of the quality these days is crap. Too bad there isn't a viable open-source printer just yet (or an all-in-one with scanner for that matter). If there was, I'd buy such a kit over the non-servicable commercial units pronto!

Labels: 3200, all in one, hewlett packard, hp, printer