I can’t tell you how many people contact me about printers and what I have and what they should get and what I suggests. I am here to tell you, I am NOT a printer expert. I think most people either LOVE or hate their printers. I LOVE mine. But this wasn’t always the case. Last year I had my trusty ol’ ink jet printer which was fine and dandy for small jobs, but let’s face it, as my printer needs increased, I was starting to spend and arm and leg on printer cartridges. I knew that I needed something a bit more ‘meaty’ for lack of a better word.
I wanted something that would print true to color, that wouldn’t bend my papers so badly that I had to place them under a stack of books to flatten them, something that would print quickly, wireless, that would easily print card stock and LOTS of it and that wouldn’t completely break the bank.
Just when I had one purchased and packed into the back of my vehicle, my husband called me and suggested I talk to his ‘guy’ about a refurbished office printer. Now I don’t want to be a printer snob or anything but I wasn’t really interested in someone else’s hand me downs . . . until I I talked to him. There are companies all over that are either outgrowing or needing different printers for one reason or another. My printer guy has an outstanding reputation and assured me that he doesn’t deal in garbage.
I was able to get all the features I wanted for a fraction of what that printer would be brand new and for the same price that I was about to pay for the brand new printer I had picked out that didn’t quite have everything I wanted but that was ‘good enough.’ ( I call it HOSS. It’s NOT dainty by any means.)
Lots of people shy away from laser printers because of the printer cartridge prices. Yep. Instead of one or two little ink jet cartridges I now needed to get all of the these, but let’s put it in perspective. Here is my latest supply usage sheet from my printer.
You will see that my yellow cartridge is getting very low. It’s only at 9% which means it only has about 1200 pages left! Oh by the way, it has already printed 11000 pages. That’s the part that sold me. If I only have to purchase cartridges once a year or less, it was going to save me money in the long run.
So despite it being a big ol’ beast, I love my printer. But for those of you that hate your color printers and the cost of cartridges, I’ve been hearing you. I DO understand the frustration of wanting to offer fun products for your class without spending your hard earned dollars on ink. So in addition to suggesting you check out a refurbished printer, I finally got it together to offer you an I-spy unit that won’t break the bank in printer cartridges. Here it is, an I-Spy packet with everything available in either black and white or color (depending on how you feel about your printer). It was alot of extra work, but I’m hoping it with give those of you without ‘printer love’ the option to use I-spys in your classroom. This one has activities that address CVC, CVCC, CCVC, CVCe and real/nonsense words. There are several recording sheets from which to choose in order to different your instruction, too. I’d love to hear what you think about it. I’m not sure if something I will keep doing or not, but I thought I would give it a try.
In the meantime, do you love or hate your printer?
Jackie says
I am glad that you posted this. I also received a color laser printer (I didn’t have to pay for it because the company was getting rid of it). I learned something very interesting about it though…when it says it is out of ink it is NOT. In the info panel there are a lot of tools you can use and one is OVERRIDE when it comes to the ink being out. I got several hundred if not thousand more sheets out of the printer until the quality started to degrade. So even less money on those giant color toner cartridges. Just a little info for you.
I love this! Thanks so much Marsha!! I can’t wait to print print print those black and whites π
Kaci
Thanks for the post Marsha! I’ve been trying to figure out what to do because my principal decided that it wasn’t cost effective for the school to provide us with color ink in the printer…I’ve not been happy about it for a couple of weeks. I looked at printers yesterday…I didn’t leave with one. Still not sure what I’m going to do. You’ve given me more food for thought.
I often have 3 printers going..my newest all-in-one is nice because it scans but it drinks ink! When I know I am going to download one of your wonderful products, I use an old printer here at home or an even older one at school. (I have to buy my ink for the school classroom printer so there is no guilt there. I buy my own cardstock, too.) The older printers are slow, but so much better on ink. I have one in the garage that needs to go to the shop. For what it will save me on ink, it will be worth 50-60 dollars to get it fixed. People can just adjust the setting to print products in Black ink only. I do that often when I am low on color but want the product. Color looks so nice, but ask yourself is it educationally necessary. Most times not.
Wow! What a FANTASTIC post Marsha! I must say…I think I have printer envy now! I want THAT printer! You really have given me a lot to think about:)
Always coming up with great ideas! I have printer envy too! lol. Now where is there a good refurbished printer around here?! Hmmm…
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