Do you have a printer in your setup?

[R176]

I've been having an ongoing discussion with a friend of mine for some time about whether or not printers are common in an office/gaming/workspace setup. I personally only have ever met one person with a printer on their desk ready to go whenever, and think it's very outdated these days. They, on the other hand, think a surprising amount of people still have printers set up and ready to go on their desk or in the same room. 

Help me settle this?

[mapegl]

I am a University Student and have already worked as/ will be working as teacher. I NEED a printer like all the time. 

Both for my job and for studies. 

 

However, right now I use a very basic laser printer that can only do black and white and has no duplex or any of that fancy stuff. It was just 80€ and I only pay about 8€ for a toner cartridge that lasts about 2500 pages. Nothing special, but very cheap to use.

[tp95112]

How are printers outdated? Does no one go to school or print papers?

[doomsriker]

Of course I do. Two words: collage student.

[GDRRiley]

My families printer ended up in my room after I got a wired connection there and they didn't have to stick it on their desk 

[R176]

Just now, tp95112 said:

How are printers outdated? Does no one go to school or print papers?

Everyone I know who goes to school prints things off AT school/uni/college, not at home! Makes sense to have one if you're a student/teacher though. 

[You_are_a_cunt]

Everyone needs at least a B/W inkjet printer or MFD.

One word: convenience.

 

Just get a long USB cable (max 10m) and tuck it away somewhere easily accessible yet fairly hidden away (like a dresser you don't use or something)

[doomsriker]

1 minute ago, R176 said:

Everyone I know who goes to school prints things off AT school/uni/college, not at home! Makes sense to have one if you're a student/teacher though. 

ugg and leave extra time to go to the campus print shop, wait in line 20 minutes and pay 10 cents a page, no thanks. Not to mention the gross keyboards and mice there and how long it takes to get to your email on the Athlon 64 (single core variant) based pcs they make you use.

[R176]

Just now, revsilverspine said:

Everyone needs at least a B/W inkjet printer or MFD.

One word: convenience.

 

Just get a long USB cable (max 10m) and tuck it away somewhere easily accessible yet fairly hidden away (like a dresser you don't use or something)

I personally don't own a printer, the only time I've needed one in the last 7 or 8 years was once to print of resumes which I did at staples for like $2

[R176]

Just now, doomsriker said:

ugg and leave extra time to go to the campus print shop, wait in line 20 minutes and pay 10 cents a page, no thanks. Not to mention the gross keyboards and mice there and how long it takes to get to your email on the Athlon 64 (single core variant) based pcs they make you use.

Hahahah that's totally fair

[You_are_a_cunt]

2 minutes ago, R176 said:

I personally don't own a printer, the only time I've needed one in the last 7 or 8 years was once to print of resumes which I did at staples for like $2

Dayumn.

I print something every other day. Sometimes I run through an ink cartridge in less than a day <__<

 

To be fair I like having physical manuals for my stuff and I have a pretty hefty catalog of component datasheets and schematics

[doomsriker]

5 minutes ago, R176 said:

I personally don't own a printer, the only time I've needed one in the last 7 or 8 years was once to print of resumes which I did at staples for like $2

I probably use my printer once, maybe twice a week, but often enough that I need one. It is laser jet and a hand me down. But toner is like 10$ a cartridge and one cartridge lasts forever. I moved away from home last year and I have not replaced the toner since than. 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

I should really get a network printer at some point...  It's a hassle having it tethered to my system when it's the most unreliable of the lot. 

[Phate.exe]

Unless you count my 3D Printer, I haven't had a printer in years.  I've mostly just printed stuff off at work, and in a pinch I just printed stuff at the library.

[mapegl]

18 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

I should really get a network printer at some point...  It's a hassle having it tethered to my system when it's the most unreliable of the lot. 

Check if you can hook it up to your router. Before I had a printer with Wi-Fi, that was what I did

 

[LienusLateTips]

I have to pirate textbooks print stuff...

[79wjd]

37 minutes ago, doomsriker said:

ugg and leave extra time to go to the campus print shop, wait in line 20 minutes and pay 10 cents a page, no thanks. Not to mention the gross keyboards and mice there and how long it takes to get to your email on the Athlon 64 (single core variant) based pcs they make you use.

Go to a better school. 

 

There's no line, we get to print up to 500 pages a semester for 'free', and all the computers are 1240/1245 v2s.

 

I rarely ever use a printer and I can't be more happy about that fact; printers still suck and are always having problems. 

[doomsriker]

Just now, djdwosk97 said:

Go to a better school. 

 

There's no line, we get to print up to 500 pages a semester for 'free', and all the computers are 1240/1245v2s.

I'm not smart enough to go to a better school.

[dizmo]

I have a Samsung laser printer all in one deal. I needed to print out a invoices every time I went to the US, and for school work. They're insanely useful for other things though, like RMAs, etc. I think everyone should have a printer, they're not overly expensive these days. Though I do find myself using Staples now, since my printer is in storage.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

1 hour ago, JDE said:

I have to pirate textbooks print stuff...

Or just copy it to a tablet?

1 hour ago, mapegl said:

Check if you can hook it up to your router. Before I had a printer with Wi-Fi, that was what I did

I believe the router my ISP provided has its USB ports disabled. At least, that's what happened with the old one. Might be worth trying but the router has been relocated further away. 

[R176]

18 votes and it's only me that doesn't own a printer. I'm mildly surprised actually. 

[mapegl]

5 minutes ago, R176 said:

18 votes and it's only me that doesn't own a printer. I'm mildly surprised actually. 

Well I even have two in my household ;-)

My gf has a color inkjet and I have a bw laser. 

 

2 hours ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

 

I believe the router my ISP provided has its USB ports disabled. At least, that's what happened with the old one. Might be worth trying but the router has been relocated further away. 

You can get really cheap network adapter (they are called printer server) for about 25 bucks usually. Hook it up to a wired network and power and you can plug a usb cable in and make the printer available in your network. 

[scottyseng]

I had a Canon iP4600 that served me for nearly 7 years, but sadly broke down (There was a part that needed to be replaced but it was long out of stock). 

 

I currently own a Canon color laser, and I have to say, this thing is awesome. It shoots out pages and I haven't made a dent on the toner yet. I'd say I print roughly 500-1000 pages per year. I do invoices for my dad and print out school work / notes. 

 

My university also does the charge 10 cents per page thing (I think you get like 10 pages free a month, but I don't remember). I also hated how they wasted one page each time to print out a "print refund sheet". Also 1+ to the long lines. 

 

I also like the ability to calibrate my printer and care for it myself. 

 

I plan to get a 17" wide canon inkjet for posters soon as well. 

 

Finally, I feel weird, but I have my printer on my server rack (which has my PC / server on it as well)