Disposable tech?

Submitted by Rick on July 31, 2007 - 7:57pm.

Riding Shotgun with Rick

All-in-one printers have dropped so low in price the last couple of years that it poses a dilemma when the machine goes on the fritz. Decent all-in-ones can be found for right at $100 and some as low as $79. When one starts to malfunction, you need to really evaluate how much time and money is too much to spend on an inexpensive piece of equipment.

My thought is that if your printer cost around $100-125 new, I wouldn't spend more than 1/2 that amount to get it fixed. If you are under warranty, by all means push the manufacturer for a fix. But once it is out of warranty, think long and hard on how much time and money is too much for the printer.

It's hard to toss something that cost $100 and lasted only a year or tow, but when getting it fixed means that you spend that much money and a lot of time, the choice seems pretty clear.

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Replacing it is even a more

Submitted by Adam on July 31, 2007 - 8:38pm.

Replacing it is even a more obvious choice if one or more of the cartridges is at or near empty. Figure in $30+ for the cartridges plus repair and you will almost certainly spend more than the cost of a new one.