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A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.

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Analysis | Printer ink is a scam. Here’s how to spend less. (wapo.st)

submitted 1 year ago by nhgeek to c/technology

49 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Washington Post: Americans waste $10 billion each year on name-brand ink. So we tested low-cost options including remanufactured cartridges, ink injection kits — and even making our own.

My advice: get a mono laser printer. Printing is handy but relatively infrequent for a lot of people these days. If that's your use case, mono laser is the way to go. Toner does not dry out or go bad.

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[–] ydant@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 year ago

Kids in school was the primary reason for a printer, but the need has definitely decreased over the years. Our family is at about 5 prints per year at this point, which is exactly why a laser printer is so valuable. The same Brother printer ($150 in 2012) has worked for us for going on 11 years now with minimal expense on replacement toner. It just works when needed and never dries up or has issues.

But as much as you would like to be paperless, things come up. Some companies insist on wet signatures, other things need to be mailed in, etc. It's certainly becoming less and less necessary year by year, though.

I'm not sure if I would replace this printer if it fails, but it sure is nice to have around when I need it, without the hassle of going out to print something at a shop.