Unpacking Your New Printer - - Carefully

Years ago, I participated in a printer review roundup for a popular computer magazine where about 10 or so reviewers tested and wrote about over 100 different printers. Our job was to unpack each printer, install it, run it through a series of tests, write up the results -- and then repack the printer so it could be shipped back to the manufacturer.

And what was the hardest part of that? Actually, shipping it back.

Packing today's technology so that the delicate electronic parts aren't damaged is a careful science, and one that printer/scanner manufacturers take seriously. The packing materials that surround your new printer have been carefully engineered to provide protection for devices through the hazards of being shipped from one place to another. (Something I was recently grateful for when a careless deliverer casually dropped a boxed printer on my front stoop in order to get me to sign for the package.)

Unfortunately, all this careful packing doesn't mean that the printer or scanner will work when you've unpacked it and set it up. Sometimes there was something wrong with the printer to begin with; sometimes it was damaged in transit despite all the packing materials. And sometimes, you simply want to return it because it's not right for you.

In any case, the manufacturer will have been very explicit somewhere in its documentation: In order to get your money back, you've got to return everything it came with. In addition, if you're shipping it back rather than simply driving it back to a store, you've got to pack it as carefully as it came. That means using the same shipping materials to protect the device as it came with. Crumpled-up newspaper simply won't do it.

So when you receive a new printer or scanner, here's some unpacking advice:

• Open the box carefully, with as little tearing as possible.
• As you take all the various components and materials out of the box, note how they were packed. Sometimes, it even helps to write it down.
• Once you've got the printer/scanner out of the box, together with all the various parts and documents, replace all the packing materials in the box. If the printer was protected by molded styrofoam piece, put them back in the box in the same direction they were when you unpacked them.
• If you made notes during unpacking, put that in the box, together with any documentation you don't need, return labels, shipping info, etc.
• Put the box somewhere safe (where your kids can't make it into a playhouse) for at least for a month. If you have a basement or somewhere to store it, then you might want to keep it for a year, or for however long your warranty lasts.