These days, you can put an inkjet or monochrome laser printer on your desk for under $100, and a photo or color laser for $250 and up. But for some of us, even $100 is a bit more than we can spend right now. In addition, once you've got that nice new printer, you may be flabbergasted by how much it costs to maintain it with ink, toner, and paper.
There are ways you can get a printer or scanner for little or no money -- and ways you can minimize the amount of money it takes to keep it running.
For many of us, the idea of buying a used product means getting something that looks banged-up, may not work properly, and will not last long. However, something buying a used printer is a smart idea -- as long as it's refurbished. That means that you get a product that has been inspected and fixed up by the manufacturer, and that you get a (limited) warranty.
These days, you can pick up a solid laser printer for about $150 (there are even some that can be found for under $100) that will print more quickly than an inkjet, and probably have better text quality than an inkjet of an equivalent price. You will not only get long-lasting text printing, but you will save money -- because over the long run, toner costs a lot less than ink.
Printers are so inexpensive to buy these days -- and are improving so rapidly -- that many people are buying new printers before the old ones have stopped working. So if you're really in need of a printer, and can't afford one at the moment, here are some ways to score a printer for free.
While we can’t (and don’t necessarily want to) eliminate paper entirely from our desks, we can try to at least cut back. If you’re printing something out just for yourself, and not for somebody else, there are some things you can do that can save a few pages -- and as we all know, every little bit counts.
How many times have you printed out a Web page, only to find yourself with two or three pages worth of links, attributions, and other stuff that you neither need nor want? You can save a lot of paper by just printing out what you want to use.
It's a fact: Some printers simply use more ink than others. If you find that you are spending a lot more on ink than you thought you would, then it's a smart idea to monitor ink consumption, and then decide whether a different printer might, indeed, be more economical.
Have you ever noticed that your ink cartridges are slowly getting emptier -- and you haven't used them? Does your printer or all-in-one occasionally make mysterious noises even though you're not printing anything? Your device is probably going through the process of cleaning the print heads -- a necessary process, but one that can cost you a lot in unused ink. There are ways to minimize that loss.
You can save a lot of money if you buy cartridges from someone other than the printer manufacturer. However, you do have to be careful whom you buy from -- some third-party cartridges use inferior ink that can damage your printer.
When the dreaded "Toner Low" light goes on while you're using your laser printer, it may not yet be time for a new cartridge. There is a way to fool that "Toner Low" light and make your toner cartridge laser longer.
Sometimes, a new printer just doesn't work right. Or it isn't quite what you expected. Or it's a gift that just wasn't right. Whatever the reason, you sometimes have to return a printer, scanner, or all-in-one -- and you'll have a lot less trouble dealing with the return if you were careful in the first place.
