Happy Leap Year Day, everyone (today is 29 Feb, a month that traditionally has 28 days).
Many moons ago the big deal with personal computers was what used to be called "home publishing". The Mac in particular often used its home publishing capabilities to sell itself, as at one point the Mac had much better fonts, printing apps and so on.
The days of using home publishing as a selling point for PCs and Macs are long gone, and sometimes I wonder why anyone would need a printer in the first place.
For small business owners, yes I can totally see why you’d need to own a printer. But for personal use? Other than maybe printing out documentation, I really don’t see the point.
"I need a printer to print receipts!"
No, you don’t. Send a print function direct-to-file to PDF using PDF Creator, which is free.
"I need a printer to make flyers with!"
Why would anyone do that when it actually costs less at nearly any local stationary shop?
"I need a printer to print letters that I need to mail out!"
For business use, yes I can see the point of this, but not for personal. Why would I spend the cash on envelope stock, paper stock and stamps (which are now $0.45 per stamp by the way) when I can send an email or PDF quicker, faster and instantly?
I only print out things maybe 2 or 3 times a year at the most. It costs me between $2 to $5 to do it each time because I go to the local UPS or FedEx store to do it, use one of their PCs and get the job done that way. Total cost to me is not more than $15 a year. If you think that’s expensive, it’s not because the cost of one replacement set of inkjet cartridges per year is way, way more expensive (not to mention the added cost of paper stock as well).
That being said, I ask you a simple question: What do you print?
I also have a follow-up question: Do you feel you’re getting your money’s worth from all the cash you’ve spent on ink and paper?
On a final note, no I’m not poking fun at anyone who owns a printer, nor am I telling anyone to throw out their printer(s). I just want to know what you print and if you feel the cost you put into the printer, ink and paper is worth it.
Like what you read?
If so, please join over 28,000 people who receive our exclusive weekly newsletter and computer tips, and get FREE COPIES of 5 eBooks we created, as our gift to you for subscribing. Just enter your name and email below:
We don’t print either! People should stop printing…
My wife and I print a good amount of things, but the majority of those things are coupons. The coupon-ing alone has saved us roughly $100/mo. in grocery money. I would say 25~50% of that amount comes from printing online coupons. She also gets free paper (excluding tax) from Office Depot when they run a mail-in rebate special on it. We’ve gotten 4 free reams of paper from them so far. But, she mostly prints coupons on scratch paper that we have accumulated over time. It’s nice that it doesn’t matter what’s on the back of a coupon. We don’t own a business, but having a printer is very beneficial in our home.
About the only thing I print at home anymore is RMA labels for personal tech gear in need of repair still under warranty. Which beckons the question, what if I need an RMA label if the printer breaks? Unfortunately, the closest “print shop” is not convenient to my residence. However, I can walk to the UPSP location nearby and drop off a Fedex or UPS package in the boxes outside, provided they are small enough to fit – in which case I call for pick-up service. Apart from that, I print sparingly and retain digital copies of all relevant documents.
Printer? Still useful, occasionally, for: Letters, especially when you go into legal disputes. Documented posting will be needed in court, and regardless of backing up, backing up, and backing up, something may get lost or corrupted as it happens. Also when you need to enclose and send anything physical. Invoices that need a signature (no faxing). Photos. Yes, photos, esp. when I need to check in smaller format whether the retouch is good enough to spend money on large format professional print. Greeting cards. I do produce them in digital form, but some people in my address book have not gone digital, and maybe never will. Reading stuff. Yeah, to hell with the screen for longer texts – there is enough glaring as it is. I want printouts to read at my leisure and with no batteries involved.
Letters for Legal responses to disputes, Instructions & How-To’s when doing something complicated (Like your Tax Worksheets). General Work documents when Telecommuting to the office. For writing: Printout for Proofreading.
But Mostly– Artwork. I love what a good Inkjet can do!
Airline Boarding passes. Totally makes owning a printer worth it.
