Which is cheaper? Printer ink is pretty expensive, and printing out real long documents can drain it pretty fast. Anyone know which is the least expensive? Is using library printers worth it?

9 black and white pages cost me about .8$
Its about 10$ for a black cartridge, and that would mean I would need to print 100 pages to roughly be the same, and I'm sure I can get at least 150, I think.
(but I use it in conjunction to my colour cartridge costing 15$)

I BELIEVE it works out to be cheaper if you print at home.

Originally Posted by RyanC

9 black and white pages cost me about .8$
Its about 10$ for a black cartridge, and that would mean I would need to print 100 pages to roughly be the same, and I'm sure I can get at least 150, I think.
(but I use it in conjunction to my colour cartridge costing 15$)

I BELIEVE it works out to be cheaper if you print at home.

I also came to that conclusion.

My HP ink jet catridge costs about $28.50 with tax, and gets 200 pages per catridge, so that's around $0.14 a page, without considering paper. Guess Undercovers is better..

BestBuy's cheapest HP ink and paper come out to be about 8-9 cents.

Originally Posted by knox

My HP ink jet catridge costs about $28.50 with tax, and gets 200 pages per catridge, so that's around $0.14 a page, without considering paper. Guess Undercovers is better..

Why don't you just buy a cartridge re-filling kit? It's literally ink and a needle. Make sure the cartridge has the injection point on it though. It should be a hole with what looks to be a rubber object in the middle.

Originally Posted by jhan523

It should be a hole with what looks to be a rubber object in the middle.

That's what she said.

Originally Posted by bcars

That's what she said.

I knew someone was going to say something like that but I was too lazy to try and re-phrase >.>

Originally Posted by jhan523

I knew someone was going to say something like that but I was too lazy to try and re-phrase >.>

Shush, you're infringing on the awesomeness of that comment.

Print a lot = Own printer
Print a small amount = Library

I highly suggest reading my article here:
http://www.macinsiders.com/showthrea...5.html?t=18105

Quote:

if you live in residence you can always purchase your own printer and print directly in your room. This is the cheapest option since purchasing a package of paper and printing on your own isn't expensive, but you need to take into account the cost of purchasing the printer, and the cost for buying cartridges. I would highly recommend purchasing a laser printer because (a) unlike ink jet, laser printers allow you to highlight the print out without smudging - super useful when studying and you want to highlight passages, and (b) the cartridges last much longer and don't cost a fortune. I highly recommend purchasing a BROTHER Laser Printer from a computer store near campus called Tri-Star, located at 901 King Street West, 905-529-1811. While I can't say I've purchased a computer from them, I can say that I've purchased a laser printer from them and they have an amazing deal where you can purchase a brand new BROTHER laser printer for only approx. $80 and it comes with a factory-filled cartridge to get you started. It's an incredible deal because the printer itself is amazing and looks really slick, plus you get a cartridge to start out which prints thousands of pages before needing to be refilled. You can then go to CopyDog and get a new cartridge for a really low price.

I'm telling you... BEST PURCHASE CHOICE EVER.

This lazer printer prints black and white print outs (which is what 99% of reports/essays are at Mac) and lazer means the ink comes out perfect and doesn't smudge (like the printers in the library). Basically you have your own library printer. TriStar had them on sale when I went there for a super cheap $80 AND it came with a HALF FILLED toner cartridge. ONE cartridge prints 1000 pages or more, so already you get 500 pages INCLUDED in the price. That's SUPER good. Let me tell you... the toner cartridge that came with the unit lasted me for my entire third and fourth year at McMaster. Thats hundreds of print outs of essays and assignments for two whole years without needing a refill.

Regular price for these types of printer is $150-200

Then you can go to Copy Dog located downtown in Hamilton to get a very very cheap toner refill which will print 1000-2000 pages. Print outs cost pennies on this thing.

The printer looks like this.... super slick looking and very fast Not sure if they still have them, but no harm checking! Tri-Star is just a few minutes away from Mac on the bus route.

If anyone goes, let me know if you find one!

Thanks for the heads up.

I've tried both.. but with the amount of lecture notes I have to print out and such, I realized it's much cheaper to print out at home and re-fill the cartridge instead of buying a new one.. Works out well !

I have this printer myself. Its the Brother 5250DN. With a high capacity TONER cartridge I get about 7500 pages. That equates to about 1c/page. Plus cost of paper.

Home printing is WAY more efficient and convenient.