Octopus Overlords

We got a new printer yesterday and it's been a battle trying to connect it to the PC. They need to fire whoever wrote the instructions. They miss the most crucial part, which is in connecting it to a network when trying to connect to it wirelessly. The instructions seem to assume that the minute the printer is turned on, that it will connect to the network. The first step they have you do is search for the printer on the network, but of course it won't find anything as it's not connected to a network!. I assume this is the part most people would tear their hair out and I can only imagine how frustrating it is for a non-techie, and the instructions really give you no clue. For myself, I had to enter the settings manually on the printer, enter the network password on a tiny hard to see lcd screen, and only then did the computer finally see it. Like duh! You don't skip to step 3 before completing step 1, yet that's totally what this feels like.

Agree. I had a Canon and it also eventually would never stay connected and had to constantly reconnect manually. Finally got tired of it and went with HP Envy as much as I didn't want to go back to HP. Canon you had your chance to win me over...

Hello,

It's true that it's quite a challenge to connect certain types of printer to the PC, like the Canon probably.

Thats almost suss. Cant tell.

Oh, the difficulty is not so much in connecting the printer. It's that the instructions never actually direct you to doing so, hence the fact that it doesn't find the printer in the first place when that part of the instructions come up, and leave you wondering why it won't connect in their instructions. It's like putting the cart before the horse and then realizing why the cart isn't moving. The instructions are badly written like that, and they end up making the situation more frustrating than it needs to be. Some not so technologically inclined person might wait forever for the printer connect not knowing why it's not.

My first 'wireless' printer had me first connect it by USB to set it all up. Not very handy if your printer sits across the room. My last one actually sets itself up. If the PC is on and Windows is running you just plug in the printer to power and turn it on..no wires. You may need to input a password for wireless on its little touch screen if you require one is all.

I've had a Brother of some sort for the last 10 years or so. It was easy to set up with clear instructions and haven't had any issues.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 1:35 pm My first 'wireless' printer had me first connect it by USB to set it all up.

Yeah, this was the first printer that I've owned didn't actually have that option. It was all wireless, which made the instructions quite a gaffe. The instructions just never instructed you to connect it manually and instead assumed it'd automatically connect.

LawBeefaroni wrote:I've had a Brother of some sort for the last 10 years or so. It was easy to set up with clear instructions and haven't had any issues.

I also bought a brother laser printer. do most printing on it unless I need color. I love it.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

I use a Brother too. The one I spoke about was a Brother before this generation.

My previous printer was a canon, had to ditch it when we found out that chomebooks wouldn't print to it, got a Brother, and it works like a badass.

it connected to the network on the first try, the little screen is little, but still useable. Every computer in the house has been able to find it on the first try, regardless of regular wifi or 5g wifi. And then they just print to it, no installs, no mussy fussy. it just works.



Oh I just looked it up, Brother MFC-J995DW, seems they don't make that model any more, so the price has been jacked up.

This one has native Chromebook support. My Mom wasn't able to print using the previous one we had, and this one was easy as all I had to do was find it in the available printers in the settings. It's been working good once I figured out how to connect it to the network.

That first laser I had was a Brother and this last one is a Brother. Love them. Like you say it was just plug and it connects.