I print almost everything. Coupons, monthly bill paid statements, letters, envelopes, e-mails from relatives so that my wife can read what they have to say, photos, documentation (to have on hand if the computer goes gaaaakkkkk), EULAs (yes, I do read them!!) so I can read them at my leisure without having to be at the computer, instructions for devices and household gadgets that have been lost or misplaced over time, and a myriad of other printing jobs. I have gone through 2 printers in the last 25+ years and have a third new on hand. I have used more cartridges than I can count (probably well over 300) and feel as if I have received vast value over these 25+ years. Do I print? What an understatement!!
Of course we print. We print snail mail letters at times when hand writing is not recommended. Post cards to politicians so the whole USPS and congressional staff can see. Some coupons, shipping labels, tickets, forms and carry along information must be printed (of course Rich you know this and are just writing for comments). But we do not need quality dpi since hard copy photos are slowly becoming obsolete. Don’t forget scanning and the ability to copy. All-in-one printer is a wonderful tool but DO NOT spend more than $90 on a throw away built-in obsolescence peripheral, that if you are lucky may last a mere five years. It’s not the mechanics that wear out it’s the manufacturer’s unwillingness to keep the firmware and drivers up to date with OS’s and connectivity technology. Do I need a printer/scanner/copier with total cost of ownership (TCO) near $75 a year? Yes, more so than a mobile device with a 3g/4g data plan where TCO is better than $800 a year. WiFi is abundantly around me or can be found in a short amount of time, where when a printer, copier or scanner is needed the local Kinko’s just closed and the library isn’t open.
Photos, letters/envelopes, receipts, documents…mostly those that I don’t want to read online or keep for records. I grant you, I don’t print as much as I used to, but this has the fringe benefit of not using as much paper or ink. I’ve had the same printer for 7 or 8 years, and I think I’ve bought ink 3 times. Worth it, IMO.
The printer’s also an all in one, so occasionally faxing and copying are other big reasons to keep it (again, not frequent, but a time saver when you need them).
Funny.. we have a printer worth about $70 retail that came free with a camera we ordered. It’s sitting here about 6 mos. still in the box.
I print mainly three things.
Recipes.
Directions that will involve me getting dirty hands(ok, so kitchens count, but mainly I’m talking “how to change the oil in my 2015 BMW z42 16L jetpack”)
And #3 is what I do MOST of my printing for.
Archiving e-books that I read more than once!
(I like printing them on the laser printer, 3-hole punching , and slapping in those old-style school report folder/binder dealies.)
that’s right. I still prefer my books in the physical format.
Sure, I have a 7″ tablet, and my smart phone, and computer.
And I read e-books on them all the time.
Sometimes though, my old fogie brain just comprehends the technical stuff better when I see it in print.
I grew up on the cusp of Internet becoming WWW. I started with gopher, not google.
My brain learned to LEARN with paper books.
As a bonus, paper doesn’t get erased when a virus hits(I have backups, but being an IT guy, I am forced to recover, or try to recover, files for people who DON’T have backups ALL THE TIME).
sorry, forgot to answer you final question.
Yes. Definitely. I TOTALLY get my money’s worth.
Now, that laser printer I mentioned has pumped out over 15,000 pages in the last few years.
Sure, half of it get’s recycled as scratch paper… but for the years that large format tablets were not available with good resolution, there was just no substitute for physical copies, on 8.5×11.
Also, printing is THE ONLY way to reliably produce a physical pattern for the cloth artists in my life. hard to cut up an lcd, and pin it to a bolt of cloth
On the other hand, I ALSO got an all-in-one photo inkjet printer. high end HP unit.
It mostly just collects dust. It WAS for photo printing, but since it can’t do that reliably on photo paper(leaves it wet and streaky)… well, it makes an OK wireless scanner.
I use an all in one from Brother for faxing, scanning, copying and printing. The 4 inkjet cartridges were bought from ASAP Inkjet online for less than 1 cartridge costs at Staples. I used to print jokes to post on bulletin boards at work; now not so much printing. This is my 4th printer since 1986.
Why use a printer? Quite simply because IRS will not accept cancelled checks or your word. They want an official receipt for what ever you put on your 1040 or 1040EZ. Try sending the IRS a PDF or email for an official receipt and see how far it gets you. Try 10-15 years in a Federal prison for fraud.
