The USB Stick

An integral part of the print process is transferring the .ctb file from your computer to the printer. The printer comes with an unbranded USB stick to do that. It is just 4 Gb, and formatted with FAT32.

Comments I have seen on-line suggest the stick is very unreliable. After ten months of not-very-frequent use I have had my computer not recognise it a handful of times, and the printer not recognise it just once, and each time taking it out and putting it back in fixed it, but then the computer said it needed formatting - clearly time to chuck it!

However, it does seem to be a weak link that is readily resolved, so I purchased a new one; a SanDisk with a massive 32 Gb. As bought, it was formatted to FAT 32, and working fine without me having to prepare it in any way.

In fact, it is better to have two. One reason is if one fails, you can still print. But it is more convenient to swap between them, having one on your computer and one on the printer. When you have a new print job, just swap them.

USB sticks will fail after so many uses. If you have two, each is getting used half as much as if you had one, and so they will last twice as long. Over the lifetime of two sticks, the cist is the same, you just need to spend it sooner.

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