Meet the New Printer, Same As the Old Printer

For most e-commerce businesses, a fast, cost effective and reliable printer is high on the list of top 10 pieces of equipment you need.

It certainly is for me, which is why I was sad when mine died at the start of Easter (marvellous timing !) I tried repairing it, but plastic tabs were breaking off all over the place, and I sadly came to the conclusion that even if the feed mechanism could be fixed, the plastic was too old. Possibly something to do with living in a computer desk where it gets a bit too hot every summer.

To be fair to the printer, it's had a hard life, doing a good couple of hundred pages or more every day of the week, year in year out.

So I went on eBay and bought a refurbished one exactly the same for £119.

Here it is in it's desk....

Photo by me

Yes, it's a Hewlett Packard P3015. The fourth one I've had. Awesome printers !

People ask why I want to buy a printer released over 15 years ago. The answer is simple; it just works ! These printers were made to be sturdy, simple, fast and reliable. Modern printers are often over-complex and are flimsy disposable items with expensive consumables.

By swapping in a direct replacement, I don't have to mess around configuring new printer drivers and editing the settings in all the software packages that send to the printer. Because I've got two of these things at any one time, when the one at the packing station wears out or breaks, I can carry the office one over and just plug it in to keep working. I only have to keep one type of toner cartridge in stock, and compatibles aren't expensive (it's way cheaper than inkjet ink !).

I was going to keep the broken one to salvage for parts, but I had to put it on the patio to make space for the new one, then we had a torrential downpour, so it's sitting there in disgrace. But it's printed hundreds of thousands of pages, and did an admirable job for many years, so I'm not too upset with it.

Photo by me

Also, yes I know I had to put the new one in the desk that made the plastic go brittle in the old one. It is strictly temporary - a new desk with better airflow should be arriving within the week !