Trackball Vs. Mouse

AussieBear

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HP is slowly correcting years of using a bad model. That being said, I'm with you and agree. There is no way I can recommend HP anything to anyone. It's so hit or miss, and the good hardware is so overpriced, not worth it. People who have good luck will say they have no problems, and it's one of these deals. Objectively, the broken rates found as returns and the ink DRM has been well documented. People buy HP because they don't know better, then buy a Cannon or Epson which sometimes is worse, then goes back to HP.

Brother has been my go to brand for printers over the last 10 years, and have no reason to not recommend them. Everything works, it's not like HP where some have ink guzzling issues, or refill issues, or they wont network for shit with certain setups. And they aren't like Canons that lose drivers on a whim, or have dishonest print speed ratings. I don't know much about Epson recently. I had the worst luck with them in the 90s, maybe they are better now, but why am I going to bother when every Brother printer ink and laser I've owned, has been a workhorse. The Brother scanners are a different story though, they can be hit or miss, depending on what software you use. Might be perfect in windows, but under linux distros, I've had a few all-in-ones that wouldn't scan for the life of me and it was a common problem.

i buy all in ones with the understanding it a disposable unit... it doesnt matter the brand to me anymore... i just get whatever cheap one is on sale that week...they are always cheaper than replacing the ink itself.. usually half the cost of two ink cartridges

ink costs more than oil.....
 

Crystallas

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i buy all in ones with the understanding it a disposable unit... it doesnt matter the brand to me anymore... i just get whatever cheap one is on sale that week...they are always cheaper than replacing the ink itself.. usually half the cost of two ink cartridges

ink costs more than oil.....

With this model of buying ink, then yep.

I pay $0.80 total to refill all 5 carts in my printer.
 

botfly10

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How do you refill cartridges? Do you have to get special ones?
 

Crystallas

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How do you refill cartridges? Do you have to get special ones?

Don't buy shitty printers. Not saying you do, but if you have a printer that uses DRM heavy carts, it's a mess.

Some printers have an aftermarket for refillable carts. I don't use any, but yes to your second question as that is an option. Also you need to be mindful of resetting the DRM on some of these carts/printers. There are auto-resets and other little workarounds, depending on the printer.

I've been hacking carts for a while. You can do it by taking an empty cart, finding a good point to access the main tank, and drilling/grinding a tiny hole for an injection spot. Then close that hole when you're done with some kind of plug. YMMV


Every printer head has a differing sensitivity. Same if you you get into DIY toner refilling. SO be mindful when you source ink. For some reason I have noticed that places that sell a lot of cartridges, they like to also sell shit ink. Maybe they do that to discourage people, IDK.
 

botfly10

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I have a HP that work bought me years ago. Cartridges look like this:

U6714_1_aL.jpg


You are saying I can just drill a hole into the tank, fill it, plug it, and then be good?
 

botfly10

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hmmm, looks like my cartridges have a fucking chip on them that has to get replaced.
 

Crystallas

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Not the best printer for cheap ink. I also wrote most of what I did assuming an inkjet. Laser is a few more steps, but completely doable and savings still exist. Not as much savings, but if you go through carts, then it's certainly a good option to have.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh_Z30FHSMM
 

botfly10

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Yeah, since all I really use is black, it doesn't really look like the savings is all that significant. Bummer for me.
 

Crystallas

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I don't blame you. Some printers aren't worth DIY refilling.

But keep in mind, sometimes you'll have full black ink, but still be low on the other color(s), and your printer will not print. Either due to a malfunction or dot tracking.

https://www.eff.org/pages/list-printers-which-do-or-do-not-display-tracking-dots

So another thing people can do, is if a hacked firmware is available for your printer, you can save your yellow/magenta ink/toner by preventing usage. Just something to keep in mind. Long shot for most cases, but possible.
 

botfly10

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That doesn't seem to be a problem with my model. I have been out of color toner for more than a year and can print without a problem by setting it to black and white in the print dialog.

Thanks for the info tho
 

Burque

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I have a gray Logitech MX510 that I bought forever ago and it still works great. Probably at least ten years old at this point.

It replaced an MX310 that worked awesome as well but was a little too small for my hand.

I tried the Razrs when they still used a ball and had the worst luck with that, never bought from the company again.
 

