Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

henryn

carnaught said:

@henryn, my Canon PIXMA 922 all-in-one printer has been stellar until the last 6 mos. If I print in black and white, the smaller letters and in every other line words appear partially and hard to read. It is much better printing in color with less partial skipping of the print quality. Printing from a scanned document is better quality. Searching for replacements, I noticed that new printers, regardless of brand and price, get ratings of 3-4 out of 5. Any idea why the poor quality printing (I have used the utility to clean the heads multiple times with no difference.) What new all-in-one ink jet units do you like the best?

I really don't have any recommendations for an ink jet printer. The last one I purchased was this Epson XP-640, which I purchased many years ago (2017 or thereabouts), for around $150. It prints well, scans very well, and accepts readily available refilled cartridges. However, I don't think you can find a new one for sale anymore. I have no personal experience with newer models. I have the impression, from what people have told me, that most of the inexpensive ink jet printers are pretty much "throw away" these days.

driver100

mjfloyd1 said:

@driver100 said:

We are holding off on the Tankless Water Heater for now. The cost seems to be a lot more....maybe close to double installed. But, the part am not sure about is the maintenance that has to be done every year. Take apart, cut off lines, descaling......the video takes half an hour, not sure how long doing it will take. Old water heaters seem to be pretty crude and prehistoric in comparison....but at least you buy it and it doesn't require much maintenance.

De-scaling is easy as long as they install valves on each side of the water heater. Just turn it off, turn the valves, hook up hoses (I used washing machine hoses) place pump and white vinegar in large bucket and turn pump on. I let it run 30-45 minutes on each of our tankless water heaters. Pretty easy.

We have a water softener and a whole house water filter so there was no scale and I hadn’t done it for at least two years.

I hear it is easy. Apparently old style water heaters have more surface area inside so the build up is greater....with a tankless the water is in a more concentrated area. That sounds like it isn't a huge job, but it is one more thing I have to do....along with cleaning air exchanger filters and washing the core filter which is a pain. Thanks for confirming it isn't that hard to do.

oldfarmer50

All this talk of computers and intelligent cars leads us to this cautionary tale:

https://youtu.be/LUVBjvLy6A0

Be careful of putting too much reliance on technology lest it rebel on you.

snakeweasel

@oldfarmer50 said:
All this talk of computers and intelligent cars leads us to this cautionary tale:

https://youtu.be/LUVBjvLy6A0

Be careful of putting too much reliance on technology lest it rebel on you.

just one word in response "Skynet".

sda

Calli and Penny are beyond bored as they are house bound due to rain.

driver100

sda said:

Calli and Penny are beyond bored as they are house bound due to rain.

Dogs sure can sleep a lot. I guess we can watch TV or read or listen to music, but all they can do is sleep.

tjc78

Well everybody…. Food is prepped, everything is setup, beer is chilling and a new bottle of bourbon on deck.

All I can say is:

Let’s go ‘ Birds!!!!!!!!!!!

28firefighter

Go birds!

oldfarmer50

sda said:

Calli and Penny are beyond bored as they are house bound due to rain.

I was watching that storm on TV forecasts and was dreading it coming up here but evidently we are to be spared. Sunny and mild today so I was able to switch out a fading headlight on the cargo van. Boy, sealed beam lights are easier than the contortions to replace the newer types.

snakeweasel

tjc78 said:

Well everybody…. Food is prepped, everything is setup, beer is chilling and a new bottle of bourbon on deck.

All I can say is:

Let’s go ‘ Birds!!!!!!!!!!!

Heading out to dinner with the wife tonight at a high end Italian restaurant so I will miss it. This will be the first Super Bowl that I will miss since ... let's be honest I have missed all the Super Bowls.

jmonroe1

tjc78 said:

Well everybody…. Food is prepped, everything is setup, beer is chilling and a new bottle of bourbon on deck.

All I can say is:

Let’s go ‘ Birds!!!!!!!!!!!

