Sunday, August 12, 2012

Got a New Printer

I got a new printer today.  My old one was very crappy and printed its last page last week.  I asked my kids to unplug it when I lost the connection.  The light never came back on when we plugged it in.   

Today, after much deliberation, I decided to buy a high end HP OfficeJet that has a paper tray with a 250 page capacity.  That alone make me happy.   The old one could only handle about 30 pages at a time, so I was constantly feeding it paper.  This one also does duplex printing by default.

The box was huge and very heavy.  I brought one of my kids, who struggled to pick up the box.  A random elderly woman helped us get it onto the cart (it wouldn't fit in it) while my littlest guy completely took advantage of the situation.  We nearly took out three little girls on the way to the checkout because my son was pushing the cart but couldn't see over the box.  I was at the end holding on to my little guy who had attached himself to the end of the cart.  Awesome, huh? 

I was really concerned about spending the money on the pricier model.  It was on sale for $299 ($100 off), which didn't seem terrible.  They had plenty of cheaper printers that would do the job (but wouldn't hold a whole ream of paper). 

I bought one set of printer ink, black plus color, which totalled about $90.  Eeek. 

When I got to the counter, they offered me $50 if I brought in my dead printer.  Apparently HP melts down old printers to make new ones - good for them. 

When I got home and opened the box after making another trip out to return the dead printer, I found two sets of color ink cartridges and a double sized black cartridge, which would have cost me $180.

So my printer actually only cost me $70 if you subtract out all of the discounts and rebates and printer cartridges in the box.  Sweet.  (They also gave me money for the used ink cartridges in my dead printer.)

The funny thing is they wanted me to pay about $40 for an extended warranty on a printer that only cost me $70.  I'm glad I said no.

The other irony in this purchase is the thing where I haven't written jack lately and actually have nothing except a one-page outline to print. 

15 comments:

  1. My printer is on its last legs too. I hope it holds our for a few more months. Ink is soooo expensive, I'm glad I don't have to print much.

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    1. I agree. My husband is completely unphased by it. The cost of having things printed kills me. I think the local printing place charges five cents a page. Seems like a lot to me.

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  2. OMG! How big is the printer. For one that didn't fit in the cart, I hope it has a scanner.

    Tomorrow, I desperately need to print my 377 pg novel and send it out to the copyright office.

    Enjoy your new printer.

    Hugs,
    Shelly

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    1. Yes, it is an all-in-one - prints, scans, faxes, copies. My last one did all that too. I'm not sure how I ever functioned without a copier in my house. My kids use it a lot for homework especially.

      Yay you for being that far. Secondhand Shoes?

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  3. Never go cheap on your printer. Sounds like you got a good one.

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    1. I usually go cheap on the printer but not cheap on the computer. My husband loves me. :)

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  4. Ugh, inkjets. I got my latest later printer for $50 on sale from Amazon. The basic black-and-white laser printers generally go from $50-$100 now and since black and white is mostly what I print it makes sense. The toner is more expensive but you don't have to change it as often. And I'm pretty sure 250 pages is only half a ream.

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    1. My husband wanted me to get a color laser printer, but I couldn't commit to it. Maybe next time. And you're right about the definition of a ream - apparently I've been wrong my whole life. :) This one has two paper trays. I shoved an open ream of paper into it with no problem. I'm curious if it's 250 a tray or 250 total. Seems odd to have a tray that holds 125 pages.

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  5. I'm with you on a good printer. You gotta have one. Mine's out of ink right now but I will pick some up tomorrow.
    Yay for your new one and your awesome price:)

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    1. Funny - your name is Ink in the Book but you're out of ink. :)

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  6. A good printer is a must for a writer... even if we aren't currently writing ;)

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    1. Now I want to write or edit just so I can test out the printer. :)

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  7. Wow. I want that printer. It ended up as a real bargain. I am cheap and have had the same printer for about 10 years. The last two times I upgraded to a new computer, I'd have to do this song and dance of finding s substitute device driver since they longer make my printer or list the appropriate driver. This is a cheap printer that loads the 30 pieces.

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    1. My old printer was really cheap but kept spontaneously disconnecting, so we had to go through this ritual of unplugging it, plugging it back in, turning it on, rebooting the computers, and crossing the fingers. So annoying.

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  8. Glad you got a new printer! Now you'll be ready when you do start writing again.

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