Printers Should Print, Shouldn't They?
Yesterday, I bought an HP 2840 Color Laser printer. At over $800, it was a hefty price tag. It also weighs a ton. They say it will start printing a color document in about 20 seconds and print four a minute.So, after I got it all set up, I tried to print a color PDF using Adobe Acrobat. PDF documents are a universal standard. You'd think someone would have tried printing a color PDF on the HP 2840, wouldn't you?
I waited and I waited and I waited and finally I got a message: Document failed to print. On my old inkjet printer the document would start printing right away. So I wondered what was wrong.
I downloaded new print drivers from HP's website. (Why did they include the old ones with my printer?) Still no luck.
I went through the Troubleshooter process that had stupid stuff like: Turn your printer on and off to reset it. No Luck.
Finally, I opened up a chat session with someone named Mahesh who must be in Bangalore. After much discussion, he gave me a useful bit of advice:
In Acrobat, Click on File-Print and then click on the Advanced button and click the checkbox labeled Print as Image. It worked! But why isn't this bit of information in the user's guide or on the website? And why does this printer require exotic adjustments to print a simple PDF?
I'm a geek and I struggled for hours with what should have been a plug and play situation. OfficeMax has a 14 day return policy and I'm still thinking about exercising it, but I need more speed than the inkjets. Maybe I should try the Epson? or Canon?
Expected Levels of Quality
Customers have every right to expect your gizmo or gadget to do what every other similar gadget can do (e.g., print a PDF without a struggle). It's expected. Are you making too hard for customers and too easy for them to switch to a new vendor?
Printers should print, shouldn't they?
mailto:knowwareman@mindspring.com
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Denver, CO 80224
303-756-9144 (888) 468-1537
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