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, (we have two) I print quite a lot of things, I am on various committees and we still keep printed copies of minutes etc (maybe that is old fashioned? .

I even typed a proper letter the other other day and printed it out and posted it rather than just send an email.

I prefer hard copies of tickets etc rather than just having things on my phone. But I admit that most technology is a nightmare to me and I stick to systems I understand best.

We have two. The first was a bit temperamental (we still have it but it doesn't get used much) and we bought the second last year because I'm a post grad student and I struggle with some of the digitised medieval texts I need to read on screen.
However, we use it for so much. Recipes, forms, things to help DC schooling (absolutely worth its weight in gold now) and documents for insurance and things. Sometimes pictures and family tree stuff and I also used it quite a lot for work (am a teacher) which helped me manage my workload
We signed up for Instant Ink. It's great. It monitors your ink usage and sends you replacement ink before your cartridges run out - it's a monthly fee and it works out about 70% cheaper than buying it normally.
Also it's a smart printer that's connected to Alexa, but that's just a bonus. 😂

@Flamingolingo thank you for Microsoft Lens recommendation, I've just installed that on my iPhone. Much better than trying to take a photo of a document!

We all use it for so much beyond any work/school work - letter writing, photocopying, recipes, kids' stuff - the kids laptops are hooked up to it so they print things off, posters etc., I'd be lost without it!

I've also downloaded microsoft lens. I had some other scanner app years ago, but lost it when changing phones and was thinking about finding another one as I don't have a scanner and would rather keep things simple, hence the use of a decent cheapish mono laser printer.

Most people can easily manage without a scanner at home, just by taking photos of whatever they need to scan, but an app improves the quality and can recognise text in documents.

I used the printer loads when DD was doing GCSEs and A levels.

BarbaraofSeville I find it easier to keep scanned documents on my laptop so that I can find them more easily. I have lots of paperwork relating to an ongoing house sale, student finance, medical stuff etc. It also serves as a back up in case said documents get mislaid.

We have, DH uses it a lot to print out map pages for walking and cycling routes, I use it for recipes mainly and holiday documentation. Its an Epson one from about 2014 and uses very cheap ink from Amazon without too much fuss, I have just had to purchase a lead for it though because the AirPrint from my iMac has suddenly stopped working on it

@EatsShootsAndRuns no worries - it’s great, I use it all the time!

Thank you for the recommendation for Microsoft Lens, very useful.

I avoid paper as far as possible and have found a silver lining of these unprecedented days ever more people accepting soft copies. I was an early adopter of airplane e-ticket / boarding cards.

We use DocuSign at work but our family lawyer needed some papers signed recently. I found the service at Prontaprint brilliant, all socially distant: they printed, handed out the papers to me to sign and then scanned the signed versions too.

For several years now, the external cost per copy has worked out to be less than keeping a printer around from one year to the next just in case. Saves a lot of space around my desk, too.

Yes but it ran out of ink and we haven't restocked.

It's useful for printing off delivery labels when needed and things like boarding cards as I worry my phone will die.