This question for PC Magazine's lead analyst for printers and scanners, M. David Stone, came from reader Larry:

I have an HP 7130xi, which I bought at Costco several years ago. I don't print on it, and it's not even connected to a PC anymore. I use it for copying and faxing. I made the mistake a couple of years ago of buying a few ink cartridges, figuring I'd never need to buy any more. The other day I started getting messages that the color cartridge had expired, and because of this it wouldn't let me print with black ink. I tried putting in a "new" unopened color cartridge, but this made no difference.

I know this expiration stuff is a scam to make you buy more ink, so I Googled a bit and found a hack where you disconnect the motherboard battery for a bit (by sliding a credit card between it and the clip), and that made the expiration messages go away. But now it's telling me that my cyan print-head is bad. This appears to be a $33.99 item at Staples, and I'm disinclined to replace it, since I never print color with this stupid thing. And even if I replace it, I'm sure it will come up with some other reason why I need to buy more consumables.

If there's no way to make this HP unit behave, is there a good, cheap choice for me purely for very low-volume faxing and copying?

David's answer after the jump.

This question from Zell in New Mexico came to Jamie Lendino, editor of Smart Device Central:

I've been following your and Sascha's [Sascha Segan, PC Magazine's cell phone analyst] reviews of cell phones for a year now, waiting for Verizon to offer a PDA/multimedia or multimedia/PDA type phone without any cons of the, "Oh, darn, that particular shortcoming is not acceptable," type. Like not being able to sync contacts and calendar with a PC, or not-quite-good-enough basic reception/voice quality. The Q9m, the Voyager, and the XV6800 (HTC Mogul?) each look good, but I'm just itching to use my "new every two" that's been burning a hole in my pocket for half a year now.

Anyway, I'm writing about a capability I haven't seen discussed in reviews. Do any cell phones of this type, either with their native (provided) software or with third-party software, give user the ability to password-protect/hide/limit-access-to/encrypt media files in phone memory or in removable memory? Or contact/schedule files?

Jamie's answer after the jump.

This reader question came to PC Magazine's Robert Heron:

My question is about my 50-inch Vizio plasma 720p HDTV. I just got an Xbox 360 and have been playing it a lot. The other night I spent about an hour and a half playing Uno on Xbox live (no cracks about the card game please). Anyhow when I got up the next morning and switched on my set I could see the Uno cards from the game still there, faintly. I ran VIZIO's image cleaner, and it went away. How long can I safely play games on my set before I permanently ruin it? Other games, like COD4, haven't had the same effect, but the slower ones worry me.

See Robert's answer after the jump.

Smart Device Central editor Jamie Lendino received this question from reader Alex:

I have a question regarding finding a compatible USB Bluetooth adapter for the voyager 520. So far my Google searches have only added to the confusion. The PC that it would be connected to runs Win XP SP2. I'm looking forward to hearing your suggestions!

See Jamie's answer after the jump.

This question from reader Michael came in for PC Magazine lead analyst Robert Heron:

I've got an HDTV that supports 1080p over component (or so they tell me--the Samsung HL-S5688W), and I currently have my Xbox 360 hooked up via component. I'm one of those poor folks who bought their 360s before they started coming with HDMI connections. I also have the HD-DVD drive for my 360. I love the content, but would really like to be able to use the HD-DVD player as an upcoverting DVD player as well. It's my understanding that the 360 (for legal reasons) will not output 1080p upconverted DVDs unless it's over HDMI.

So, I am wondering if getting a new 360 (or perhaps that new HDMI conversion kit that MadCatz is rumored to be working on) is the right play here. Am I going to get good performance out of those solutions, or should I just live with the fact that I don't get HDMI from my 360? Ah, the pleasures of early adopting!

Robert's answer after the jump.

This question from reader Cassandra came in for PC Magazine lead analyst Robert Heron:

I bought a HDTV for the bedroom from OneCall.com--the [Westinghouse] SK19H210S 19-inch LCD Flat Panel HDTV. Of course I want to use a HDMI cable (it does have RCA output), but none of my current equipment uses HDMI cabling, just RCA and coaxial. Time Warner offers a DVR for an additional $10 per room that will use the HDMI cable, but I already have a VCR/DVD recorder on both TVs and see no need to get a DVR.

Is there way to adapt the HDMI cable to the RCA? Or should I just use the RCA output? I want the best video quality without having to bring in more equipment.

Robert's answer after the jump.

