Books

[PsychoMaster]

Hi All
I am a real tight git with the dosh but I would pay for  Colin Mitchel's articles put in a book or two. Web sites are not the same and it's not easy dragging a fifteen year old pc into the bog.

[Zero999]

Do you have a printer?

[PsychoMaster]

I have 3 dead new bought ink jet printers laying around.The ink dries out so quick when not used and they are too expensive.Ink jets are a consumer ripoff. I hope the term book is not dead because I like books more than reading off gadgets.

[saturation]

Not sure in UK, but a personal laser printer is a better deal for printing or even if you want color.  I bought a B&W one 8+ years ago for $50, and I simply refill the cartridge.  I am still on the original cartridge as I rarely print; the cartridge refill set cost me $6 delivered and I've done it once. 

For technical books, I buy used e.g. abebooks.com, far cheaper, better quality and binding than DIY printing, but I do prefer e-book version on a tablet.

If you want a personal color laser, ~ $250 in the USA versus $70 for a pure B&W, and you need 4 cartridges replaced as needed, 3 for color, and one for black, ~ $50 each.

Aside, toner is carbon dust, just like pencil, and is archive quality.  Color dyes are more stable today, but varies by maker, and thus questionable longevity if you store documents/books.  Naturally, the paper is the next issue and rare is OTS paper archive quality; finally, document storage matters. 

[PsychoMaster]

I have being giving a b/w laser printer some serious thought as colour is not important for spec sheets and I can do etching with it maybe. The price is becoming more realistic for hobby use.

[nanofrog]

I have being giving a b/w laser printer some serious thought as colour is not important for spec sheets and I can do etching with it maybe. The price is becoming more realistic for hobby use.

You'll certainly appreciate the lower cost per page to print. 

I would recommend getting one that doesn't put a chip in the cartridge/s (went with Brother in my case). FWIW, its method of causing the "Low Toner" message, is mechanical so it can be reset (how-to's on the internet), as there's usually enough toner from the factory to go 2x, and you can get refill kits as well. The cartridges themselves last 2, maybe 3 refills, so you can expect to get a LOT of pages for the cost of say 4x refills & paper (figuring for 6x cartridge runs in the printer).

I've not tried using mine for making PCB's, so can't comment on Brother in that respect.

[smjcuk]

Definitely Brother.

Got a Brother HL-2030 laser here I paid very little for about 10 years ago. I've printed hundreds of sheets and not put any toner in it yet. Good printer no complaints. Has been through two house moves, left unused for a year at a time and been smashed around and still works fine. Better than my HP 2540 inkjet which is on its last legs after about 9 months.

[ronjodu]

I've taken a memory stick with Pic Datasheets to Staples and asked what it would cost to make a book.
Many variables(paper type, binding, dividers, covers) but ask for the cheapest way. Sadly I'm old and don't remember what I paid but I am cheap so it had to be affordable.