Wintermute

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Just for the record, the extended warranty company (Service Net) Newegg.com uses is also hot garbage. No record of my warranty. Had to CALL newegg for my contract number or they couldn't help me. I gave them every number on the contract PDF newegg emailed me and none were valid. Nor was the serial on the laptop.

Not the type to throw in the towel, but this situation wore thin. I'm going to give this this pile of HP trash one more shot, otherwise I'm out slightly less than $400. I bough a Samsung SSD 850 to use in it, so I can at least cannibalize that somewhere. The new RAM, not so much.

In short, I've have really good experiences with newegg and their RMA service, but I'm kinda pissed about the extended warranty service they use. Oh well, lesson learned.
 

botfly10

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$400 laptops freak me out

Obviously there is some bias, but its just so hard to imagine finding a laptop that cheap that isn't piece of shit. I'm sure Crys will post how it can be done, but seems like a real crapshoot at that price point. Unless maybe you can find a model that was a top tier machine a couple years ago.
 

Crystallas

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$400 for a laptop? Yeah, buy a good tablet instead. Need a physical keyboard? Buy one. Master it, because a cultural shift is coming.

Desktops will always have a place. Laptops wont because if you follow the logical conclusion of the benefits of a laptop, these are all things a tablet does better. If you follow the logical conclusion of why a tablet is worse than a laptop, then the desktop is better.

Not to mention, as a gamer, you will be able to diversify the types of games you play based on what is available for each platform.


In 4 years, laptops will be even more expensive and come with a much larger premium price tag over desktop counterparts. Thank the rising cost of shrinking lithography(when in the past, it cost significantly less to move to smaller wafer fabrication).
 

Wintermute

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$400 laptops freak me out

Obviously there is some bias, but its just so hard to imagine finding a laptop that cheap that isn't piece of shit. I'm sure Crys will post how it can be done, but seems like a real crapshoot at that price point. Unless maybe you can find a model that was a top tier machine a couple years ago.

And a refurb no less.

For the most part, you get what you pay for. There are exceptions. Got my ASUS under $300 and it's still going strong. Opened it up 3 times - changed the APU, repaired a fan wire, drilled ventilation holes, etc...

At worst, it has a slight thermal expansion problem when powering the unit on battery only. But I can live with that.
 

Unannounced Fart

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Found this. Wish it existed:
1db142147385dabe52c0d31c2cc3c5ae.jpeg

That pretty much exists, and I have one. It's the Logitech G13 gameboard. It's fully customizable, and I use it because I was primarily a console player before I got into PC gaming, so I was used to a controller over keyboard. On the gameboard, you program the WASD keys into the little thumb stick on the bottom right. Then customize the rest of the keys however you like. Use it in conjunction with a mouse, and it's like using a controller but with the precision of mouse/kb.

http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/product/g13-advanced-gameboard


Sent from my Pip-Boy 3000 using Tapatalk
 

Wintermute

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That pretty much exists, and I have one. It's the Logitech G13 gameboard. It's fully customizable, and I use it because I was primarily a console player before I got into PC gaming, so I was used to a controller over keyboard. On the gameboard, you program the WASD keys into the little thumb stick on the bottom right. Then customize the rest of the keys however you like. Use it in conjunction with a mouse, and it's like using a controller but with the precision of mouse/kb.

http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/product/g13-advanced-gameboard


Sent from my Pip-Boy 3000 using Tapatalk

Does it come with a trackball? :thinking:
 

AussieBear

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$400 laptops freak me out

Obviously there is some bias, but its just so hard to imagine finding a laptop that cheap that isn't piece of shit. I'm sure Crys will post how it can be done, but seems like a real crapshoot at that price point. Unless maybe you can find a model that was a top tier machine a couple years ago.

i think i paid 399 or 499 for this laptop i gotz now... 2nd gen i3 toshiba... frys had a sale months before the 3rd gens dropped years ago... its okay.. plays some games..itll run skyrim at low levels....but the laptop more of a mobile (travel) solution at the time... the desktop plays whatever this cant tho.. id still like to upgrade eventually...

idk laptops anymore... we got a surface pro, cheap android and an ipad in da house.... a new rig would be sweet or even just a mac mini just to use a specific software or two...i just dont game much anymore

perhaps you can get a cheap tablet if your mobile and a cheap desktop for gaming wintermute.. you can get a cheap intel g3258... overclock that and itll run some games... they are 50-75 bucks.... im just not sure how dated they are now... and what they can or cant play...
 

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