'Changing my printing habits'
Stephen R. Kayara said he prints information like his tax returns, airline tickets, travel reservations, letters and store coupons.

Jay Gorman is printing away, “but also changing my printing habits. I am still using an approximately 8-year-old Epson color inkjet printer, so old there is not even a USB port on it.

“With three kids, printing will always be an issue,” hesaid in an e-mail. “With the costs of cartridges, I've gone from full color to draft mode black-and-white unless needed for a report.”

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Gorman said he has been searching for a home color laser printer for a few months now, but has yet to find “the perfect fit” in terms of “initial cost versus features versus toner cost/life. In time, I will change over, but for now I will need to stay with what I have, cutting down even more if needed.”

Dorian Ford, of Sacramento is printing “about the same amount as last year, but somewhat more than five years ago, because I now have a better (laser) printer.

“As an archaeologist, I print site reports and other material of an archaeological relevance. I am also a role-playing gamer, and I print character sheets and other materials for the games I run,” Ford e-mailed.

Ted Stedman, a photographer, e-mailed to ask whether lasers are as good for photo printing as inkjets.

“Photos still come out a little bit better on an inkjet than a laser, because inkjets (show) more color variations and grays then a laser,” said Ken Colby, Samsung senior product manager for office automation.

“But for most photo requirements, or most business applications or most newsletters, laser is going to do the same quality as an inkjet will do.”

Don Heath switched to laser about two years ago. “One thing not mentioned in your article was that inkjet cartridges dry out if not used regularly,” he e-mailed. “I replaced my old Epson inkjet with an HP color laser … because I was wasting more ink than I was using. Toner cartridges don't dry out. I am still on my original four cartridges (black, cyan, magenta, blue).”

Oldies but goodies
Tom Nielsen — “call me frugal” — e-mailed “there’s no need to run out to buy the latest and greatest hardware. We bought a brand new HP LaserJet in 1992 for $1,500 for my wife’s office. The printer is now our home laser printer, and has been rock-solid. We had to replace the fuser after 80,000 pages about four years ago and it’s still going strong.”

And, adding more testimony to the lifespan of some laser printers, Shane Monsees, 26, of San Diego, said he has had the same laser printer since 1991.

“My parents bought it for me when I was in middle school with my first computer,” he said in an e-mail. “They had to save for almost a year to get me the technology that I needed for the schooling I was taking … I still have the printer to this day and it is running strong,” with almost 2 million pages to its credit.

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“I have never had it serviced, but I have had to clean it a couple of times,” he wrote. “I can't say enough good things about laser printers and their wide range of uses in our home.

"My wife, who is finishing her master’s, has always had her professors comment on how when they highlight on her papers, that it doesn't run and they ask her how she does it. They always think that she has had them professionally printed, but it’s just my lovely 17-year-old printer.”

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