It seems everyone today has the same goal. A paperless office and by extension, a paperless society. Books, who needs them? Why can’t we simply do electronic documentation? Envelopes, mail, file cabinets, do we really need them?
Call me old fashion, but sometimes you just need to have a paper in your hand. Every office needs a printer, and I have one that has been a great friend for nearly ten years.
It is a Brother MFC-J825DW, multi-function system and it has been a workhorse. Multi-function printers are nothing new, but this model was of exceptional design. It not only prints black and full color, but it will also scan at high resolution, copy with one touch, and fax anywhere in the world.
It is one of the few models that I have found that auto-duplexes, making two-sided printing a snap. It has connectivity via ethernet, USB cable, or wireless. And it prints both letter and legal-size documents. It can scan documents and pictures directly from the internet or from a USB device, a SD memory card.
I was lucky to discover this printer on sale at my favorite warehouse store for only $89. I was worth more, but a newer model was being produced so this year’s model was on clearance.
Well, you guessed it, the newer(s) model did not work as well as my old 825DW. Even today, my old model is in high demand. In this era of throw away technology, I see used ones for sale on eBay for as much as $250 and rebuilt units as high as $800.
But like all mechanical devices, it occasionally needs a little maintenance. Over the years I have had a few things break. The little plastic tab that holds the ink cartridge in place broke off a few years ago. I fabricated one out of a picture hanger. The hinge that holds the rear access panel broke while ago, but since parts are no longer available, I had to glue a makeshift hinge in place of the old one.
During our recent move, the printer ended up in storage for nearly six months. When I finally unpacked her, she was full of dust and the print head was clogged. I found a cleaning kit online and a few days ago I was able to clean the printhead and it is once again printing like a new system.
I do not know how much longer my old friend will be with me. One of these days it will again breakdown and I won’t be able to repair it. I will need to buy a newer model. When that happens, I will miss this old slogger. Luckily, I don’t print as much as I used to. I am going less paper. But for the time being, I can still print to my heart's content in full color, two-sided and on legal size paper. Call me old fashioned.
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