Hi Ian, While the cartridges may look and feel the same, in every case I have known, it is impossible to put the wrong cartridge in place. They all have very slightly differences, and are designed specifically to avoid colours getting mixed up. There's no easy answer to the switch off/on issue, other than to suggest that you do not switch the printer on until you need it, and then leave it switched on until such time as you power the whole system off. That will at least reduced the number of re-primes. Thankfully none of the printers I've owned have ever whistled at me as you describe with yours. George. -----Original Message----- From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Ian Robinson Sent: 11 December 2005 13:02 To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [access-uk] Re: Recommendations for new printer Hi George, One advantage of only having 2 cartridges is that they can easily be distinguished by touch. The black will normally be smaller than the colour. In the case of a black cartridge and 3 colour ones, I guess the colours would all be the same size. does that mean that someone could get mixed up and put the wrong cartridge in the slot or are they designed so as to make that impossible? As for leaving the printer on all the time, that works as long as the computer is also on. I always shut my machine down at night. if the printer is left switched on it starts making a faint whistling noise which is just audible enough to be annoying. Regards. Ian ----- Original Message ----- From: "George Bell" <george@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2005 3:19 AM Subject: [access-uk] Re: Recommendations for new printer We have bought many ink jet or bubble jet printers over the years, both for business and personal use. At the end of the day, there are only three pieces of advice I can really offer. 1) Avoid any which do NOT have a black cartridge. Some make up black using all three colours, and the black that is produced is more like a dark gray. 2) Avoid any which have a single, all in one, colour cartridge. If one colour runs out, it usually renders the cartridge a waste. 3) If you are an infrequent user of a printer, avoid the types where the ink cartridge is not the actual printing unit. That way, when you replace the cartridge, you are also replacing the print head. If you buy the type where the cartridge is really only an "ink tank", it can be a real pain if ever the print head gets blocked though lack of use and drying out. In terms of general use, I tend to leave printers switched on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The standby power consumption is absolutely minimal, and most good printers, which are not used for long periods, will do a daily basic head clean once every 24 hours. This "clean" is basic, and unlike the full prime each time the unit is powered on. So if you switch your printer on and off each time you use it, you will often find that you go through ink like there is no tomorrow. As for manufacturers, the mainstream manufacturers are much of a muchness, with Epson, Canon and Brother being my personal favourites. I went off HP because, although having black, they generally have an all in one colour cartridge. On the other hand, I have an HP 970cxi, which prints on both sides of the paper, but tend to use it only when printing manuals and such like. Our most recent printer, an Epson Stylus Photo R300 was a fantastic buy for us because, not only does it have a very easy to use envelope printing facility, it can also print direct on to printable CDs. We produce lot of CDs in the office for customers, and this means we can personalise them where required. Breaking my own advice above, it has 6 separate ink tanks, but is used so frequently in the day that drying out is unlikely to be an issue. Oh yes, and did I also mention that it can take 4 types of memory card, so we can print direct from our digital camera cards? George. ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq __________ NOD32 1.1317 (20051209) Information __________ This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. http://www.eset.com ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq