Before, I had an inkjet printer that I bought when I first started working from home back in 2005. It's nice in that it's a printer, copier, and scanner. However, it goes through ink really fast (probably about 100-150 pages) and a new cartridge is about $20.
The laser printer I ended up buying was on sale for $54.99 (down from over $100) with free S&H. I received it earlier this week. I haven't printed too much, but so far I'm in love. The toner that came with it is a starter cartridge (so it's supposed to print 1,000-1,500 pages). It was really easy to put together and install on my computer. It prints so fast and the pages are perfect. It will definitely come in handy for lots of things, but especially law school when I have to print out notes and study material.
The down side is that the replacement toner cartridges are more expensive than the printer itself (well on sale at least). They're about $70. However, they're supposed to last for approximately 3,000 pages.
To go with the printer, I ordered a print server (this arrives on Monday). This will allow me to hook my printer up to my wireless network so that I can print from my computer wirelessly (and not have to connect the printer directly to my computer). The only place I can conveniently place my printer is in a corner far across the room from where I normally work. With my old printer, it was annoying having to pick my computer up, go over to where the printer was, connect it, and wait for it to finish printing. Or I had to move the printer onto the floor (which I'd do when I had to print lots of stuff). It was really inconvenient. Now, I can just hit print from my chair and it will automatically print.
Most print servers run about $70, but I found a refurbished one, that is tested to ensure it works before it is resold, for $30.
When I ordered both the printer and the print server, I used Ebates.com to get to the sites. By doing that, I receive cash back (percentage depends on the individual store). If you're interested in signing up for Ebates, click here. If you sign up through my link, we both get a $5 bonus.
5 comments:
I cannot recommend enough getting a printer for law school! It is essential, plus at many schools these days you have to pay for print outs. If you don't have to pay at your school, print things off that you have done ahead of time and just save your at home printer for emergencies. I found, though, that I had far too many "emergencies" and last min. printings! Good job shopping around and getting this sorted out ahead of time.
I'm impressed with your set-up...and very jealous!
My girlfriend is a 2L and I know she really loves the laser printer she got at the start of law school. The starter toner lasted a really long time and it seemed like she got a lot more pages out of the normal toner cartridges than what was advertised. (she used the starter and one full cartridge for the entire first year!)
Another benefit to having a laser printer is that you can highlight your printouts without them smearing the way ink-printouts do. I know my girlfriend highlights like crazy and having stuff printed from a laser printer probably saved her $50 worth of highlighters and much aggravation.
Check on ebay to see if they sell a toner refill when you are out. I brought a $10 bottle of toner refill and it seem to work on my laser printer.
Nice purchase.
Hey- you're in law school, right? It's a must have. With everything that you'll be printing, I would look at it as quite the investment.
Good luck!
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