What happens when your ink dries up
Students can use printers on campus to save some money
Tara Bannow
Issue date: 10/1/07 Section: Money/Health
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"If you own your own, you don't have to go downstairs (in the dorms) and deal with the other people in line," Padrnos said. But, from a cost perspective it's less beneficial to have your own printer.
"Right now all I'm paying for is paper," he said.
Most college students must decide whether to purchase their own printer or use the printers their university offers - a decision with both pros and cons.
"I guess it depends on how much (the students) need to print," said Rick Insteness, a Learning Technology Services employee who is responsible for printer maintenance on campus. "Off campus, if five or six students live there, it would be really beneficial to hook up one and have everyone use it.
Insteness cited money as a powerful factor in making this decision.
"If they're broke, it's obviously way more beneficial to use the school's printers," he said. "If they've got extra money, it's more of a convenience. You don't have to wait in line for a lab or look for a lab that's not full. Every once in a while, printers break down."
Insteness stressed the fact that if students without printers wait until the last minute to print, they're going to be running the risk of being late.
Sophomore Erica Kassner said she learned this lesson the hard way.
"I've been late to class because I had to wait to print something," she said.
Kassner, who doesn't own her own printer, said there are more benefits for students to use the university's printers.
"It costs less and you never have to worry about printer malfunction, because you can always use another printer at school," she said.
In choosing to use the university's printers, students are only responsible for buying computer paper. At Best Buy, computer paper ranges from $6 up to $12 per reem. Wal-Mart's paper is usually priced between two and three dollars per pack. Office Depot's computer paper is sold in accordance to its brightness. It starts at five dollars and can cost up to $17 for the brightest paper.
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