If you actually know how to troubleshoot hardware and swap out parts yourself, paying extra for a big-name brand is pretty much pointless. That premium is really just for corporations that don't want to mess around with custom builds or DIY repairs; they just want a service contract. Once the warranty expires, those companies just write them off and buy a whole new fleet anyway.
Two weeks is a lightning-fast turnaround for a repair, honestly. How does it usually go?
Personally, I’d suggest the TP-Link Archer. It actually performed better than that TP-Link model for me, but I can't find it anywhere in the States. I ended up grabbing mine while I was traveling through Mexico.
Genuine Epson ink is only about $17 per 70ml bottle, so why even bother looking for third-party replacements? Given that price point, there's zero reason to switch. They claim a yield of 4k to 6k pages, and while that really depends on how much you're actually printing, this is easily the most cost-effective inkjet you can pick up without breaking the bank.
Then again, if you don't strictly need color, a black-and-white laser printer would be the smarter move. But honestly? I think the L220 would do just fine for you.
Newer Samsung models use those tiny toner cartridges that only last about 1,000 pages, and finding decent replacements? Forget it—they're pricey. It's the same story with Brother. On the flip side, newer HP and Canon machines use 1,500 or 1,600-page cartridges (think 83A or 85A), which are way cheaper and actually make sense for your wallet. As for print quality, let's be real: these printers are built to last a few thousand pages total, so don't go expecting miracles. Right now, Kyocera and Xerox aren't offering anything that fits your budget either; most of their toner costs more than $67 off-brand stuff.
The real issue with that Canon is how insanely expensive the ink is—you can't even find decent third-party replacements. A single original XL color cartridge will run you about $50 just to get through 400 pages. Sure, Epson offers cheaper alternatives, but those aren't really built for heavy lifting.
If you want to actually save money, look into a laser printer, like this HP model. Yeah, the upfront cost is higher, but it pays for itself in no time. A toner cartridge that handles 1,500 pages costs maybe a hundred bucks, and honestly, they’re way more reliable than some cheap inkjet that breaks every other week.
The X54C actually only has one memory slot; those 2GB are soldered directly onto the board. I used to own that exact laptop, and if I recall correctly, it had a Nanya chip, but honestly, it doesn't matter—any standard DDR3 SO-DIMM should work just fine.
If you’ve been scraping by with 2GB, jumping to 4GB will make this thing feel like it’s flying. Is it worth it? Given that the price difference is barely ten bucks, I'd say just go for it. 🙂
Hey Adriatix, why don't you just go ahead and recommend buying used cartridges with cheap knockoff ink from you too? Let's just wrap this whole thread up right now.
Don't you ever get tired of spinning up new accounts just to shill your garbage? At least build a decent website or pay for actual advertising... Any sane person sees your site and the way you try to hawk your stuff and runs the other direction.
That rule only applies to online shopping. If he bought it in-store and changed his mind just 14 seconds later, the retailer isn't legally required to give him a refund. It really comes down to "good business practice," and while plenty of shops will play nice, ADM clearly isn't one of them.
That Dell Inspiron is a massive step up from your old rig. As for whether it’s worth it? That depends entirely on what you consider "pocket change." How much are we actually talking about here?
Honestly, if you just bump that RAM up to 2GB, your current laptop will still handle your daily tasks just fine. Sure, the processor is miles ahead of those cheap, low-end chips found in budget laptops today, and yeah, it might be a bit slower than the Intel Core i3 ULV in that new Dell Inspiron, but are you really going to notice the difference during basic browsing? Not likely.
Nancy Edwards49 said:Hey, looking for some GPU suggestions up to about $133 for this build: Dell Inspiron Desktop Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 clocked at 2.33 GHz 4 GB total memory type DDR2 to 401.32 MHz
I was using an ATI Radeon HD 4670 before and it was doing fine. Thanks
Look for something used, maybe a 5750, 5770, 6750, 6770, 6850, 7750, or 7770... You could even grab a 4870 or 4890, provided your power supply isn't absolute junk.
Buying anything new will cost you way more than what you had. Honestly, there's no point in going any stronger than those listed—your rest of the rig wouldn't be able to keep up anyway.
Just bundle that junk and sell it for $150$67. You'll be better off picking up a decent used rig instead. Your processor is way too weak to handle a better GPU, so there’s zero point in throwing more money at it—especially not $177. You can snag something actually solid for around $700$267.
For the 240GB/250GB range: Crucial BX100 OCZ ARC 100 Patriot Ignite Kingston HyperX Fury
I’ve listed these based on my own personal preference, but honestly, there isn't a massive difference between them. You can't really go wrong with any of these options.
How much are you planning to drop? You can't go wrong with the evo 850, but let's be real—it's definitely pricier than your average drive. There are plenty of cheaper, solid SSDs out there too; they might be a bit weaker on paper, but you probably won't even notice the difference.
I noticed some versions of the Apple MacBook Air come with mSATA slots. Maybe you could just use it as a cache instead of running the OS off it? Better check on that.
If you're looking at standard SSDs, I’d suggest going with Kingston's HyperX Fury or OCZ ARC 100. Avoid the V300, and stay away from the Blaze too.
It’s the same manufacturer. The V300 is an older drive, and because they switched the NAND to async, it's relatively slow. The HyperX is newer and faster, sitting somewhere in the average range for budget drives. You won't exactly feel the difference in daily use, but it's worth noting.
If you ask me, go with the OCZ ARC 100. It outperforms the HyperX and it's significantly cheaper. http://www.amazon.com/s?k=ARC+100+240GB
You can handle the install yourself; it’s not exactly rocket science. Just slide it in above or below the drive you've already got, screw it down, plug in the power cable, and grab another SATA cable to link the drive to the motherboard. Just take a look at how the current one is hooked up and mimic that.
I'm assuming, of course, that you're running a relatively modern setup with a SATA drive.
The difference is an internal drive stays inside the PC case. You aren't exactly "carrying" it around—it’s just part of the machine. An external one plugs right into a USB port, making it easy to move between different computers. Honestly? You just need a standard external hard drive. It won't actually make your computer run faster; it just gives you more storage space. If you really want speed, you should look into an SSD, but at that price point, you're only getting 120GB.
If you're sticking with a standard hard drive, check these out: http://www.nabava.net/cvrsti-diskovi...-sata__5062841 http://www.nabava.net/cvrsti-diskovi...dm003__5132061 http://www.nabava.net/cvrsti-diskovi...-sata__2373791
It really comes down to your print volume. Your average home user isn't going to push more than a few thousand pages over the next couple of years, so honestly, they won't care if they grab that Xerox or a used HP. And look, I know it’s a tough sell to convince someone to buy used, so I usually don't even bring it up if there's a decent new option available. But in this case? It's still better—better, not perfect—to go with the Xerox than some cheap HP Inkjet in that price range. With those, the original ink costs more than the printer itself, generic replacements are non-existent, and even if they did exist, the thing would probably die before you even hit four digits on the page count. If you're running an office doing thousands of pages a month, obviously you aren't picking up a $133 Xerox, but for printing a few recipes? It'll do just fine.
The real question is: is it even worth the hassle? The toner is chipped, which means it’s hard-coded to stop after a set number of pages. Sure, you could swap out the chip, but a fresh Orink toner cartridge with its own chip for 2,200 pages will run you about $15. For all that tinkering to actually make sense, you’d need a printer capable of churning out tens of thousands of pages—and I seriously doubt this thing can handle that kind of workload.