12-21-2014, 08:37 PM
As strange as this may seem, I have owned a Windows PC for the past 20 years but have avoided the need to buy a printer until now.
I hardly do any printing - perhaps one or two pages per week; and almost all of that is B&W. I only need to print color pages perhaps once or twice per year.
During the past 20 years, when I have needed to print a few pages, I have either imposed on a friend or made use of the Public Library which is just across the street (ten cents per page for B&W). But now, I need to buy a printer.
The last person I spoke with about this topic was an old friend and he told me the cost of the ink is much more expensive than the cost of a printer. Believe it or not, I only need to print about 10 pages per year. This friend also told me that if you own a printer and fail to print something every few days, the ink will clot and you will then need to buy a new printer.
So, I hope someone can answer these questions:
Almost all my printing is B&W. I may want to do some color printing. But that would happen even less frequently than my B&W printing. So, the first question is:
1) Should I expect the cost of a printer to be extrmely low compared to the cost of the ink?
2) I know that some people who buy a new printer will spend many hours or days studying their printer manual(s) to learn all about their new printer. My attitude towards selecting a printer is, "the less I need to get involved, the better". My preference is simply to select a file and then press the "PRINT" button. The files I need to print are almost always one or two 8.5" x 11" pages per file. It is extremely rare that I need to print any other size other than 8.5" x 11". It is also extremely rare that I need to do any other kind of printing. (such as color or landscape, etc.).
2) Are the issues involved in printing color pages similar to those involved in printing B&W pages? Do I need to print a page every few days in order to prevent "clotting"? If so, how often do I need to print a page to prevent clotting and are there any pages that are recommended to prevent clotting?
3) How much should I expect to spend on a small "entry level" printer and how much can I expect to spend on the ink (both B&W as well as color)?
4) How often do I need to print a B&W page to keep the B&W ink from clotting?
5) Same question as above but substitute "color" for "B&W".
6) I'm guessing a new printer comes with one color ink cartridge as well as one B&W ink cartridge. Is that correct?
7) Is there any preferred brand name that you would recommend for me?
8) If I want to be able to handle sending & receiving faxes, what kind of hardware will I need to buy and how much should I expect to spend? I do not need to send and receive faxes myself. There are many services that I can use to send and/or receive faxes and pay a very small fee to send and receive faxes. The reason I want to be able to do this now is because if I need to send/receive more than 5 or 6 pages per week, it becomes inconvenient to go across the street and let some service handle my faxes. There is also a privacy issue. I don't feel comfortable having all my faxes available to people who use that same service.
If I want to be able to send/ receive faxes, what kind of unit do I need? Is it a printer? Or is is a photocopier that can be plugged into my PC? Or, perhaps it's some other kind of unit?
I'm posting these questions here because I would very much prefer to get the benefit of your advice before I walk into the computer store and have a sales person try to "advise" me.
There is one issue of which I am quite certain. That is: to avoid getting sucked into an "extended warranty".
I hardly do any printing - perhaps one or two pages per week; and almost all of that is B&W. I only need to print color pages perhaps once or twice per year.
During the past 20 years, when I have needed to print a few pages, I have either imposed on a friend or made use of the Public Library which is just across the street (ten cents per page for B&W). But now, I need to buy a printer.
The last person I spoke with about this topic was an old friend and he told me the cost of the ink is much more expensive than the cost of a printer. Believe it or not, I only need to print about 10 pages per year. This friend also told me that if you own a printer and fail to print something every few days, the ink will clot and you will then need to buy a new printer.
So, I hope someone can answer these questions:
Almost all my printing is B&W. I may want to do some color printing. But that would happen even less frequently than my B&W printing. So, the first question is:
1) Should I expect the cost of a printer to be extrmely low compared to the cost of the ink?
2) I know that some people who buy a new printer will spend many hours or days studying their printer manual(s) to learn all about their new printer. My attitude towards selecting a printer is, "the less I need to get involved, the better". My preference is simply to select a file and then press the "PRINT" button. The files I need to print are almost always one or two 8.5" x 11" pages per file. It is extremely rare that I need to print any other size other than 8.5" x 11". It is also extremely rare that I need to do any other kind of printing. (such as color or landscape, etc.).
2) Are the issues involved in printing color pages similar to those involved in printing B&W pages? Do I need to print a page every few days in order to prevent "clotting"? If so, how often do I need to print a page to prevent clotting and are there any pages that are recommended to prevent clotting?
3) How much should I expect to spend on a small "entry level" printer and how much can I expect to spend on the ink (both B&W as well as color)?
4) How often do I need to print a B&W page to keep the B&W ink from clotting?
5) Same question as above but substitute "color" for "B&W".
6) I'm guessing a new printer comes with one color ink cartridge as well as one B&W ink cartridge. Is that correct?
7) Is there any preferred brand name that you would recommend for me?
8) If I want to be able to handle sending & receiving faxes, what kind of hardware will I need to buy and how much should I expect to spend? I do not need to send and receive faxes myself. There are many services that I can use to send and/or receive faxes and pay a very small fee to send and receive faxes. The reason I want to be able to do this now is because if I need to send/receive more than 5 or 6 pages per week, it becomes inconvenient to go across the street and let some service handle my faxes. There is also a privacy issue. I don't feel comfortable having all my faxes available to people who use that same service.
If I want to be able to send/ receive faxes, what kind of unit do I need? Is it a printer? Or is is a photocopier that can be plugged into my PC? Or, perhaps it's some other kind of unit?
I'm posting these questions here because I would very much prefer to get the benefit of your advice before I walk into the computer store and have a sales person try to "advise" me.
There is one issue of which I am quite certain. That is: to avoid getting sucked into an "extended warranty".
(This post was last modified: 12-21-2014, 08:42 PM by AliShibaz.)
