Do you own a printer at home? Why/why not?

[Knan10]

Undecided on whether I’d need a printer at home considering how everything is digital now.

Please answer only if your reason for a printer isn’t school/uni work

Thanks :)

Yes. I use it once a week or so, mostly to print return labels for online purchases or printing out a form. Also for scanning stuff. I find if I don't have one, I immediately need one!!

I keep it in the cupboard and it only comes out when being used. One ink cartridge lasts me 6+ months. I think it was £30 from Amazon Warehouse so it's worth the convenience for me.

We never had a printer at home till I retired (apologies to my former employer). It isn’t used very often. At the moment it is used to print out new recipes which are going into a Lockdown Recipe Scrapbook. I’m very techie but still prefer recipes in print and not on my iPad. Will the scrapbook become a family heirloom? My daughter has a new financial consultant and she had to print off some official documents and sign them . I wouldn’t like to be entirely without a printer at the moment.

Have one but I work from home normally however I'm not the only one to use it
Whole family print out forms to sign, paperwork to keep, homework , drawing, activity sheets, invites, photos etc
Ours is also a scanner which everyone uses too.

Yes

I bought it when I was travelling a lot & before you could do the boarding passes on your phone. (But I was still printing them anyway as I like to have the back up, just in case!)

I'm using it at the moment to print out Ocado orders as I'm splitting them over 3 households and it's easier than trying to do it from the email on my phone

It comes in handy for all manner of bits & pieces, but probably nothing that would make me go and buy one if I didn't already have one

I have one and love it! It also has a scanner. We use it for printing forms, photocopying, printing colouring stuff for the kids

We have one of those big A3 ones as OH has to print out his electrical system plans and A3 makes it more visible. I use it to print things occasionally, like my postal vote papers for instance. Its one that is a scanner and photocopier too so those are useful.

We’ve managed without for many years, although at times frustrating, but mostly been able to print the odd random document at work when needed. But we have one at the moment, an old one borrowed from work for lockdown (I had to buy ink for it), and it’s useful at the moment. Mostly stuff for the kids, but also would be useful for eg remortgage and at other times like that. Basically, with no access to office printer for the foreseeable having some way of printing is necessary

Everyone saying scanners are useful, have a look at Microsoft Lens. It’s a document scanner in app form (phone/tablet) and is really excellent. Don’t think I’ve scanned anything in the last couple of years!

Yes - for scanning important documents, printing out recipes. And although I have tickets and boarding passes on my phone I still like to print out hard copies in case of tech failure or low battery.

Yes wfh normally, get a HP one and sign up for Instant Ink it saves you a fortune.

I use it rarely but I have a printer / scanner / copie. I use it to print out forms that need a physical signature that I can then scan and send back, sometimes it is easier to print tickets out than rely on your phone.

Yes, I wouldn’t consider not having one. I don’t remember how long it is since we got our first one but it’s over 20 years. It’s mostly for work use but the DC use it a fair bit too even before the schools closed. I buy quilting and crochet patterns online and print them in colour as needed.

All printers are dicks, this one is probably one of the better ones but if you print more than five pages it starts shoving them onto the floor. Also the last time I updated my Mac it stopped connecting to the printer so I have to print from my phone instead. The ink costs a fortune and gets used up fairly quickly. DH is an ink-arsehole and never reorders in time so sometimes things print out a weird colour because one cartridge is completely empty. Because of where it’s positioned you can only see the screen from DH’s desk chair and he does 90% of the printing so I don’t know when we’re low.

Mostly for my business but I do also print recipes and stencils to use in my art projects.

I guess i got it for school work, used it for work, and now may well print off tickets, as a back up

i did used to book dm tickets for any travelling she did, she has no smart phone

I’ve always just printed the odd thing at work but obviously can’t right now.
I ordered one on the first day of lockdown in case we went along the same lines of France and needed documentation to leave the home.

i also use the scanning part occasionally

Yes - for very occasional printing e.g. I like to have a printed copy of boarding passes when we travel in case of technological glitches/stolen phones etc.

Being used a lot now due to lockdown!

My old printer was 10 years old. It very inconveniently died 3 weeks ago. I replaced it the same day (Argos collection point in Sainsbury's) and in the last 3 weeks it has been used for printing my speech for my DGM's funeral and printing interview prep notes for an upcoming virtual interview. We don't use it overly regularly, but definitely worth having one there when it's needed. C. £40 printer seems to last approx 10 years for us. We've just bought the same (newer) printer we already had.

Initially bought for college/uni. Now my daughter uses for her course, also to print if recipes, application forms, colouring pages

Yes, always have had for years and it gets used a bit.

Yes I do to print activities for DD (4), recipes, some literary extracts I find interesting and other bits of information that I might need to stick up at home or in a folder.

No and I miss it. I need so many things that are more important though - new hoover, replacement hand blender, new phone etc, that I can’t justify the expense. I miss one for returns labels, embroidery and other patterns, forms.

DC use it mainly for school, but also gets used for printing craft patterns, favourite recipes (to stick in my scrapbook), consent forms for DC activities etc. I don’t often scan, usually take a photo. So much is done online now, I use it a lot less than I used to.

I usually print stuff at work tbh (not at the moment though).

We own a printer, but apparently it's obsolete and you can't buy new ink for it. The reason we don't own a functioning printer is because DH hasn't bought one, possibly because he doesn't see the need. A printer would be really useful right now for printing out stuff for school and brownies and rainbows etc. The work for my Reception child in particular often needs printing.