Weighing cost against the amount of use you can get from a printer is more important now that the economy is hurting. Although prices have come down considerably for printers, you still want to get your moneys worth when you make a purchase. There are ways to make your laser printer more cost effective, and most of them are just a matter of changing habits.
Refill laser toner - Ink cartridges can be refilled 3-4 times before the cartridge needs to be discarded. You can save a lot of money by refilling the cartridges. If you do not do this, you could be spending money on a brand new cartridge (and they are not cheap) every time you run out of one colour. This is, of course, unless your printer has cartridges for each colour. Even then, refilling them is cheaper than replacing them.
Laser printer maintenance - Keep your printer in top condition by keeping it clean and in good repair. If you spot a small problem, get it fixed before it becomes a big problem. Properly maintain the inside of the printer and clean the cartridges for best results.
Use the right paper - Before you even choose a laser printer, you should see what the specifics are for paper weight. Many times a printer will wear out early due to improperly using weights of paper for which it was not intended. There is generally a pretty wide range of paper stock that the printer will accommodate, but be sure to check and make sure you are not overloading it.
Time is money - If you use more than one computer, you may want to consider going wireless and putting the printer in a central location so everyone can access it. That way, the printer is available to everyone when they need it which means everyone saves time. Also on the matter of time, consider how fast the printer can print and how fast you need it to print. If you are overloading it, it will wear out faster. Printers are designed for specific purposes. If you buy yours for home use, then use it to print large documents on a regular basis, it will wear out faster than if you buy a printer specifically for large printing jobs.
Don't let the ink dry - Many times, if you let a printer sit too long without using it, the ink will dry on the cartridges which causes clogging. If this happens, you will need to clean the printer and replace the toner cartridge. Print something (colour) at least every other day to keep the ink from drying.
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