————————————————
Thanks for telling us about it now that’s it’s too late for most of us to do anything about it. Only @roadburner has a chance of getting there on time for the kickoff.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

snakeweasel said:

tjc78 said:

Well everybody…. Food is prepped, everything is setup, beer is chilling and a new bottle of bourbon on deck.

All I can say is:

Let’s go ‘ Birds!!!!!!!!!!!

Heading out to dinner with the wife tonight at a high end Italian restaurant so I will miss it. This will be the first Super Bowl that I will miss since ... let's be honest I have missed all the Super Bowls.

————————————————
What a sad life you live.

jmonroe

imidazol97

snakeweasel said:

Heading out to dinner with the wife tonight at a high end Italian restaurant so I will miss it. This will be the first Super Bowl that I will miss since ... let's be honest I have missed all the Super Bowls.

Were the Bengals in this one I might have tuned in between all the silly stuff to watch bits of the game. But I don't watch all the hoopla and social posturing agenda. It's a football game, can't it just be one. Hearing about all the expensive ads for this or that. Those costs are paid for by the customers of those companies who buy their product.

More power to everyone who does want to watch. Enjoy! And may your favorite team win!

I often go shopping. I think one year a few ago I was the only person in the Lowes store other than a few employees during the "Big Game" time. Walmart has some people there when I've gone to their store.

Wife and I are eating out at local chicken strips place, sort of like Popeyes and Raisin' Canes blended--in the car. We're not much fun!

Maybe after eating, I'll grind through my tentative federal taxes. I haven't done an audit to see if anymore 1099's are going to come in. This year I'm skipping Turbo Tax. They got me last year and I couldn't even file electronically because they couldn't file for me, some error. That was the main value to me was being able to file electronically and get early refund handling.

Bah humbug.

Michaell

Wife and I are eating out at local chicken strips place, sort of like Popeyes and Raisin' Canes blended--in the car. We're not much fun!

Slim Chickens?

jmonroe1

imidazol97 said:

snakeweasel said:

Heading out to dinner with the wife tonight at a high end Italian restaurant so I will miss it. This will be the first Super Bowl that I will miss since ... let's be honest I have missed all the Super Bowls.

Were the Bengals in this one I might have tuned in between all the silly stuff to watch bits of the game. But I don't watch all the hoopla and social posturing agenda. It's a football game, can't it just be one. Hearing about all the expensive ads for this or that. Those costs are paid for by the customers of those companies who buy their product.

More power to everyone who does want to watch. Enjoy! And may your favorite team win!

I often go shopping. I think one year a few ago I was the only person in the Lowes store other than a few employees during the "Big Game" time. Walmart has some people there when I've gone to their store.

Wife and I are eating out at local chicken strips place, sort of like Popeyes and Raisin' Canes blended--in the car. We're not much fun!

Maybe after eating, I'll grind through my tentative federal taxes. I haven't done an audit to see if anymore 1099's are going to come in. This year I'm skipping Turbo Tax. They got me last year and I couldn't even file electronically because they couldn't file for me, some error. That was the main value to me was being able to file electronically and get early refund handling.

Bah humbug.

<:/blockquote>

———————————————
Maybe Turbo Tax thought you were cheating too much and wouldn’t file for you. There are limits ya know.

FWIW, I don’t go for all the pregame hoopla. Nor do I waste my time watching the halftime show. That’s chow down time for me. I will, however, watch the commercials but even those aren’t as good as they used to be. There is such a thing as trying too hard. When players do that they forget what got them there

jmonroe

carnaught

Son is at the Super Bowl. 75 degrees here and sunny!

abacomike

Had to get a new computer tower yesterday - ordered it from HP. List price was $999.99 - on sale for $829.99 less another $50 discount for being a State Farm policy holder - net price was $779.99 + tax with free shipping. My old tower was 13 years old.