This question from reader Matt came in for PC Magazine lead analyst Robert Heron:

I purchased a Samsung FP-T5084 yesterday, and now I want to feed it a true HD signal--I am talking about HD DVD and Blu-Ray players. I don't know which one to get. I would like to get two--one for each format--since it looks like the dual-format players don't have all the features, and lack some performance, but I have been looking for the best quality within a reasonable price range.

Which 1080p Blu-Ray and HD DVD players would you recommend in the $500 price range? I might entertain one that costs more if there is a dramatic increase in picture quality. I would also like to know what player (Blu-Ray or HD-DVD) you use.

My other question, is do the Blu-Ray and HD DVD players upscale normal SD DVDs better than an upscaling DVD player (or my plasma's built in video processor)?

Robert's answer after the jump.

This question from reader Scott Clendaniel arrived for SmartDeviceCentral editor Jamie Lendino:

I read your review before buying the LG Rumor. I just bought it yesterday and your review was dead on. In fact, I love the phone. Best and easiest to use I have had in a long time, except for one thing that I was wondering if you could help me with.

I have an iMac and I am trying to copy some of my music and possibly an audio book onto my Rumor using Bluetooth. My iMac keeps telling me there is an error, and nothing gets sent. I was able to send my contacts and a calender from my phone to my Mac with total ease, but I am having trouble going the other way with music. In your article, you mentioned that you could play music from iTunes. How did you get iTunes stuff to your phone?

Thanks. I really appreciate your help. Keep writing. Love your reviews. They're always spot on.

Jamie's answer after the jump.

This question came in for contributing editor Craig Ellison:

Why don't I always get my email right away after connecting to free Wi-Fi?

Craig's answer after the jump.

[Photo courtesy New York Times]

This question for Robert Heron, lead analyst, HDTVs, comes from reader, Mark:

I have been looking for that perfect HDTV for more than a year. Whenever I think I have found the "one," something usually throws me off, whether it's the SD (standard definition) performance, sparkly screen, or fast motion performance. Can a cheaper plasma or LCD with a great external video processor out-perform a top "consumer" $3000.00 Pioneer/Panasonic/Samsung television?

Robert's answer, after the jump.

This question for PCMag.com associate editor Kyle Monson came from Gearlog Radio listener Chris:

I was listening to the podcast today, the November 29 show. I believe i heard one of the hosts say Guitar Hero had mostly "butt rock"? I replayed that section three times, and every time, I heard him say "butt rock." WTF is that?

Kyle's answer after the jump!

This question from reader Alfred came in for PC Magazine's lead analyst for laptops, Cisco Cheng:

With the whole mobile Intel platform moving to an 800-Mhz Front Side Bus (FSB), when will I be able to purchase a laptop that will support 800-Mhz SODIMMs? Right now, there's a mismatch between the FSB and memory speeds (667 Mhz). Also, would that account for the lackluster performance numbers I've been seeing with the newer Intel chips?

Cisco's answer after the jump.

This question for Tim Gideon, lead audio analyst, comes from reader, Randy:

I was ready to buy a Sandisk Sansa View until I read other Sansa reviews of the e200 model on Amazon. There were many bad to Nasty reviews complaining of short life due to hardware and software problems. Apparently they liked it when they first got it but then things went south quickly. Yet in a recent PC Mag article on MP3 players showed no hint of Sansa quality issues.

What's your take on the quality issue? How can a consumer find out what the real repair rate might be for Sansa players?

Tim's answer, after the jump.

This question for Robert Heron, lead analyst, HDTVs, comes from reader Nathan:

I live in Florida and we have a lot of crazy thunder storms. If I am going to spend my hard-earned money on a fancy HDTV, do I have to worry about my TV blowing up? Lightning struck a few years ago and it only took out the power supply on my LCD monitor. Are most HDTVs the same way or would I need to buy a whole new set?

Robert's answer, after the jump.

This question from reader "liebgard" showed up in the PCMag.com forums for lead laptop analyst Cisco Cheng, in regards to his roundup, "These Ultraportables Have Drive." (Context: Prior posts in the thread mentioned the absence of the Toshiba Portégé R500--pictured--which was not included in the roundup.)

Question: Please compare the Toshiba Portégé R500 with the 3 listed [in the roundup]: the Sony VAIO TX150N, the Panasonic Toughbook W5, and the Fujitsu Lifebook P7230. You recommended [the Toshiba R500] just before it came on the market, but since then I saw some not-so-great performance reviews. That's why I went to the article about the ultraportables: to see if there is something better. They all seem lacking in performance.

Cisco's answer, after the jump.