Should have waited
Written: Nov 26 '01
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Pros: compact size. low price.
Cons: drivers. online support. print sharing.
The Bottom Line: if you need a fax machine and scanner, and you don't need to share the printer with other machines you may have, this is a good machine for you.
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| grusu's Full Review: Sharp AJ-5030 InkJet Printer |
I had just finished painting my new study, upgraded my wife's machine, installed new phones ... hmmmm, seemed to me like my HP LaserJet could use a rest. It was about the oldest thing in the room. The HP had seen better days, and frankly I was lusting for one of those sleek units that would let me make the occasional photocopy, scan and fax.
I trolled the local computer, electronics and office supply stores around town for a few weeks looking for that one perfectly dimensioned "multi function" thing I wanted. I was eyeing something compact, that would give me back the desktop real-estate taken by my old HP, Canon flatbed scanner and Brother fax machine. One night after work, I came across the AJ-5030 at an office supply store. Wow!!! $249!!! and it's compact too!!! and they have just one left in stock!!! and with a name like Sharp how could I possibly go wrong? - (yeah, in college I had a Sharp VCR that wouldn't break; I know, I tried)
Well, got home, cleared the desktop, installed the driver then the USB cable like the manual said; no dice: lockup. My computer only saw the scanner, not the printer. Now, I've been around computers for a while, (so why did I go store to store? - because online it's a little hard to get a sense for how something will fit into my "perfect" study - I digress, sorry), and have seen non-standard driver installs but figured what the hey, this thing is trying to manage a bunch of "devices" so thought I'd cut it a little slack. I removed the driver, reinstalled again with the same results. I removed all my printer drivers and reinstalled again, same. I went online to Sharp's web site and found some pretty lame "marketeria" FAQs, (nothing of any real substance; no "top 10 problems" or knowledge base or search engine about why their thing kept locking up!!!! - grrrr).
Next day I called Sharp, and the tech had me remove and install the drivers all over again - same result. He had me remove the drivers and install the printer on the parallel port. Hey, it works!!!! Too bad it's slower than molasses. By now my wife was giving me more grief than the printer, so I quietly "resolved" the problem. "Oh, no problem honey, that 'impulse buy' printer works just fine."
Month later I hook up a docking station for the laptop I use for work, and try to connect to this printer through the standard Windows printer sharing feature. Wanna guess? Yup, lockup. Went through about three nights of gyrations to try and make the thing work: lockups.
Well, that's what I get for jumping on this. Since I bought this thing, I've seen the Brother 9400c and wish I would have held out for that. Wife was right.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 249
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
grusu
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Reviews written: 2
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