Any Reason to Own a Printer at Home?

It would depend on how often you print of course. If you don't print for work but you need a lot of material for school or print pictures for personal reasons then yeah buy a printer but if you only print once in a blue moon then you can print at Kinkos or places like that. You have to consider whether buying the printer and also buying the ink on regular occasions is better than having to drive/walk down to the printing business. I don't print that much but my mom prints a lot for college so we keep it.

 

I have a nice printer and I don't use it anymore. My mom also stopped using her printer except for emergencies. She's a teacher so she needs to print lots of materials. I calculated once that it costs her about .40 to print a letter size page using only black ink, while at Office Max it's .10. I have a large format printer and I calculated it costs about $4 to print a full color ink heavy poster in tabloid size 11x17 while it costs $1.50 at a local printer. I've been debating weather I should keep my printer for emergencies or just sell it.

 

I love my printer. It is a printer/copier/fax machine all in one. I use it to print pictures too. Also, I use it for my son's school papers, for my bills, making copies, faxing business papers like my home loan information, and anything else I need. I can do it from my own home. I love it and use it often.

 

I think only you can answer this question. Because it depends on your printing requirements. You definitely need one if you have kids like me that does a lot of printing of projects/paper work assignments. It saves us money compared to having their assignment printed in a computer shop.

 

I prefer to just go to a print shop whenever I need something printed, and I think the only reason I would get a printer at home would be if I'm really that bothered by having to go to another place whenever I want something printed, which isn't that often anyway so I don't really mind. I don't think it's as necessary nowadays as it was just a few years ago, and the effort of having to maintain and refill it just isn't worth it to me.

 

The most common reasons people own printers are convenience and privacy.

You don't want to put yourself in the position to rely on the public library, your job or a friend/relative to print off an item. Most assuredly there will be restrictions in regards to use based on rules or hours of the day. So, it's just inconvenient.

Also, you may want to keep certain legal docs private. You may not want to print them in a public place where someone else could inadvertently pick them up.

Best choice for home computer? An all-in-one HP (or other brand) . . .

 

I used to have a printer at home, and now I'm thinking about the same thing as TC. Since last year, I've stopped using my printer altogether and already had it unplugged. I guess if you have nothing to use it on then you don't need one. I guess owning a printer is more to those that use it regularly so it's convenient, I suggest just going to a shop if you only occasionally need to print something out. Or better still, go to a friend that owns a printer and use his/her printer instead.

 

I have a small home based business and I need a printer to scan my dockets into and email them to the company. I like being able to print off things I see online to either read later or to just save because some times you can not find it later or it artlcle may have been removed.

 

Alternatively you could save the page as a pdf or copy the text and save it in a word file so you don't waste money on ink and paper.

 

It clearly depends on your personal needs. If you are doing fine without printing for a long time without foreseeable printing needs to resume using a printer, then just don't buy one.

You can always count on reliable

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when you have to print having enough days in advance to account for shipping.

Of course, there is always the odd emergency for which you are subject to going to the local printing service in your area, or going to a friend's house. You have to weigh it.

 

I never really needed a printer at home... That was until I started teaching at a university. Since I have to print lessons and handouts and quizzes and exams, I had to purchase a printer. I needed one at home so that I could print whenever I wanted. We don't have a lot of printers at the faculty room and I don't want to be waiting in line just to print my handouts and quizzes.

If you don't print regularly or you don't print in bulk, I don't see a need for you to own a printer at home. As the others above said, it would depend upon your need. Why would you buy one if you don't really need it?

 

If it's a good idea or not to own one depends on the volume of printing you need done. In my university years I did a lot of printing for courses, assignments etc - owning a printer would have saved me plenty of cash, especially in those times when I was unemployed. I know that most people buy a printer because they think it's useful to just have one laying around, that's wrong. If you feel you have the need buy a printer, if not, no one's forcing you.

 

I love having my printer at home. I even have one in my dorm room. I got it for about $70, and it is a lifesaver. I frequently sell items on Amazon, and this allows me to print off the order slip that is required in the "ship with" packaging. You can buy remanufactured ink on Amazon or eBay for 1/5 the price of regular ink.

Long story short, if you will use it more than 2-3 times a week, I would definitely invest in one. It all just depends how easily you can get access to a printer otherwise.

 

I don't have a printer at home. Why? Because I can print all I want at work 5 days a week. There is a huge and expensive Canon printer, that prints in a way better quality than any of those $30-50 cheap printers.

 

If you're into academic stuff like a student who needs to do projects and assignments or for some other stuff regularly then it would make sense to own a printer at home. Same with if you own a small business at home or for some other reasons when you need to print regularly.