Evils of the Printer

Copyright (c) Noelle Adams. All Rights Reserved.

Somehow you pulled it off. Your shoulders are stiff. Your eyes burn from gazing into a computer screen all night. Outside, the hadedas are making their first neighbourhood patrol of the day. But you feel invigorated. You’re going to make your essay deadline. You select Print. Your printer promptly swallows every piece of paper in the tray, chokes, flashes its lights ineffectually, and dies.

It’s a familiar situation. Even students with university printing accounts have no shortage of hassles in the LANs. Towards exam time, when the work avalanche hits, students can wait two hours for the laser printers to process their work. 

You see, while God rested on the seventh day, Satan invented the printer. In fact, much like the God-Satan relationship, if you have a computer, you really can’t do without a printer. They complete each other.   

Printers can be more demanding than Tamagotchis. Especially as they get older. And yet, in today’s increasingly computerised world, you can’t avoid printers. The most you can do is pick one that’s most compatible with your needs and resources.  

The main printer brands in South Africa are Lexmark, Epson, Canon and Hewlett-Packard (HP). At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much difference between their printers. Each brand has its own negatives and positives. For example, Lexmark printers often have three year guarantees. Being a Lexmark, though, chances are you’ll need that guarantee. 

In terms of product choice, printers are less overwhelming than PCs. The basic printer types are Laserjet, Inkjet, Dot Matrix, and multi-function printers. Use, price and reliability are important purchase guides. 

Inkjet printers dominate the market. They are the more affordable choice for the home user, allowing text and graphics to be printed in both black and colour. Inkjet printers can range in price from about R370 to R1300.   

Laserjet printers are favoured by businesses and institutions with heavy-duty printing needs. Like the name suggests, printed material is written with a laser, as opposed to relying on the ink cartridge of the Inkjet printer. Laser printers require only toner, making back their costs. Starting at around R2000, however, they tend to be financially beyond most ordinary consumers. 

Multi-function printers, which combine a printer, scanner and copier, are becoming increasingly popular, primarily for space-saving reasons. But they come with many drawbacks. If one function fails, they all do. For R1300 (the price of the cheapest combo-printer), you can buy a separate printer and scanner that are twice as fast. Even in terms of size, combo-printers fail. A lot bigger than they appear in the Game catalogue, multi-function printers tend to be ugly giants. Think machine versions of the All Blacks’ front line.  

Aesthetics is a big issue, and that applies to all printers, multi-functional or not. 

One of the most common complaints made about printers is that it’s cheaper to buy a new printer than buy new cartridges once the originals run out. This is generally true. If you pick up a little Lexmark for R370, its black cartridges will cost between R200 and R280. Colour cartridges are in the region of R280.  

If you’re nauseated by such prices, there are a number of ways to get around the problem. To prolong ink cartridge life, set the printer on draft or economy mode, which uses less ink. With black ink, the quality is still excellent, and the pages will print faster too.  

Printer brand will also determine ink options. Epsons’ use the cheapest ink. Canon cartridges are probably the most expensive. Lexmark and HP exist somewhere in-between. One of the reasons for this price difference is printer design. The new Epson C82 allows the user to simply replace the colour that has run out.   

With some other printers, every time you replace a cartridge, you replace the attached cartridge head as well.  It may be more expensive, but the advantage here is that the head never gets dirty or worn. As a result, the printer’s alignment is less likely to be thrown out. 

Today, ink refills and generic cartridges are also a popular money-saving option. In the case of an Epson, you can buy a generic cartridge for R50, while the original is R180. Generics and refills, especially black ink, work well, but they do come with risks. If you use them, you instantly void the printer’s warranty.   

Ultimately, with printers, it comes down to personal preference. For all their quirks, most printers have long lives and can function for several years.   

However, if you’ve reached the stage of feeding your printer a page at a time, and have a priest on-call to perform exorcisms, it may be time to save up for a new HP or Epson.