Re: High cost of print cartridges?

["Gary S. Callison" <huey -at- interaccess -dot- com>]

On Wed, 29 Jan 2003, Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA ("Hart, Geoff") wrote:
> Laser printers are almost always much cheaper than inkjets. If you're
> buying lots of ink cartridges because of the amount you print, you
> could conceivably save money by buying a laser now and using the inkjet
> only for printing color. A laser quickly pays for itself.

I dunno from 'quickly', I would say that the cost of the printer plus the
cost-per-page of consumables (which will vary depending on individual 
usage as well as the toner cartridges) is something to think about. 

Something else to consider: used or remanufactured lasers. 

My uncle recently ran for public office, and his kid found two HP
laserjet 4SIs at the UofM property disp office, for something like $50
each, and cannibalized them to make one that works. So, for a $100
investment, he got a laser printer built like a tank that ran a couple
dozen thousand pages through and it's still going strong - but this only
works for you if you have somebody in your household who knows how to
change a fuser element. Closer to the realm of possibilities, plenty of
used computer junk stores will sell you an HP4 used for a few hundred USD  
or so, and guarantee it against DOA or for 90 days or something similar. 

I produce docs that are delivered online in MS Word format, served as
HTML4.01, and only occasionally as bound printed matter, but there comes
a point in the editing process when I find it much easier to have the
printed material in my hand. Nice day? Take the latest book out to the
picnic table, get some sun, and read the whole thing slowly checking
for everything from the attractiveness of layout to making sure I didn't
accidently leave in a "fix this crap here" someplace. This means that
every half-dozen weeks or so, I'm printing out 150-page booklets that I'll
pore over for a day or two, keep on my desk for a week or two, and then
drop in the shredder. For the way I work, I can't imagine living without a
decent laser printer. ...with a duplexer. That's also very important.

-- 
Huey



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