Engineering a purchase

When our printer gave out last year I decided that we needed two printers to replace it -- a color ink jet for my wife's photo printouts and the occasional need for color projects, etc and a laser for the bulk of our printing. Despite my proclivity for all things technical, I still like to read things in print. It's more portable and I think easier on the eyes.

I know that most manufactures enclose starter cartridges with the printers when they sell them. They give you enough to get started right away, but not so much that you can go too long before needing to pay up for their over-priced toner (or ink). When I bought our printers this time, specifically the ink jet, the "thirsty-factor" played a big part in my decision. Other than quality of output, this is the most important thing when choosing a printer in my mind. For the laser, this was less of a factor for me for some reason.

We're just now running out of ink for the ink jet after a marathon photo-printing session my wife made in preparation for a retreat she's attending this weekend. The laser is a different story...

Almost a month ago, during one of my marathon printing sessions, I picked up the stack of papers and realised that about halfway through the output, the printer had begun leaving a white streak down the center of the papers. No fear. After finding the websites again that I had been printing, I simply removed the cartridge, shook it good, rolled it around a few times, re-inserted it back in the printer, and re-printed the pages that were at issue. The printer had no issue printing clean, crisp output this time.

Several weeks, and about 100 pages went by without incident. Then I started to notice faded output. I repeated the steps from before (remove, roll, shake, re-insert) and went back to work. Again perfect output. Several weeks have once again gone by without issue.

I have the new cartridge sitting by the printer for when it really gives out, but had I, like I assume most people would, replaced the cartridge when it first started failing, it would certainly cost a lot more in toner each year -- money that no one can afford to toss out the window nowadays.

I've not had the same luck extending the life of ink jet cartridges, but I think I'm finally gonna try one of the refill services this time. It used to be, through a lot of successful OEM propaganda I'm sure, that I was afraid of damaging the print heads by using non-OEM inks. Now, printers have gotten so cheap that even if I do completely wreck the heads, the money saved on the ink will make up for it.

Try extending the life of your toner, and pocketbook, not to mention the environment...

BUT... when you're ready to purchase new toner/ink, use the link on the right side of A World Discovered and shop at Amazon to save!

Also, remember that most schools and other non-profit organizations (churches, clubs, etc) collect used toner and ink cartridges for recycling and to earn a few dollars. Take your empties where they'll do some good if you're not gonna refill them.