Will be using my old HP monitor, my old HP laser printer, and my old HP audio system. All are compatible from what HP told me with the new tower and Windows 11. It has a preloaded 30 day trial for MS Office.

It comes with a keyboard and mouse.

It has 16 GB of RAM, 12th generation Intel I7 processor, etc. I didn’t order a top of the line unit because I use the computer for word processing, printing, surfing the internet , etc. I use my iPhone to pay bills and do my banking. My best friend is going to set it up for me.

abacomike

Here are the specs:

HP Pavilion Desktop TP01-3055xt, Windows 11 Home, Intel® Core™ i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 2TB HDD
Windows 11 Home12th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 processorIntel® UHD Graphics 77016 GB memory; 2 TB HDD storage; 512 GB SSD storageDVD-Writer

venture

abacomike said:

Here are the specs:

HP Pavilion Desktop TP01-3055xt, Windows 11 Home, Intel® Core™ i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 2TB HDD

Windows 11 Home12th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 processorIntel® UHD Graphics 77016 GB memory; 2 TB HDD storage; 512 GB SSD storageDVD-Writer

Very nice. You should be good to go for a long time with that set-up.

snakeweasel

jmonroe1 said:

snakeweasel said:

tjc78 said:

Well everybody…. Food is prepped, everything is setup, beer is chilling and a new bottle of bourbon on deck.

All I can say is:

Let’s go ‘ Birds!!!!!!!!!!!

Heading out to dinner with the wife tonight at a high end Italian restaurant so I will miss it. This will be the first Super Bowl that I will miss since ... let's be honest I have missed all the Super Bowls.

————————————————
What a sad life you live.

jmonroe

Yep such a sad life having to spend time with a beautiful lady.

snakeweasel

imidazol97 said:

snakeweasel said:

Heading out to dinner with the wife tonight at a high end Italian restaurant so I will miss it. This will be the first Super Bowl that I will miss since ... let's be honest I have missed all the Super Bowls.

Were the Bengals in this one I might have tuned in between all the silly stuff to watch bits of the game. But I don't watch all the hoopla and social posturing agenda. It's a football game, can't it just be one. Hearing about all the expensive ads for this or that. Those costs are paid for by the customers of those companies who buy their product.

When you consider that advertisers on the superbowl sell a lot of product the cost of those ads spread out over everything they sell is very, very small. I think that it would add less than $2 a car for every car Ford sells in a year. If you spread it out over all the beer that Budweiser sells in a year and round it out to the nearest cent it would work out to $0.00 per case of beer.

ab348

That’s a heckuva deal on that HP, Mike. I was looking and up here in Canada I’d pay twice or three times that much in worthless Canadian dollars for something equivalent.

jmonroe1

snakeweasel said:

imidazol97 said:

snakeweasel said:

Heading out to dinner with the wife tonight at a high end Italian restaurant so I will miss it. This will be the first Super Bowl that I will miss since ... let's be honest I have missed all the Super Bowls.

Were the Bengals in this one I might have tuned in between all the silly stuff to watch bits of the game. But I don't watch all the hoopla and social posturing agenda. It's a football game, can't it just be one. Hearing about all the expensive ads for this or that. Those costs are paid for by the customers of those companies who buy their product.

When you consider that advertisers on the superbowl sell a lot of product the cost of those ads spread out over everything they sell is very, very small. I think that it would add less than $2 a car for every car Ford sells in a year. If you spread it out over all the beer that Budweiser sells in a year and round it out to the nearest cent it would work out to $0.00 per case of beer.

————————————————-
With that method of doing math (which I’m not saying is wrong), the networks better reconsider how they sell Super Bowl advertising time. At least for beer manufacturers.

jmonroe

abacomike

@ab348 said:
That’s a heckuva deal on that HP, Mike. I was looking and up here in Canada I’d pay twice or three times that much in worthless Canadian dollars for something equivalent.

