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Comment by dicriseg | Hacker News Reader

I haven’t. I have a Brother laser printer that’s probably 10 years old now, if not closer to 15. I don’t use it frequently, but it comes in handy occasionally. My wife prints a little more than I do. Toner is cheap and lasts forever. I think I’ve been through 4-5 toner carts and 1 drum replacement.

If it died, I’d get another. As infrequently as I use one, when you need it it’s nice to have.

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Ditto. Our Brother laser printer gets used primarily to print package labels for e-commerce returns. Secondarily, for forms required to interact with certain bureaucratic entities (paper is either required or easier than dealing with a crap website; also sometimes it's useful to print blank forms for drafts).

Almost all of what we print is either outbound or transient (and shredded once its immediate purpose is fulfilled). 99% of what needs to be preserved long-term gets scanned (and shredded).

The above has been our operating mode for at least 10 years.

Agreed on all points and to add for people who use inkjet style printers: stop. Switch to a low cost black and white laser printer. Unbelievably fast printing, toner never dries out like ink does, printer doesn’t have to dance for 30 seconds before it can print, toner last forever compared to ink.

Even going for a color laser printer isn’t really cost prohibitive any more for anyone with an average income. The Brother entry model is $300 or so and you can use it basically forever.

I say this because I had only b/w for years before finally getting annoyed enough that I upgraded to the color variant.

The only negative is that the thing is so ridiculously big (compared to inkjet or b/w laser).

I also have a brother laser printer. I bought it used in 2011. Brother laser printers from that era are alright. It got used this morning.

It just occurred to me that the other brother printer I bought in like 2004 is still in use at my parents house. These things are tanks.

3rd testimonial in support. 2016? changed toner once. In a world of devices that need constant care and feeding, this one Just Works.

Same here, we bought a Brother color laser printer around when my partner started grad school. Since then it's been through a few of the high yield toner cartridges without a problem.

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