time for a new printer

[cellio]

It's a new millenium; I can upgrade hardware.

My mostly-trusty HP LaserJet 5L has fussed at me one too many times. (It's ok; it's a senior citizen. I think I bought it in 1993.) Every now and then it decides it doesn't want to correctly feed paper; sometimes it just wants different paper or a dusting-out, and sometimes it wants a more thorough cleaning. I've done all the usual things this time short of breaking out the screwdrivers. It's been a good printer, but new ones are $100 and there's a lot to be said for lower hassle levels. I wonder if I know anyone who places the time/money balance-point in a different place, or who likes playing with hardware. It's not dead, just cranky.

I took today off to deal with assorted errands before leaving for Pennsic tomorrow morning. One of those errands was printing some stuff to take to Pennsic -- hence this post. So since I was home anyway, I ran over to Best Buy to pick up a new one. For old-times' sake, I got a modern HP LaserJet. Time to first print (from when I left the house) was just over an hour, which is pretty good.

(Reminder to self: I didn't have a spare USB cable after all, so right now the printer is hijacking the scanner cable. I should fix that after Pennsic.)

Comments

[stevemb.livejournal.com]

Our HP all-in-one color inkjet/scanner/fax/copier/maker of thousands of Julienne fries in seconds dies a few weeks ago -- we ended up replacing it with a Canon model that has a few extra advantages (like a paper-feed module and a separate paper input for cardstock/labels/whatever).

One feature it has is that the output tray is normally covered by a door, which opens when the printer starts. This is particularly interesting when it happens without obvious human intervention (i.e. printing something from the laptop in another room via the wireless LAN). Satin (the elderly white cat) doesn't notice, because the world is generally incomprehensible to her anyway. Heidi (the middle-aged Maine Coon tortie) seems to notice, but doesn't much care. Vir (the young Siamese mix, pictured) is absolutely fascinated.

[cellio]

Heh -- that does sound like a fun cat toy. :-)

One thing that the new printer does better than the old is that both the paper tray and the output slot are reasonably protected from dust. On my old printer the paper stood straight up and the printed page came out in a vertical slot -- which makes them dust magnets. (Yes, I am too lazy to apply a cover when not in use. Or rather, I'd slide a plastic door shut, but I'm not into fussing with the nylon/cloth/whatever fitted covers, and anything not fitted is also not cat-proof.)

[indigodove.livejournal.com]

Goodwill might be a place to take the senior citizen printer. They have a computer store -- I don't know if Goodwill refurbishes the stuff, or if it's a place for those who have the skills to make things go get great deals. But, it beats just pitching it :-)

[cellio]

Good idea. I know that Goodwill trashes some huge percentage of the clothing they get; I don't know what their track record is on equipment. But it beats just trashing it, if I don't find a friend who wants it.

[steven.livejournal.com]

Haha! I got my 4L in 1993, and I swear, I think I just changed the toner for the first time two years ago. When we bought the color laser last year, I handed the 4L over to my mother, and sometimes I still miss it. The color laser can be tempermental.

Funny to think how expensive that 4L was back then. I think it may have even been close to $700. Then again, the Packard Bell it was hooked up to was probably close to $2,000.

[cellio]

I changed the toner two or three times in my 5L, I think, but I also spent some of that period working on a book (so lots of paper drafts to review). I don't know what it was rated for, but I got a lot more than the 2000 pages the current printer says it's rated for. Time will tell.

I paid around $400 for my 5L, I think. Sounds like I got mine a little later than you got yours, so maybe my memory of 1993 is off. (1993 is when I got my first home computer (as opposed to terminal or Xterm). I started with a crappy Epson inkjet printer which I evicted in short order, but maybe I went without a decent printer for a while? Dunno.)