Cut. Print.

20 December 2008 386 views 4 Comments

Starstuff got herself a new printer! Yes, believe it or not, even thought I try as hard as I can not to use any paper or only when it is absolutely necessary, I have the occasional need to print something (and you can’t always do it at work).

Getting new toner cartridge for my old B/W laser printer would have cost me around 60 Euros. The new color laser printer cost me 124 Euros (arm ache included) + 3 Euros for an USB cable (why don’t they supply that, really?). The best thing is that the new cartridges will only cost me about 35 Euros, so it’s a win situation in the long run as well.

Once more, Cyberport surprised me with their fast service. I ordered around noon on Friday and they promised the printer would be in the store, ready for me to pick it up, by Monday. Last night I got an email around 8pm telling me the printer was in the store and I could pick it up the next day. Wow!

So, once I got up this morning I went straight to the shop and got the printer. I think it was only the excitement which helped me carry that huge, heavy (11kg, about 22 pounds) box to the bus stop. Three minutes walk might not sound like a lot, but if you carry a bulky box, your hands are cold in the rain and wind (no gloves because then you can’t hold on to the box) and no handles on the darn box – let me tell you, that really complicates things. I can’t remember the last time my biceps hurt that much.

But now it’s standing behind me. I contemplated for a while what I should print first and I decided to follow Jarsto’s footsteps and print my NaNoWriMo novel. I don’t like screen reading very much and holding it in my hands while I go through it, revisioning, appeals to me much more. Now I will try out the most amazing feature of my new printer: manual duplex. No need to waste more paper than is necessary :)

Addendum 1: I forgot how much trouble I have always had with manual duplexing. I somehow can’t get my mind around the exact procedure, especially which side of the paper has to face up (the clear one, with this printer), and how to best proceed when reversing the print order (I usually do a test print of the last page to see if everything works and then it takes me forever to figure out how to go from there).

Addendum 2: When printing 261 pages, it might be a good idea to actually use page numbers! *note to self not to forget that the next time*

4 Comments »

AgentSmith said:

Wow, color laser printers are sexy. Want one, too. Let’s see what Santa’s going to bring for myself. ;)

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Starstuff Reply:
December 20th, 2008 at 7:07 pm

Not only are they sexy. they also stink! At least when you print more than 20 or 30 pages. Had to keep the balkony door open for half an our to get the ozone stench out of the room :?

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# 20 December 2008 at 6:52 pm

klti said:

You’re ahead of me on that part, I’m printerless since finishing my thesis (btw, printing many pages with manual duplex really sucks on a printer that occasionally grabs 2 pages at once, I think I killed a small forest for that “masterpiece” of science),so far I never felt the urgent need. But something tells me I will not get around that forever.

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Starstuff Reply:
December 20th, 2008 at 8:36 pm

I am actually quite happy now. After staring at the printer for about a minute and concentrating really hard, I managed to put the paper in the right way and I chose the right printer settings … voila! Complete novel printed :)

BTW, it’s a Samsung CLP 135, currently offered at a great price and the refill cartridges aren’t that bad either. Now, if I could just find out how to push the paper tray in further, I’d be completely satisfied.

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# 20 December 2008 at 8:27 pm