Printers

Hey, I know this is a really random question but do you think it's a good idea to buy a printer for your room at uni or use one's in the library?
Also, if I do need to buy one should I get:

Just a plain printer
Scanner/Coppier and printer?

TIA xx

Reply 1

TurnipHead

Well definitely get a printer cos it means you can print out that essay you waited until 3am the morning of hand in to finish.

On the all in one printer... depends on your needs. I myself only needed a photocopier once last year and i was in the library anyway. But if its not gonna break the bank why not?

Reply 2

La Trampa

18

nah not needed i don't think. if you plan well (or don't) there are loads of places to get your printing done.so don't worry about it. my friends had theirs in their rooms and never needed it. ever. they always went to the library :p:

Reply 3

blone_bomb

You can manage fine without. But if your doing an art subject they are real lifesavers for essays. If you stay up til 3/4/5am doing an essay you dont wanna have to get up again to find a printer and get it handed in before 9am. Iv photocopyed about 1 thing the whole year.

Reply 4

dans

12

Does it cost to print in the library?

Reply 5

La Trampa

18

you don't need a printer, libraries are open mostly 24/7 or you can get there at half 8 if you have to hand in an essay for 9am. tis been done before and doesn't kill you. :smile:

it costs to print in the library, can't remember how much it is, but it does go a long way. also try to find out if your department gives you free print credit. for example in psychology, we're allowed 100 free prints per year and any extra is carried over to the next year.

Reply 6

giraffehaveabath

Yeah, I just use the uni's printers. Computer Science is separate from IS though so I don't know how similar they are, but with us it's 3p a sheet, meaning that if you print double sided then you effectively get twice as much for your money. Is that the same? I think I spent £20 over the year on printer credits, and I printed out every set of lecture notes for all of my modules, as well as coursework descriptions, a few papers, blah blah. Goes far.

Reply 7

hereistheguy

OP

Hmm well I looked at them today on my lunch break and think im gonna get one! you can get all in one's for about £30-£60so it's not much for the convenience of just in case. Plus with book extracts I like to copy them sometimes and highlight vocab etc. :cool:

lol

Reply 8

blone_bomb

Just a tip, but try and get one with cheaper cartridges, worth paying a bit extra for if need be.

Reply 9

GYinWL

9

Yeah my current all-in-one from Lexmark doesn't seem to want to take the paper from the tray for whatever reason so I'm going to get a new one in time for September.

Had a look today and I found an all-in-one from Kodak for £140 which is expensive I know but the black cartridges are only £10 which is a hell of lot cheaper than the £20 cartridges I bought for my current printer. Have a look:

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=10586&ekreferrer=aff_cj&pq-locale=en_GB

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/printers/0,39030163,49291547,00.htm

Reply 10

alex-hs

16

giraffehaveabath

Yeah, I just use the uni's printers. Computer Science is separate from IS though so I don't know how similar they are, but with us it's 3p a sheet, meaning that if you print double sided then you effectively get twice as much for your money. Is that the same? I think I spent £20 over the year on printer credits, and I printed out every set of lecture notes for all of my modules, as well as coursework descriptions, a few papers, blah blah. Goes far.

IS charges 6p a side. I once tried printing double sided in George Green library to save paper, but for twice the price and half the paper I thought balls to that.

Reply 11

dans

12

What is this abbreviation 'IS' that I have seen a few times? sorry if this seems to be a bit dim!!

Reply 12

alex-hs

16

Information Services. It's the department that runs the university network, and the libraries, and that sort of thing.

Reply 13

sssh

10

I got an all-in-one printer/scanner/copier for Christmas, because at £40, it was only £10 more expensive than an HP printer. I asked for it for Christmas because I was so sick of not being able to print things out in my room, and having to take my memory stick to and from the uni computer rooms - especially stressful when you're handing in last-minute essays!

I use the scanner mostly for scanning drawings and images into the computer to make posters and artworks, completely unrelated to my course, but it's also useful because it'll read the text of what you scan when scanning a document. I don't do this as often. I don't know if there are many scanners around the uni available to use - my architect friends used mine a few times, so I'm guessing not - and if you can find an all-in-one as cheap as mine then I'd say to get it anyway.

It's not a stupid question - I wish I'd asked before going to uni, because then I'd have known how handy it is and got one earlier.

Reply 14

fragile_halo

sssh

and if you can find an all-in-one as cheap as mine then I'd say to get it anyway.

HP 3 in 1 printer for £29.99 @ currys F380 or lexmark X1270, hope that helps.

Reply 15

hereistheguy

OP

yeh some of them are really cheap :smile:

Gonna get my dad to get me it as part of my birthday present (Birthday is on the first day of uni! lol - well I suppose the second but meh 24th!)

Reply 16

GYinWL

9

Guys, you have to remember that even though the printer might be cheap, the ink cartidges might be ridiculously expensive. That's how these companies get your money. So if you want to buy a really cheap all-in-one, check how much the replacement ink cartridges cost, especially the black cartridges. Cheap black cartidges would cost about £8-10.

Reply 17

GYinWL

9

Update: I just got this printer from PC World for £100: http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/041725

Replacement black ink cartridges are £12

The print quality is excellent, as is the software to scan and copy documents (very easy to use)

Reply 18

sssh

10

geoff_yin

Guys, you have to remember that even though the printer might be cheap, the ink cartidges might be ridiculously expensive. That's how these companies get your money. So if you want to buy a really cheap all-in-one, check how much the replacement ink cartridges cost, especially the black cartridges. Cheap black cartidges would cost about £8-10.

I did think about this, but I don't think my cartridges are cripplingly expensive. If they were, I would have bought a more expensive printer. I think black ones cost something like £12-14, but I haven't had to change one yet. This is definitely something to keep in mind while shopping for a printer though, thanks for pointing it out.

Reply 19

patrick89

Definitely a good idea to get one, trying to find a printer that works on deadline day is definitely not worth the stress. I don't even wanna know how many marks i've lost over the past two years by handing stuff in late! I'm looking for a cheap one at the moment.

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