[Elecraft] OT--A Suggestion About Printers

[David Yarnes]

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