Hi All, I don't know how many of you share my frustration about printing needs, but I find it to be a fairly expensive process. I've been using an HP printer that is wireless for about 3 years, and it does a very nice job. However, it is a constant battle as those printer cartridges don't seem to last all that long. I try to keep things like my K3 manual, and accessories, updated in a notebook, along with all the firmware updates, etc. Often something you print off has some color in it, and the color cartridges seem to go really fast! Replacements are very expensive for just about all makes and models, even at my favorite supplier--Costco! I think printers have become like safety razors--cheap to buy on the front end, but very expensive to keep properly supplied.
As I indicated above, a lot of what comes off the internet has color in it, but printing it in black and white would not be a very significant loss in most cases. I know you can set your printer to do just black and white--at least most of them--but that does tend to be something of a pain in the neck when you are just trying to quickly print off a couple of pages, etc. You can also set the resolution lower, to save ink, but how many of us take the time to do it? Then there is the constant (or seemingly so) prompting you get that one cartridge or another is running low. Some printers has 4 or 5 different color cartridges, and they never really seem to deplete at the same rate. A while back I started investigating laser printers, and found that one model (wireless) by Brother was very highly rated. This is the model HL-5370DW. Consumer Reports gave it a very favorable review, as did a couple of computer magazines. It's black and white only, but I don't think I care about color, and I can always use my HP for that. Best of all, the cost per copy was estimated at just over one cent per copy, versus 5 or 6 cents per copy on most ink jet models. On my HP, I pay about $90 for a combo cartridge package that will maybe get me between 500 and 1000 copies--if I'm lucky! That may seem like a lot of copies, but if you have kids, it isn't!!!!! Besides, I think those "estimates" are very optimistic. A high capacity cartridge for the Brother laser model, costs about $80 (on Amazon), and will supposedly deliver 8,000 copies! I take that estimate with a grain of salt as well, but clearly that is miles cheaper than for an inkjet printer. There are "aftermarket" suppliers that are even a lot cheaper, but I don't know whether those are of sufficient quality or not. Eventually you have to replace the drum on a laser printer, but those are supposedly good for at least 25,000 copies, so I don't expect to have to worry about that for a long time. Anyway, I looked into prices for the HL-5370DW, and the best price I could find for it was about $220 (it "lists" for about $250). Not bad, but I deferred. This past weekend, Office Depot advertised it for $180! I couldn't find an internet price anywhere close to that. Since the printer is wireless capable, I decided it would be a good bet at that price, so I picked one up. I like it! The setup process to get it "hooked" into my WiFi system was somewhat more convaluted than with my HP, but it now works fine, and I have everyone's computer directed to it. I may be kidding myself, but I think I'm saving money already! Another big benefit was speed. My HP is supposedly pretty high end, but still it seems to go at a snail's pace--even on much of the straight black and white stuff. I just printed out Jim Brown's (K9YC) treatise on RFI (61 pages) in less than 2 minutes! If I had done that on my HP I would still be waiting. Also, I did it "duplex", so only 31 pieces of paper, and it will go nicely into a soft binder for future reference. Unfortunately, this is a topic I need to refer to frequently here because of an issue that has arisen, and going back and forth to my computer was getting to be a pain. I also like to print off pertinent topics in the new ARRL Handbook instead of lugging that 5 pound monster around all the time. Also, there is so much great info on the internet, and sometimes you really need "hard copy" to comfortably read it. Anyway, FWIW, I think this is a much better way to go if you do much printing at all. You can always supplement with a much cheaper inkjet printer for those times when you have to have color, and even the cheaper inkjets these days are pretty darn good on color. Many of the cheaper ones also function as copiers, scanners, and fax machines too--they are just SLOW! I just think that perhaps as much as 95% of most printing needs don't really need color, and I firmly believe HP and Canon and other manufacturers have been milking us dry selling us color capable printers. It might take me a year or two to recoup my investment, but in the meantime I can at least enjoy the incredibly faster speed from the laser printer. Hopefully, some of you will think this post has been worthwhile. Dave W7AQK ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
