Proud Owner Of My First Printer … Silly I Know

This must be one of the silliest blogs I have penned, I know. But I am so excited by this new toy I bought weeks ago. As in why it was in a box for weeks … oh well, since when we buy things that we really need and instead, we buy things that we spontaneously want? The irony is, it is not at all a spontaneous affair. I have been toying with the idea of having a printer of my own for years if not a decade. So what held me back?

To cut a long story not so long, there were many questions in my head. Like, why do I need a printer for? Where am I going to put my printer (space constraint in my humble apartment)? And can I afford one (I always have this impression that it is really expensive to own a printer together with the running cost)?

I know why I need a printer. Mainly to print out the music scores of the songs I have written. It is not a lot really (about 10 to 20 songs a year) and I usually have the revisions handwritten onto the piece of score printout itself. Now that my band is getting more serious in working towards performing live, my band mates need the songs to be properly transcribed in large font formats (like this). And because the fonts are so big, each song is fitted into two pages. Since song revision is an ongoing process, all of a sudden, I have a strong case to need a printer. Besides, it is always nice to re-print my own song scores in a fresh piece of paper together with the recent revisions. As I have imagined, once I have a printer, there would be a whole lot of stuffs that are nice to be printed. Like my work-in-progress novel and some of the random materials from the Internet like maps.

Once I have established the case, it was time for some research on pricing. Between an ink-jet and a laser printer, it was a no-brainer for me. Having the need to constantly print something over the 6 months duration in order to keep the head of the ink-jet printer moist and the need to change the ink cartridge every 100 pages or 6 months whichever is sooner? By the time I print a stack of my songs for my guitarist and another stack for my bassist, my ink cartridge would have been half gone. And I love the outcome of a laser printer. The only problem with laser printers is size. So, a color laser printer is out and so are those that come with a scanner. Give and take I guess.

Initially I was fixated on getting an entry level of HP laser black and white printer that is sold for S$250 with a complimentary S$50 cashcard. I always thought that printers are astronomically expensive but S$200 is kind of attractive.

After a rather long chat at PK Computer, a computer shop at Funan …

Me: … I don’t know if I shall buy it here. If I go up to Challenger, there is a S$20 discount for members (Okay, I lied … I am not a member).
Sales assistance: How about I suggest another model that is more value for money?
Me: (Showing interesting) … Hmmm … what do you have for me?
He: You may want to consider this Canon printer … (and then all the sales pitch).

Turned out that a Canon printer with a slightly better stats cost only S$229 before a cash rebate of S$70 directly from Canon. Now, that is what I call … not bad! A laser printer from a reputed brand for S$159.

Still, I was not satisfied.

Me: Erm … you know, this brand is new to me and I haven’t done any price research yet …
He: Sir, this price is already very good! We even absorb the 2% increase in GST. This promotion only last till National Day!
Me: I know … hmmm … I like doing business with you. What’s your name?
He: XYZ (I seriously cannot remember his name right now) … (and he continued to do his sales pitch).
Me: Okay, XYZ. My legs are tired and I really don’t feel like walking around no more. Give me a good price and I will grab one.
He: (Not moving the price on the ground that it was a promotion item)
Me: (Not taking out my wallet on the ground that I must get a discount)

In the end, he gave me a S$4 discount, which is not bad. It did cover the car parking fee and more.

I chose a Canon because its toner is 10% cheaper than the ones from HP. At home, I did a calculation. Each toner cartridge cost S$95 (before I bargain it down of course) that can print 2,000 to 3,000 pages. Say I am sensible in what I print and taking the mid point as an estimate … cost per page for toner alone is 3.8 cents.

As for the paper, there are two types – the 70 grams and 80 grams. The 70 grams type cost 10% cheaper than the 80 grams type. However, I love the feel of the 80 grams type. I choose Double A brand almost without a thought – the power of advertisement eh?

To buy a stack of Double A paper (500 pieces) in Raffle Place is S$5. And you would have thought that since Raffle Place has so many people, so many shops to compete against each other, the price must be the lowest eh? Funan actually sells the same stack of paper at S$4.65. That is a 7% difference – enough to cover GST. So, one day during lunch, I walked from Raffle Place to Funan to buy a stack of Double A only to find that I was stuck in that area because of the rain. Oh well, I have to pay for a train trip to return to office area. The moral of the story? Go figure out … ha ha ha.

Okay … back to the running cost … so far we have:

Cost per page = 3.8 cents (tonner) + 0.93 cents (80 grams paper) = 4.73 cents

Since the printer comes with a toner cartridge (half) and if I am going to keep it for 5 years, the yearly cost of the printer is roughly S$20. Judging at my usage, I reckon the cost is in the region of 5 cents per page.

I know it is silly. But it is always good to know.