Fast forward another 30 years and it is now possible to buy a DISPOSABLE laser printer. Well not quite, as in it is not exactly designed to be disposable, but to all intents and purposes it might as well be. The printer in question is the Aficio SP100e from Ricoh, the world's largest photocopier company. Amazingly, it can be purchased for just £24.00 including P&P from Dabs Online (or £24.96 from their ebay outlet). Okay, it's not the world's greatest laser printer and the paper tray only holds 50 pages, but it is small and compact and provided you're not printing more than a few hundred pages a month is good enough for many people.
It comes with the all important toner cartridge, but here is the catch. As with most printers, it is a 'starter' cartridge. Ricoh rate it as good for 500 pages; obviously it depends on what you are printing but many people find they only get about 300 pages. To buy a full cartridge, rated for 1200 pages, costs in the order of £60-£80. They are not that easy to find and, as yet, nobody is offering cheaper refilled or third party cartridges.
So, here is the dilemma. Do you buy one of these printers and when it runs out try and find a toner cartridge that will cost 2 or 3 times what you paid for the printer? Or do you just throw it away and buy another printer? Another strategy might be just to buy a couple of the printers to begin with, thereby giving you an instant spare!
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