Don’t feel bad about the value of the Canadian dollar - the US dollar sure isn’t worth much either - I just paid $5.69 for a dozen jumbo eggs!

qbrozen

Nothing worse than when a ref decides the game. Hope his bet was worth it. Someone from philly is going to find him.

henryn

abacomike said:

Had to get a new computer tower yesterday - ordered it from HP. List price was $999.99 - on sale for $829.99 less another $50 discount for being a State Farm policy holder - net price was $779.99 + tax with free shipping. My old tower was 13 years old.

Will be using my old HP monitor, my old HP laser printer, and my old HP audio system. All are compatible from what HP told me with the new tower and Windows 11. It has a preloaded 30 day trial for MS Office.

It comes with a keyboard and mouse.

It has 16 GB of RAM, 12th generation Intel I7 processor, etc. I didn’t order a top of the line unit because I use the computer for word processing, printing, surfing the internet , etc. I use my iPhone to pay bills and do my banking. My best friend is going to set it up for me.

Sounds like a very nice system, and a good deal on top of that. And it's nice that you have a friend close by to help you set it up.

tjc78

@qbrozen said:
Nothing worse than when a ref decides the game. Hope his bet was worth it. Someone from philly is going to find him.

That was rough.. no doubt

However… the Chiefs came out in the second half like a whole other team.

Well.. that’s a wrap. Great times watching them and Hurts will get his ring

tjc78

I reserve all comments to change in the morning when the bourbon wears off

stickguy

there were some very debatable calls in the 1st half that went against the Chiefs. usually it works out that way (both teams have something to complain about). You just notice one late in the game more.

jmonroe1

qbrozen said:

Nothing worse than when a ref decides the game. Hope his bet was worth it. Someone from philly is going to find him.

That might have been the worst officiated game I ever saw and I’ve seen a few doozies in my day. What makes it even worse is the NFL hand picks the crew. In my not so humble opinion they’d have been better off pulling names out of a hat from a Pop Warner league.

FWIW, I didn’t have a dog in the fight but that was BAD real BAD.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

abacomike said:

@ab348 said:

That’s a heckuva deal on that HP, Mike. I was looking and up here in Canada I’d pay twice or three times that much in worthless Canadian dollars for something equivalent.

Don’t feel bad about the value of the Canadian dollar - the US dollar sure isn’t worth much either - I just paid $5.69 for a dozen jumbo eggs!

They must be cheaper in Canada since people are smuggling them in from up north.

imidazol97

abacomike said:

Here are the specs:

HP Pavilion Desktop TP01-3055xt, Windows 11 Home, Intel® Core™ i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 2TB HDD

Windows 11 Home12th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 processorIntel® UHD Graphics 77016 GB memory; 2 TB HDD storage; 512 GB SSD storageDVD-Writer

Congratulations on your new computer!

mlevine

abacomike,
Congratulations. Great price and great computer. If you have multiple computers the micrsoft word sells a 5 user package for $99.00 a year. Now with office must buy every year.

imidazol97

And in other news, the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile had its catalytic converter stolen in Las Vegas.

https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/theft-of-catalytic-converter-temporarily-stalls-oscar-mayer-wienermobile-in-las-vegas/

carnaught

Good deal on the HP computer but I rather have an all-in-one without the tower.

driver100

abacomike said:

Had to get a new computer tower yesterday - ordered it from HP. List price was $999.99 - on sale for $829.99 less another $50 discount for being a State Farm policy holder - net price was $779.99 + tax with free shipping. My old tower was 13 years old.

Will be using my old HP monitor, my old HP laser printer, and my old HP audio system. All are compatible from what HP told me with the new tower and Windows 11. It has a preloaded 30 day trial for MS Office.

It comes with a keyboard and mouse.

It has 16 GB of RAM, 12th generation Intel I7 processor, etc. I didn’t order a top of the line unit because I use the computer for word processing, printing, surfing the internet , etc. I use my iPhone to pay bills and do my banking. My best friend is going to set it up for me.

