Printer Duty Cycles

If you want to know how long your printer will last, it helps to know its monthly duty cycle--how many pages it should be able to print monthly without causing damage. But that number (if you can find it from the manufacturer) wont' be enough. You'll also need to know the recommended maximum number of pages the printer can print monthly, and the printer's design lifetime.

Sound complicated? It is. But PC Magazine columnist M. David Stone sorts it all out nicely in Why Your Printer Just Died. Stone makes the compelling case that these data should be listed on the box of every printer sold. Let us know if you agree.