In my hometown, you can get a printed copy of a page from the computer for 0.10 to 0.25 USD at a library. However, the cost of ink might be less. I haven't really fooled around printers much so I don't know. Does anyone think that owning a printer is the cheaper way to go? Note, in my case, I rarely need printouts so I haven't bought a printer lately. In addition, at my university, I could always get so many free printouts. If you do think printers are a good investment, then what do you think is the best one? What is the most economical one?
I have not yet bought a printer so far but I get all my printing at my office. In fact, I have nothing much to print so even if a printer costs very little I have resisted the temptation of buying one so far. If there is an emergency I can get a printout from a cyber cafe in nearby market which costs only 10 cents for a page of A4 size.
I remember that when I used to go to school I would have many essays to do and I had to go to the library to get it printed it. It was kind if a hassle as I had go drive to the library and also pay for the printing which later turned out to be expensive since I also wasted gas. I opted to by a printer which was also a copy machine and scanner. It was a great decision as I had it available any time I needed it and the extra features were a plus in the long run too.
I think buying a printer is recommended if you use it that much, like if you work in an office, school or you're studying, or you simply use it a lot. But if you only need a few prints not more than twice in 2 months, I think having it printed outside will do We used to have a printer, the first one was HP Deskjet and the other one was Canon Pixma. I don't see much of a difference because both of them are great in doing the job
If you don't need a printer, then you don't need one. It doesn't sound like you are forced into having to purchase one. This whole thing of going to your library to print sounds utterly horrendous. I would never do that. Printers have all kinds of issues, and if the library printer goes down, you may not know about it until you are standing there with a flash drive yelling when you should be whispering. In the case that you always print things out a few days in advance, you should be fine. At my University I get 20 copies a day (only 10 if you do front and back. And that includes printer mistakes). But even that is not enough due to my major. So I absolutely need my own printer. Is it a good investment... but just because it is necessary. Money wise, it sucks. I know that Costco sells a printer that is actually cheaper than getting new ink (ink is so overpriced). So a friend of mine has a stack of printers because every time he needed ink he just bought a new printer. True story.
I rarely need printing so I do look at sales just to keep up with what printers go for and what they can do. I go to the library for my printing and pay 15 a copy whether it's a single page or front and back printing. So far so okay for going to the library for printing out pages I need. If you need to buy a printer, check online at officedepot.com or your favorite local store for sales to save money for printer, ink, etc and check about repairs for it too. Research about printers online for there is a lot of information for newbies to buy printers. Your computer use certain types of printers too, so check what kind of printers your computer accepts. Sales is a good time to purchase anything, so check for sales always for your printer, paper, ink and whatever you need for your printer.
It depends on your printing needs whether you have to buy a printer or just pay for printing. I have a computer since 1993 and I bought a printer because I had a retail business. When I closed shop in 1999 and got employed again, since then I haven't bought a printer until now. My printing needs are occasional and just a few pages so it is more economical to pay for printing some pages. A printer is expensive and there's also maintenance costs to consider.
I have a nice all in one printer, but I have not bought ink for it in at least a couple of years. There is a library down the road from my home and we are able to print 75 pages a week for free. I do not need to print out stuff often and so this is a good deal to me and saves me money. The only downfall is if I have to print something, I have to wait until the library is open.
Not all needs a printer. Owning a printer depends on the person's needs. Anyway as far as I am concerned the best printer is fed with a liquid ink for it is cheaper compared to an ink in a cartridge. I am used to using Epson printer and it works efficiently. I would therefore recommending it for you that Epson printer.
I have the same questions, @Jason76. I can get prints for the same price at my local library. If I just one to do a one off on occasion, the library is fine. I could see myself doing a lot more printing if I had my own printer though. I used to have one that worked great for several years. I was sad when it finally gave out. I wish I could find another one just like it, but I'm sure they've changed a lot in recent times, with lots of bells and whistles (that I don't want to pay extra for). I'll be shopping around too, so if I come across anything exceptional, I'll update this thread with it. The main thing I've learned over the years about shopping for a printer, is always find out how much the ink will cost you before choosing one. We had a great one years ago (our very first one), but the ink cost so much that it kind of defeated the purpose of having a printer at home. I won't make that mistake again.
I absolutely hate buying printers because I have had so many that went wrong after a few weeks. I have one at the moment which is an HP Envy which has actually lasted for about a year which to me is a miracle. Unfortunately I need one for my granddaughter's schooling and girl guiding activities otherwise I would just go to the library. The cost of the ink for these printers is extortionate.
I have a printer that also has the scanning facility. I convert a lot of my printed photos to digital. I need the printer more for privacy. I would not want any of my material specially if I have to take copies of my passport and such confidential documents. It can save me a lot of hassle should any of my personal information is leaked if I were to get it from shops that have this facility.
I use the library and business centres whenever I want to do a print out. The fact is I would have like a situation whereby I have my own printer. This will be good for printing at home especially sensitive documents. In the meantime I only do a few printouts in a month and may not be economical buying one now.
If you are a student then you can use the stationary of the College or the public library. I have seen that some of the time the library don't mind give the student the printout they want. In such case they can get some concession. It is just that for some other non student member it'd be best option to get a printer. In the long run this can be a good option. And it can save a lot of money for sure.
@CCarpenter That sounds crazy, but yeah, I totally get it. I've done the same thing with other items, where it just works out better money-wise to do so. It's sad to me that everything seems "disposable" these days, but it is what it is, I guess. Why pay a small fortune for ink (or anything else for that matter) if you don't have to? Maybe you and your friend can go in on a printer and work it out that way. Toss it and grab a new one when it runs out of ink. It seems a shame, but it seems like stuff is made to break down these days.
Although two options are valid and have their respective pros and cons, I prefer to buy my own printer (by the way, I have one at home ) because of the comfort it offers me... I can print whenever I want without having to ask anyone.
In addition to going to business centers to do printouts the other way I get my papers printed is using the office printers. I do this when I'm less busy and have some personal documents I need to printout I simply use the printer. This is quite convenient, saves time and others having to start looking for any nearby center where I can do printouts. Meanwhile it's a cool way to saving money on printing.
I don't need to own a printer since my printing requirements are not extensive. There is a cyber cafe in a local town where printing charges are low. I would consider it economical to purchase a printer if I was handling large volumes of work.
If you might constantly have a large printing load to contend with, then it would be a better bet to buy a printer instead of relying on the printing service at the library, however, If your printing needs may only be sporadic, then the library service but be the better option. Time is money and it would probably take a good amount of time to get the large load printed at the library.
Having a printer for yourself saves time and money in the long run but using a library for printouts is also very helpful too as it saves more money in a short amount of time. If you really had the money though the best thing to do is to get a printer for yourself as it will save time and money in the long run as you will not have to constantly pay for printouts. Also you will not have too travel to wherever it is to get a print out for whatever you're printing. Can also help out too because you will have the freedom to print out whatever you like instead of having to print out something from the rules. These would be some reasons why having a printer for yourself is better than using the library for printouts.
