20 year old printer still going strong!

[Hugo Drax]

These HP Printers just wont die, I have a Laser jet 4000 that still prints great. I have a feeling it will last another 10 years. It is ethernet connected and drivers do not seem to be an issue so far. Cost per print is tiny. 10K print carts go for 50 bucks.

I did buy a new printer 3 years ago, an HP M651dn That sucker is huge, made in Japan and I suspect will last 20 years or more. It cost me 1100 so in 20 years that would be 55 bucks a year.

Sad when you see people buying those disposable Inkjets printers that last about a year and the refils cost as much or more than the printer.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Haha I knew it was going to be a HP before opening the thread. During their glory days HP did make very solid stuff. Not only computer stuff but professional grade test gear and such too.

 

[Alpha One Seven]

My Canon has lasted for years and the ink is dirt cheap.

 

[stargazr]

I had an HP 4L that lasted 15 years, wish it still worked.

 

[Sonikku]

Hell my printer's so old I have to tear off perforated tabs on either side of the paper! Freakin' kids with your fancy-pants "laser" printers!

 

[Red Squirrel]

Hell my printer's so old I have to tear off perforated tabs on either side of the paper! Freakin' kids with your fancy-pants "laser" printers!

Haha we have a couple of those at work, not really in service anymore though. DMS100 logs and cable air pressure logs would print to those continuously. Talk about a waste of paper.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Not sure why we got rid of our HP 4000 printer years ago. Maybe it was more than we needed. At the time the toner cartridge cost about what we replaced it with, which was a Samsung consumer unit that was wireless. Then when that Sammy toner ran dry we found it cheaper, at the time, to but a new unit than a toner cart. Crazy economics. I rarely print. The wife barely prints. I haven't printed anything at work in 15 years.

And speaking of workplace printing ... dealership service departments are crazy users of printers. I asked someone and they said the manufacturers require printed documentation in long-form for any and all work related to warranty issues.

 

[thebestMAX]

Currently running an HP 2600n that has to be close to15 years old. Still works fine but drivers have been a problem. Got it running on Win 10 but cant remember how.

Lot different from my original Epson MX-80 and Panasonic impact printers. Id take those back before an inkjet.

 

[brianmanahan]

i loved my hp deskjet 1600c, but it died after about 15 years and i don't need that kind of printing power anymore

 

[skull]

I got an hp p2015 off ebay for $80 including shipping, no idea how old it is but its awesome. It came with a mostly full cartridge and even doing a ton of prints over the last 5 years its still at 33%. I still got my cheap hp scanner inkjet combo that I use as a scanner. The trouble I've saved not screwing with ink the last 5 years in that POS has probably added a few years to my life.

 

[WilliamM2]

We have several HP4000's and 4200's still working fine at work.

But at home I don't want a huge printer, I just don't print that much. Plus I prefer an all in one, as I scan more than I print, and just save as a PDF. My last Canon ink jet lasted 7 years, I expect about the same from the 2 year old one I use now. A kit of 5 ink carts is less than $8, and lasts at least a year.

 

[Zanovar]

I have an oldie,dusted off,i bet it still works

 

[PottedMeat]

i think i have 8 4250's sitting around , 1 in actual use - all have 40+% toner life. i think i paid like $11 at an auction.

 

[Alpha One Seven]

The printer I love the most is my Epson 64" 10 color Color Sure P20000. It's a fantastic piece of machinery that I can print on very large canvas (64' wide x any length) and sell framed canvas photos from home.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Those wide-format printers are really neat.

I just have a B. inkjet, one of the last batch that takes generic carts, that don't need chips in them. That said, while lasers are cheaper, I couldn't stand not being able to print in color. Plus, the inkjet doesn't take up a lot of room or electricity, and scans too. This is my second one, I had an older one, with a poorer design. (You have to flip it open, to change the ink, was a PITA, and it was falling apart at the seams literally after a few years.)

 

[HeXen]

Wow I haven't printed out anything in years. Every digital print, document and picture I could ever need fits on my phone.

 

[Alpha One Seven]

Wow I haven't printed out anything in years. Every digital print, document and picture I could ever need fits on my phone.

LOL Your walls must be bare.

 

[HeXen]

LOL Your walls must be bare.

I'm not 16 yrs old anymore and have no use for rock posters or whatever. We have portraits of our family on the walls that we pay a studio to make. We also have paintings that we buy and other types of decorations. Printing out home made stuff sounds a bit tacky but whatever, it's not my house.

 

[Paperdoc]

I had a HP LaserJet 4 that was great for about 20 years. It became a problem when some of the paper feed rollers lost their softness and "stickiness" and could not push the paper through reliably, but everything else was still great. Rather than rebuilding it myself (VERY hard to find a service shop), we ended up buying a new Lexmark colour laser. It's doing well. It had one problem with severely streaky prints which their Tech Support people diagnosed properly and shipped me for FREE (under warranty) the required parts to replace - did not require disassembly.

We run a small reatail store, hitting 25 tears this month. At the point of sale the sales receipt printer is a Star SP300 dot matrix unit printing on 3½" paper tape, with black ribbon ink cartridge. About a year ago it quit working. I opened it up and with little disassembly cleaned out the dust and oiled its moving parts with sewing machine oil. Now it's perfect, and looks like it's good for another 20 years. Recently I ordered half a dozed ink cartridges for it on-line for about $55 total. Small mistake: what I received was six BOXES (6 carts each) of ribbons. Should last many years!

 

[ultimatebob]

Wow... I remember installing new LaserJet 4000's while I was still in college. I remember thinking that they didn't seem as well built as the LaserJet 4's they were replacing... I guess that I was wrong

I have LaserJet color 200 MFP now. That thing also seems to be overbuilt for home use, but has been more or less trouble free.

 

[Pulsar]

HP 4L here too. Bought in 93, still going strong. Dell 2130CN laser color is 10 and is still happy.

 

[Alpha One Seven]

I'm not 16 yrs old anymore and have no use for rock posters or whatever. We have portraits of our family on the walls that we pay a studio to make. We also have paintings that we buy and other types of decorations. Printing out home made stuff sounds a bit tacky but whatever, it's not my house.

With the right skill set and printer, you don't need to pay a studio to do second rate work that you can do better yourself.
I am not 16 years old either, but I have a child that is. I create and sell art for a living, so making art for my home isn't like someone grabbing an image off the internet and printing it out and tacking it to a wall. I print in large format and mat and frame my works for display. My wife also is a traditional media artist and we have several of her works framed and hung as well as works by other artists, both famous and less well known. We display the pieces that have meaning to us as individuals and as a family.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I had an HP 4L that lasted 15 years, wish it still worked.

I have one in my closet that still works - it was my first laser printer (purchased in 1995) and I keep it as a backup.

In terms of oldest printers, I do have one or two dot matrix printers from the 80s which are boxed up, and an Okimate 10 circa 1985.

 

[Pulsar]

I'm not 16 yrs old anymore and have no use for rock posters or whatever. We have portraits of our family on the walls that we pay a studio to make. We also have paintings that we buy and other types of decorations. Printing out home made stuff sounds a bit tacky but whatever, it's not my house.

Jesus. You even get snobby jackasses in old hardware threads.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

My first ever printer was a Star Gemini 10X and I loved that printer. When I moved after college, I accidentally broke the cover and got mad and threw it away. Otherwise I’d still have it. I’ve toyed with getting another off eBay but I’m running out of space.