The Power of the Laser
Last week I was standing in a large computer store (of course I can't tell you the name but they had a whole World of PCs in stock). I was holding a little tank of black ink priced at 35 quid. They say that inkjet ink is now more expensive than vintage champagne. Anyway, I was all set to buy this when it dawned on me that I hate inkjet printers. They are slow, noisy and they run out of ink. Even if you don't print anything the ink fairy comes and empties the tanks so that next time you press the button it prints half a page and then runs out. The really advanced ones have special chips in them that tell you the cartridge is empty even when it isn't.
I've tried refilling cartridges (the world is divided into two camps, those who've tried refilling ink jet cartridges and those who don't have stains all over their trousers). I've also bought "compatible" ones (some of which have actually worked) and tried to love them.
However, standing in the shop, holding the little plastic box and thinking "Hey, in two or three weeks I'm going to be doing exactly the same thing again" was just too much for me. So I went and bought a cheap laser printer. It cost me four and a bit cartridges (or 150 quid). It will be good for around a couple of thousand prints (around the same as four and a bit cartridges) and it will be quick and silent. As far as I know toner does not evaporate and you get that nice, invigorating, ozone smell while it prints.
Of course I'm going to miss the spot colour which was nice when you print out web pages and I'm going to keep one inkjet around for prints from the camera, but as far as I can tell you'd be mad to get an inkjet if all you want to do is print black text on paper. Of course at some point I will need to buy a new toner cartridge, but it comes in at 60 quid and at least I'm getting some mechanical bits for my money.
One other note, don't ever, ever, get tempted to fill up the toner in a laser printer. I have done this precisely once. It was a long time ago, I was young and desperate (as opposed to old and desperate). The toner ran out in the middle of a really important print job. So I snaffled some from the photocopier and poured it into the laser printer. Bad move. The first print came out great. Strong contrast, lovely definition. The second print came out great too. But it had the first print on it as well... Things went downhill rapidly from this point, eventually printing out what looked like wordsearches with black blobs all over them. It took me around half a day to clean the drum and get the printer to work again...
I've since been told by people in the know that refilling toner cartridges is quite OK if you are sensible enough to use laser printer toner rather than photocopier toner. However, I would add a couple of warnings - I seem to remember being told that laser toner is carcinogenic so try not to touch or breath in the stuff. Also, if you get any toner on your clothes you should wash it out with cold water. If you use hot water it fuses the toner to the material. For ever.
I've tried refilling cartridges (the world is divided into two camps, those who've tried refilling ink jet cartridges and those who don't have stains all over their trousers). I've also bought "compatible" ones (some of which have actually worked) and tried to love them.
However, standing in the shop, holding the little plastic box and thinking "Hey, in two or three weeks I'm going to be doing exactly the same thing again" was just too much for me. So I went and bought a cheap laser printer. It cost me four and a bit cartridges (or 150 quid). It will be good for around a couple of thousand prints (around the same as four and a bit cartridges) and it will be quick and silent. As far as I know toner does not evaporate and you get that nice, invigorating, ozone smell while it prints.
Of course I'm going to miss the spot colour which was nice when you print out web pages and I'm going to keep one inkjet around for prints from the camera, but as far as I can tell you'd be mad to get an inkjet if all you want to do is print black text on paper. Of course at some point I will need to buy a new toner cartridge, but it comes in at 60 quid and at least I'm getting some mechanical bits for my money.
One other note, don't ever, ever, get tempted to fill up the toner in a laser printer. I have done this precisely once. It was a long time ago, I was young and desperate (as opposed to old and desperate). The toner ran out in the middle of a really important print job. So I snaffled some from the photocopier and poured it into the laser printer. Bad move. The first print came out great. Strong contrast, lovely definition. The second print came out great too. But it had the first print on it as well... Things went downhill rapidly from this point, eventually printing out what looked like wordsearches with black blobs all over them. It took me around half a day to clean the drum and get the printer to work again...
I've since been told by people in the know that refilling toner cartridges is quite OK if you are sensible enough to use laser printer toner rather than photocopier toner. However, I would add a couple of warnings - I seem to remember being told that laser toner is carcinogenic so try not to touch or breath in the stuff. Also, if you get any toner on your clothes you should wash it out with cold water. If you use hot water it fuses the toner to the material. For ever.
posted by Rob Miles at
Tuesday, July 08, 2003
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