I remember back in the prime days of printers, where everybody was printing everything, we were all having fun with a piece of software called Clipart. Infact, it was because of software like that, which helped to bring fourth the printer revolution. We left DOT Matrix printers, and went to inkjet printers. It wasn't long before printers could do full RGB!
But then people were complaining about the speed all the time, and since schools were having computer labs those days, they needed something that could handle the load without taking all day, so laserjet printers became a thing. Trouble is, laserjet printers only printed in B&W.
They were primarily used for text and simple greyscale graphics only, like what you found on web pages back in the day. Color based laser printers didn't come out till later and were like over a thousand dollars. And still to this day, even though they came down in price, color laser printers are still like 500 dollars I think, while B&W models are around 300 I think.
But yeah, the clipart generation is what really spawned the printing generation. Kids today are living in a tablet world, where printing is much much less of a thing these days.
Our working horse is 11 year old HP Laserjet.
The only occasion I use colour inkjet printer is when I need to print a recipe with a colour photo.
Once I calculated the price for bathtub full of inkjet ink.
It is equivalent of the price of a small house.
That was the day we went out to buy a laser printer and we never look back.
And that right there, is exactly why I stopped using my Canon Photo inkjet printer, the costs of the cartridges were 30 dollars each, and there were 5 tiny cartridges in the thing. What companies did with printer ink is truly awful, they should be ashamed of themselves!
I have two laser printers, one is newer over the other, but the newer one is a AIO printer that isn't as good in my opinion, has no ethernet port, only USB. The laser printer that I am currently using is 20-years old, its the classic HP LaserJet 2100!
Mine has been upgraded in 2-ways however. First, I have an extra paper drawer down bellow, yes they could be expanded. And I also upgraded the RAM inside it.
I got this printer at a garage sale, and they included an unopened ink toner replacement to go with it. Believe it or not, I still have not replaced the toner unit in it, I am still printing with the one that came with it. For the record, I love this printer! Yes, it has no fancy WIFI like ones sold today, or pretty color lit LCD displays, but its got ethernet and network ready, I love it!
When I last checked, which was years ago, it was 50 dollars per Toner for my laser printer. That still costs less then buying a new laser printer. When I last looked at costs for laser printers, I was looking at 300 dollars. Once the pandemic hit, it squeezed me hard, and put me in a financial strain that I haven't been able to get out of. So, the chances of me buying a new printer is 0.
My new computer is the only thing of high value I bought this year, and it will be the last for quite some time. This is the reality for many folks I think. Were allowed one big whopper of a purchase, and then we gotta be realistic from that point forward. I think the only people who have sailed through this pandemic easily are the rich.
Not if you go for a "compatible" toner.
Genuine HP toner costs 60 Euro plus but I buy a refurbished (= refilled) toner for less than 14 Euro each.
Housewives tip: when one side of the print out getting faint, take out the toner cartridge and gently shake it to distribute a toner inside evenly. This will prolong the usable life of cartridge a bit. It is because there are usually more characters to print on the left than the right.
This was not meant to be a professional photo, so I am not going to bother photoshopping out the electrical cords in a cellphone snapshot. But this is why I posted a PRO image of it up above, but it was the stock version of the printer. So here is mine with the extra drawer.
Those old HPs.
They are so strongly made and lasts almost forever.
I added a network capability to our laserjet printer when my husband move into a newly created studio downstairs. Raspi was something like 30 Euro. Much cheaper than replacing a printer.
Since his great grandfather died from an accident falling on a staircase, I wanted to reduce the chance for such accident in our household.
Yes, sometimes I can do the derailing, FrenchPress and I are so good at that. And you know, its not like we actively seek to derail the thread, hope you guys know that. We are just being ourselves, like you would when you talk to people in public, in real life, among friends.
I will let FrenchPress, who has the magic wand, to move all the printer discussion posts into the new thread she said she will create.
HAHA, I remember this scene vividly. When you've worked in a business, weather it be an office, or a school, you will understand printer problems, enough to know, that sometimes, they can make you wanna take em outside, how about that! HAHA
I just like the fact your printer can make CD labels. Even though optical disks are rarely used anymore, I still can appreciate that it can do that. I can additionally appreciate, that you can have the image on your phone, transfer wirelessly to the printer, and it will print that label for you!
So, the question I have, how many ink cartridges does it use, and how much do they cost you?
I was always amazed when printing A0 size (33.1 x 46.8in) colour engineering drawings in the office on one of the inkjet plotters. If you got it wrong there was much embarrasment over wasted paper and ink, so print preview was an important step.
It does not help growth of tech waste when you can buy a new printer, use it till the ink runs out then, buy another instead of new ink cartridges.
Not that I am suggesting Storm or anyone else on here does that, as we are all using ZorinOS which IMO is great for keeping older tech running longer. Unlike some big tech corporations which have adoped the "fast fashion" model of box shifting.
We spent 99 Euro for that 10 years old HP Laserjet.
Best ever investment we have made. We used the the genuine HP cartridge till the warranty expired then switched to an inexpensive compatible/refurbished toner cartridge.
Toner cartridges (powder inside) are way less tricky than inkjet ink cartridges (liquid inside) when it comes to compatible/refurbished cartridges.
I think the model we have is no longer offered and the current least expensive model comes with WiFi. I basically added this missing network function using a Raspberry Pi.
I also would like to point out that inkjet printers have a life span. Each time it prints, the excess ink is discarded internally on the built-in ink absorber. When that absorbing mat is saturated, you no longer can print.
Meanwhile, laser printers are immune to such built in obsolescence. The only maintenance I do is to clean the inside for spilled toner at each toner replacement time.
