There are no shortage of articles and blog posts that rail about the planned obsolescence of inkjet printers. This is likely not a new argument to anyone, but having enjoyed the same printer for so many years, I am struggling to let go of my printer now that it is experiencing issues.
How this affects me:
Now that I have a printer issue, I had to take the time to actually read and learn the challenges people are actually having with their devices. Although I want to continue with my state of denial, I am finding the evidence overwhelming that the inkjet printer industry really is selling an expensive device at cost (or less) in order to hook the consumer on ink prices. There is no where this is more evident than HP’s practice of “protecting” consumers by restricting their devices to block functionality when attempting to use a 3rd-party ink cartridge.
One factor that the printer manufacturer’s likely don’t worry about is the extremely low resale value of their hardware. It’s so low in fact, that I received this printer for free from a local buy-nothing group. And upon request, I received a second spare printer for free from that same group as a replacement for this first one. This second printer was given away because the owner was disinterested in paying for more ink. This printer would be sufficient to get me by, but it lacked duplex scanning, which I have come to appreciate beyond words.
Even if I felt I had a compelling reason to buy a $500 printer, I have to ask would I ever go with another inkjet? I have a solid appreciation for the environment and I wanted to ask which is actually more damaging? After all, the LaserJet is just melting powdered plastic to paper. But the inkjet has a cartridge that needs to be responsibly recycled, or is just a large mass of plastic in the ground. Not to mention the leftover ink going into the water table. Which is least impactful to the environment for the life of the printer?
And then I wanted to ask, what is the expected lifespan of the printer? The previous device I had reached 7 years before it had any issue. It worked with non-HP cartridges and was great. Would it not be more waste for me to toss an entire printer just because the printhead wasn’t functioning? Turns out getting a used printhead was a worthless endeavor. Maybe it’s the printer cartridges? I do hear a scraping wound when I insert them.
So now I have a broken printer, a used printer without ink, and a strong desire for a new printer with duplex scanning.
- Fix existing printer: $280 for a new printhead, $80 for HP-branded ink (just to rule that out)
- Ink for “new” replacement printer – $36 (HP-branded of course)
- Completely new printer that matches 1:1 my actual requirements for a device – $500
A new printer would be close to $500 minimum. I have decided I do not have a $500 printing or scanning problem.
How this affects you:
You are probably going to find a need for a new printer at some time in your personal or professional life. When you do, what should you ask yourself when replacing your inkjet printer?
* How much does a new printer with a direct replacement of features cost?
* What’s the lifespan of the new printer?
* Potential damage to the environment during lifecycle of a printer, including scrapping the non-functional printer?
* Can you get a good enough replacement for next to free through a buy-nothing group?
* How much is your time worth trying to fix it, knowing it’s likely cheaper to buy a new one?
My target audience for this is not the tech-saavy, rather its my family and friends that can benefit from me sharing my knowledge.
Direct feature parity cost
The end result is that planned obsolescence is a reality, and the price of fixing a device like a printer is frequently more than buying a newer and more updated product. I recommend you try to find a new printer for free on your local buy-nothing group. If you can’t get a suitable replacement, or have a specific requirement (like my need for duplex scanning) then you probably need to buy a new printer.
Lifespan
When deciding on which printer to get, remember that the lifespan of a printer will likely be less than 10 years. Buying a higher-end printer could be another example of the Commander Vimes economic boots theory.
Environmental impact
In 10 years how many cartridge replacements will you produce? How much e-waste is going back into the world when you buy a replacement printer? What kind of printer would you buy this time? Inkjets use far less power than a laser printer, so if your power source is clean and renewable energy, perhaps a laser printer makes more sense. The toner cartridges last longer than inkjets. But then again, laser printers are melting plastic with every glorious sheet.
Good enough replacement
Have you considered how much you actually print (or scan), and whether the monetary impacts is worth the cost to buy a new printer? If you amortize that capital cost over the lifespan of the printer, do you really have a printing problem that is worth that much to solve? Would you really pay $100 year for five years to get a new printer, or would free be a better deal. This seems related to the Endowment Effect that Two Cents described using Pokemon cards.
How much is your time worth trying to fix it?
Another example of the endowment effect, how much would you spend on paying someone to repair the printer? What if you could repair the printer for free, but it will take you a total of 4 hours? What if it took you 10 hours, or 20? Would it still be worth it? In my own personal example, the cost for just the parts to fix the printer was estimated to be $280. After I spent several hours watching YouTube University, I was at risk of sunk-cost bias, and could easily spend days or weeks *and* hundreds of dollars trying to fix something.
I do highly recommend everyone at least try to diagnose what is wrong with their printer before making a decision. Look at the specific error message the printer displays and visit the vendor recommendations. Then try to Google search the that error message for 3rd-party recommendations. You can try to access any hidden service menus and try factory resets, or follow basic guides on YouTube. If you haven’t been successful within the first hour or two, likely by the end of your repair experience, you’re going to spend time in money than buying a new printer.
Inevitably, I wish you luck. If you know me or want to ask a question feel free to reach out!