Monday, June 25, 2012


WHILE NOT EXACTLY A SLOW WEEK FOR VIRUSES,
LET'S TAKE A BRIEF VIRUS VACATION AND TALK ABOUT PRINTERS!

Yep, nothing like mentioning printers and then sitting back and watch the fireworks as a group of printer owners try to become "King-of-the-Hill", or, as many of see it:how many times have they had to buy ink cartridges, and how much it cost to replace them. I've been there, done that my friends, and currently have two ink-jet printers along with one monochrome laser. I decided to write this column because I still have the music from last nights "Van Halen" concert ringing in my ears and haven't hit the sack yet. I do believe that writing about printers will be potent enough to put me to sleep when I'm finished.

We get several calls a month regarding repair of someones ink-jet printer. Usually it's about six years old and many times not even and AIO (All-In-One) printer. It could be that a cartridge is stuck and they can't get it out, the plastic belt broke, some of the plastic gears broke off of it, or any number of reasons to call and ask if we can repair them. Six years is a long time in PC years and many people don't realize how inexpensive they are now. Of the two ink jet printers we have at home, one is in the closet, the other is downstairs sitting on a small table (yes, it's wireless). I had an HP ink jet a few years ago and when hunting for some ink locally and was immediately hit with sticker shock - it would cost me about $60 + tax to get what I needed, but I had to hesitate on the purchase until I got back home and got online.

I went to my go-to Internet store (AMAZON) and found the ink with a total of about $50, no tax, and free 2-day shipping, however the tingling of my IT Monkey hairs kept me from putting them in the cart and started looking at printers. The HP we had was an early 2000-2001 model, and the only complaint we had was the cost of ink. I didn't have the actual receipt, but I believe we paid about $150-$180 dollars for the printer at a Best Buy. So now it was 2011 and I was doing diligent searches on Amazon when I came across an Epson Workforce wired, or wireless ink jet AIO printer for only $74.  Two days later the printer arrived, and within 10 minutes or so the printer was unpacked, ink cartridges installed, paper put in the tray, and setup for wireless printing. I must admit - it's been a great printer to have when color is required, or a copy of something must be made, or even scanning an article and having it convert it to .PDF form and sending it to a folder on my computer on the 2nd floor. The ink has lasted a good long time as well (slightly over a year old and I just replaced the 3 ink cartridges).

**NOTE TO READER: I recently read an article (within the last couple weeks) where ink jet cartridge prices were really rising (according to the article I read, HP was raising some of theirs by a whopping 33%).

So how often do you really have to use color on a printout? Usually when I ask someone, they'll reply "I really don't use the color much at all". So, perhaps it's time to look into buying a laser printer. Sure, I know lasers were expensive back in the day, but that's not true any longer. I have a smallish looking Brother laser printer that has been used both frequently and infrequently. It's 4 years old and - I'm still on the original toner cartridge! Usually, if you happen to know someone with a Brother laser printer you'll usually hear good things about it.
The one pictured above, is the first one the popped up on my Amazon search page. It's Model Number HL2280DW and is $139.99 on Amazon's website as I type this information. There is another one I see just below it for $99.99, and it is also wireless, will print duplex (both sides of the paper) and Brother toner cartridges are only about $48. Color laser printers? Yes, Brother makes those as well, in fact, we use one at work. Brother has several color laser printers to choose from in the $200-$350 price range, and while they do indeed use color toner cartridges (meaning you'd have to buy more that one), they are priced at almost half of what an HP color laser would cost you. So check out your options when you're going to buy a new printer. Stop by the shop with a few model numbers and maybe we can help you decide, but by all means - starting thinking "LASER" for your next purchase.


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