I’m active in politics; I get an email saying, “please put signs in the following 75 locations,” so I add directions for any address I don’t recognize, and print it. Laser is the only way to go; if I want to print a picture, I send it to Wal-Mart.
I’m active in politics; I get an email saying, “please put signs in the following 75 locations,” so I add directions for any address I don’t recognize, and print it. Laser is the only way to go; if I want to print a picture, I send it to Wal-Mart.
Well, like firearms, my “need” for a printer is my decision to make, no one else’s. Why the author feels he must tell others of his personal choice is beyond me. If he doesn’t need a printer, fine and dandy for him. But, just because he doesn’t need a printer, doesn’t mean someone else doesn’t.
“On a final note, no I’m not poking fun at anyone who owns a printer, nor am I telling anyone to throw out their printer(s). I just want to know what you print and if you feel the cost you put into the printer, ink and paper is worth it.”
Sounds like the author agrees with you.
Why anyone would feel the need to tell others of their personal choice regarding firearms on an article about printers is beyond me.
If you ever see a Craigslist ad that says, “For sale: Slightly used HP laser printer. Six bullet holes in the side due to disagreement with a paper jam but still works. $25 or best offer”, we’ll know who it’s from.
I print for school mostly. Teachers want a hard copy and don’t want to print it out themselves. I also use it to fax and scan. (Yes believe it or not, I still have come in contact with many people that want you to fax them information.)
I primarily use my printer to make ‘hard copies’ of my best photographs for display. Having formerly owned and operated a photo lab, I find that I can capture the essence of my original photographic pre-vision better than an outside lab. However, if I require exhibition sized prints produced on archival cotten paper stock and mounted for presentation, the remaining ‘pro labs’ I used back in the ‘film era’ are still the only way to go.
Additionally, I also print out documents when the recipients insist on ‘hard copies’; either unable or unwilling to deal with ‘computer files’. This happens less frequently now than in the past, but those few holdouts remain reticent and extremely inflexible.
I print Note Cards from my wife’s water color paintings, info to give to people without computers, lots of Internet buying receipts, copies of credit cards, insurance papers, copies of my ID info (SS card, license, etc) , Google maps to take in the car with me, coupons, forms from gov’t websites that have to filled in and mailed, much much more.
I use remanufactured inks for all but color pictures (use OEMs) and have had very little problems. If one cartridge is NG the manufacturer replaces it quickly and free.
I agree that keeping pdf copies (and backing them up) is probably the best route for many things, but a hard copy is still useful for those of us without good portable devices (I use mine for NYTimes crossword puzzles–the Across Lite app is excellent, but not practical for me.) That said, an inexpensive monochrome laser printer works well–far fewer problems than Jets, and the after market cartridges are affordable. My Brother is wirelessly connected to my home network, so we only need one printer. Use the toner saver and print on both sides when possible…
Rich, the PDF Creator that you linked has reports of Adware in it, so I don’t think you should suggest that.
If you’re referring to the toolbar, there is an option on installation in very plain sight that if you don’t want it, deselect it, and it’s not installed. There are many other software titles that do the exact same thing.
I read the comments for the software package when I clicked your link, and several mentioned an adware toolbar that they didn’t have a choice on installing. If that is incorrect, I’ll give the PDF creator a closer look.
The comments are incorrect. See for yourself. Uncheck a box and it’s not installed. http://i.imgur.com/cUaF4.png
Thanks Rich
I don’t think you would steer us wrong, but the comments worried me.
Yes, I own and use several printers for such things as instruction sheets, music. lyrics, CD’s (printable inkjet surface), resumes, etc. etc. etc…. however I disagree that the expense is nearly as high as you cite since, for the last 4 years I have been using nothing but printers I can get a continuous ink supply system for and the refills for them come in at about $25.00 for all 5 colors my printers use and fill the C.I.S.S. at least 2 times (tanks hold 100ml of ink).
I agree with you. You have given us a great deal of information. Excellent work you have done for sharing with everyone
Thanks for sharing. i really appreciate it that you shared with us such a informative post.. you can also find many artical about pollution problem
All pollution problem