Mike the computer sounds great....hope you enjoy it.
I am no expert but double check, they are pushing MS Office and although there is a free trial you pay afterward. I am going by memory, but I believe our computer guy dropped MS Office and got a free program called Libre Office. Might not be quite as good but I can get by and it if FREE. Maybe our resident computer experts can weigh in.

Also HP seems to make it so you need help when setting up, then you call for help and they talk you into various programs you can buy if you need help....just a heads up.

abacomike

Microsoft sells a lifetime product for $150 +/- from what I was told on phone from HP.

I’ll check it out when the new tower is set up.

Just looked it up - Word for Students etc. is $149.99 for 1 computer for life! I don’t need MS OFFICE because all I want is word processing.

snakeweasel

abacomike said:

Microsoft sells a lifetime product for $150 +/- from what I was told on phone from HP.

I’ll check it out when the new tower is set up.

Just looked it up - Word for Students etc. is $149.99 for 1 computer for life! I don’t need MS OFFICE because all I want is word processing.

Have you though of LibreOffice? It's free and is as easy to use as Microsoft office. It's what I use and I am more than happy with it.

https://www.libreoffice.org/

henryn

abacomike said:

Microsoft sells a lifetime product for $150 +/- from what I was told on phone from HP.

I’ll check it out when the new tower is set up.

Just looked it up - Word for Students etc. is $149.99 for 1 computer for life! I don’t need MS OFFICE because all I want is word processing.

https://stacksocial.com/sales/microsoft-office-professional-plus-2021-for-window

This is legitimate, and fully legal. Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2021 for Windows, $49.99. This is a lifetime license, it never expires (unlike the yearly subscription model for Office 365). I have recommended this to a number of people, they are all happy, no complaints, no problems.

On the other hand, if you don't need the Microsoft software, Libre Office does pretty much everything the majority of people will ever need, and at no cost whatsoever.

stickguy

Does libre import existing word and excel docs?

One thing I worry about is what extension they store as. From doing a lot of attaching docs lately for job applications, they tend to limit file types to doc, docx, etc.

driver100

LibreOffice is what my guy put on my computer too. It's free and is good for basic stuff.
It seems that HP is trying to find ways to make it more difficult to use other programs etc., and they offer help for about $100 a year. I have a feeling they make it so you almost have to go to their helpline at some point, and then they try to sign you up.
That MS Office is free for a month.......but most people can probably get by with Libre for free.
Your computer guy has to know how to cancel out of the programs they want you to take.

When you buy a printer they offer you a program where they ship you a new cartridge for a greatly lower price than buying from the store. They know when you need a cartridge...HP takes control. I wonder if they can make it so a knock off ink cartridge won't work in the printer?
I feel like they know everything, probably when I go to the bathroom.
But, they do make a good product.

driver100

carnaught said:

Good deal on the HP computer but I rather have an all-in-one without the tower.

We have all-in-ones at home and in Florida. They can be just as powerful now and you don't have to have wires running from the tower to a computer....and it is all nice and neat in one unit. Probably the one drawback is if the tower parts don't work or the monitor doesn't work......you might have to replace the whole thing......but, I'll take that chance for the simplicity and neatness.

snakeweasel

@stickguy said:
Does libre import existing word and excel docs?

One thing I worry about is what extension they store as. From doing a lot of attaching docs lately for job applications, they tend to limit file types to doc, docx, etc.

You can use the same extensions that MS uses. They both allow you to save documents in several different formats.

henryn

snakeweasel said:

@stickguy said:

Does libre import existing word and excel docs?

One thing I worry about is what extension they store as. From doing a lot of attaching docs lately for job applications, they tend to limit file types to doc, docx, etc.

You can use the same extensions that MS uses. They both allow you to save documents in several different formats.

