Printers may kill you
Aside from the computer itself, one of the most oft-used peripherals I would imagine has to be the once-lowly printer. We’ve come a long way since the dot-matrix days, both in terms of print quality and pricing.I thought I had hit the big-time on my Commodore 64 when I could print out my pages of BASIC code on my $499, nine-pin dot-matrix beauty. I later upgraded to an impact printer that gave my work the appearance of being typewritten, which was really impressive for the time.
In my IBM days there was nothing finer than the workhorse HP LaserJet, which would print lovely black and white copies until the cows came home. If the print got dark you took the toner cartridge out, shook it up and put it back. That trick was good for another 500 pages every time.
My, how times have changed. Laser printers are under a hundred bucks now; inkjets seemingly come in Happy Meals. Dell usually tosses one in with every computer sold unless the moon is high. A cheap color Lexmark will run 40 bucks.
What happened, of course, was cheap off-shore manufacturing and competition. The printer market is as bloody as any out there and the main game is to get the unit in the house or office. (Because that’s when the fun starts.)
All of the manufacturers have patents on their ink cartridge designs so the goal is to get the printer purchased and in use. After that, it’s all about the consumables. Paper is paper, of course (although they try to convince you to use a certain brand for photos.) The money is in the ink.
Because you’re locked into one brand (if you get a “free” Dell printer, you’re locked into buying Dell-brand ink) there is a captive and therefore lucrative market for hugely high-margin product. Where else can you sell an ounce of anything for $40?
I called this the “Barbie” concept in a paper I wrote for my MBA class (give the doll away and sell the clothes for $15) but there are a few things you can do to save some money.
---Buy the USB cable you will need online. A USB A/B cable (square on one end, rectangle on the other) will cost two bucks on Ebay or at an online tech store and $25 from Dell or a big box retailer.
---The jury is still out on refilled ink cartridges. Some printers can tell the difference and won’t work, some leak and some are fine. Your mileage may vary.
---Get an all-in-one printer if you can afford it but leave out the fax if you’ll never use it. The copying feature is nice if for nothing else than complying with all the copying you need to get the rebate on the purchase itself.
---Get a printer with as many separate ink cartridges as possible. It sucks to throw out an overall “color” cartridge when all you ran out of was yellow because your kid was printing pictures of lions. My Epson has six different color cartridges, so I can replace only that one.
---Remember when you buy a printer it usually comes with “starter” cartridges with only a whisper of ink. Keep an eye on warehouse clubs, Sunday ads and online specials and stock up.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: A Web site has been set up so Americans can donate frequent flyer miles to soldiers stationed overseas so they can come home to see their families. To date more than 540 million miles have been donated. See Operation Hero Miles at www.heromiles.org
James Derk is co-owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home