Should You Buy a New Printer? Maybe Not

A printer is one of the most important components of your office. In an increasingly digital world where almost everything is done on a personal computer, tablet or SmartPhone, a printer is needed to produce hard copies of documents created and to print out records or information that you need to keep.

Since having a good printer is so important, many people wonder whether it is time to buy a new printer or whether they should keep their old ones. While there may be some legitimate reasons to make the purchase of a new printer if your existing machine is very old or if it is not working correctly any more, there are for many users a lot more reasons to keep their existing printer than there are reasons to get rid of it and get a new one.

While each person and business’ situation is different, here are a few key reasons why it may make sense to keep your existing printer:

Keeping your existing printer allows you to avoid a learning curve. There are a lot of things that you need to learn how to do when using a printer. You need to know how to send documents to the printer; what settings to choose to ensure that your print comes out right; and what the lights on the printer mean that indicate there may be a problem. You also need to know how to load paper, how to deal with any paper jams that might occur, and how to change the ink in your printer. If you have already had your printer for a while, you know all of these things already and your printer should be simple and easy to use. If you upgrade to a new model of a printer instead, then you could have to relearn how to use the printer all over again. This is a waste of time and can make you less productive.

Keeping your existing printer allows you to avoid having to hook up and install a new printer. When you have a printer, you need to make sure that the printer can communicate with all of your difference devices including your computers, tablets and phone. If your printer is a wireless printer, then you need to ensure it can connect effectively to your WiFi connection so it can be accessed wirelessly from different devices such as tablets that don’t have a hardline hookup for printing. There is a lot of configuring that needs to be done, including installing the printer and drivers on your computer. If you aren’t an IT expert, getting your printer set up can be really confusing and may be impossible without calling or bringing in outside tech support. The process of getting everything running is a waste of time unless you absolutely need to replace the existing printer that you already have hooked up and working.

Buying new ink doesn’t have to be expensive. HP 2600n toner can be ordered easily online, for example, and you should be able to conduct a quick search to find affordable replacement ink for any printer model that you have. In fact, it may be easier to find affordable ink for older printers than for brand new ones since older printers have been out for a while, are used by more people and more ink has been manufactured and sold to retail outlets for you to buy.

Printer technology doesn’t change or advance all that much. Unlike computers, which can significantly change from one model to the next and which can become obsolete quickly, printer technology hasn’t really changed all that much in recent years and is not likely to go through too many dramatic shifts or changes in the upcoming future (unless we’re talking 3D printers, of course). If printer technology doesn’t change dramatically, upgrading your printer to a newer model is going to have a marginal increase in utility at best and you may not actually get any new features from your new printer that you will use. There’s no reason to waste time, money and energy to upgrade a printer when you aren’t really going to get a tangible benefit out of doing so.

All of these are key reasons why you may just want to keep the existing printer that you have. Still think you might want to purchase a new printer? Make sure you understand what’s out there first!

Fred Gandy is a lifelong writer who is obsessed with technology. However, he’s also set on making smart financial decisions when making technological purchases. Read his articles to make sure you are getting the most bang for your buck.