Libre Office by default uses a different file extension / format from what Microsoft uses, but it can save in the Microsoft format -- .docx, .xlsx, etc. And it can open, read, and write the Microsoft formatted files. What I found more interesting, the Microsoft programs can open, read, and write the file formats preferred by Libre Office. I didn't expect that, given Microsoft's history of "Not Invented Here".

imidazol97

abacomike said:

Microsoft sells a lifetime product for $150 +/- from what I was told on phone from HP.

I’ll check it out when the new tower is set up.

Just looked it up - Word for Students etc. is $149.99 for 1 computer for life! I don’t need MS OFFICE because all I want is word processing.

@abacomike
Are you using a program to transfer the current programs and folders on your old computer to your new one? If you currently have a lifetime copy of MS Office on your old computer, I believe you can copy that to your new computer. You may have to use an Office login that you set up on old computer or use a Microsoft login. If I'm not correct on the being able to bring forward your current Office programs, I'm sure someone will correct my statement here.

I currently have several copies of Office for HOme and Student or something like that. It has Excel, Word, and Powerpoint in it. I bought it on Amazon or Ebay choosing carefully the Ebay supplier for a long track record with few problems. When they have problems, they change their names and continue selling on Ebay.

But I understand I can install on 2 computers, and original and backup. I suspect as long as they usually are being used on computers one at a time and on the same IP address, all is good.
And that I can transfer the license were I to get a new computer.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/do-i-have-to-repurchase-microsoft-office/03c1056c-109e-40de-ad7b-49a1a3c9c91a

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/transfer-office-2016-from-old-pc-to-new-pc/98ded6ce-ccb3-4d77-aec9-4f4b21026d2a

imidazol97

I have Open Office installed on any computer that doesn't have MS office on it.
I noted Libre Office had been mention here months ago, and filed that away
as one to use.

Actually the office substitutes may be easier to use than MS Office.

henryn

I have apparently suffered a major data breach somewhere, and I can’t seem to figure out where.

Last week, I discovered an unauthorized charge on my Amex card. Not sure where or how, but the charge showed an 11% sales tax, so definitely not here in Texas. I called Amex, they canceled the card, and shipped a new one. The new card has not arrived yet, but on Sunday someone made a large purchase on the new card. I called Amex, reported the fraud, and asked them how in blue blazes someone could fraudulently make a charge on my new card, which I have not received and don’t even know the credit card number myself.

Amex told me that as a courtesy they allow “recurring charges”, basically subscriptions, to continue using the old card number. Which made absolutely no sense to me, this charge was over $800, and to some online company selling mainly cowboy boots. Cowboy boots are sold by subscription these days?

So today, I get an email from Amazon asking me to rate my experience with the seller, NK Kestrel. Huh? I check my Amazon account for orders and there are no recent orders, certainly no recent orders from “NK Kestrel”. My Amazon account uses a Chase Visa card which gives me 5% back on all Amazon purchases. That Chase Visa card is not in my wallet, pretty much the only use is on Amazon. But sure enough, there are two charges on the card, on the 7th and the 10th, each for the same $810. One delivery was to an Amazon Hub Locker in Dallas, TX, and the other to an Amazon Hub Locker in Mesquite, TX.

I took my computer offline, and ran two complete scans (Eset and MalWareBytes). No malware on my computer. Someone somewhere is leaking my information. I have spent the last 2 hours changing passwords, and making sure I have 2-factor authentication turned on wherever possible. I’m not sure what else I can do, but this whole business has me just a little freaked out.

Amazon, Chase (Visa), and Amex accounts all had different passwords, none reused, all random, and quite secure in and of themselves. My major vulnerability, I think, is through Chrome and Firefox. I allow them to store passwords, as a matter of convenience. I believed (mistakenly?) that they would keep my data secure.

henryn

Question for the moderators: Are there keywords which will prevent a post from actually posting?

kyfdx

henryn said:

Question for the moderators: Are there keywords which will prevent a post from actually posting?

Yes

henryn

Thanks and a tip of the hat to kyfdx.