Home Office: More Money-Saving Printer Tricks

Imaginary printers, supercheap refills, check printing, and Bruce Lee.

Steve Bass

The lowly printer... it's ignored unless it jams up or runs out of ink. Last week I proffered tips for your printing pleasure; see "Printer Tricks That Save Bucks." This week I have more tips, some reader responses, and some new ways to waste time.

Using Imaginary Printers

Do you have to prepare Word documents, or maybe Excel spreadsheets, for clients? You may face the same problem I do when formatting the doc without having the same printer as the client has. I have a trick that lets you format the document perfectly for the other printer: Just install that printer as a new printer driver in Windows. (Yes, you may have to borrow the client's CD to get the correct driver.) When you create a document for them, choose their printer. That way you can use the program's Print Preview and see what it will look like when they print it. Easy, no?

Dig this: Attention, geeky cat owners! Okay, even if you don't have a cat, you'll be intrigued by "The Flo Control Project." Approved for your viewing consumption by PETA, the project manages a troublesome cat behavior using a computer-controlled device. (No, come on, it's nothing as plebeian as a kitty litter problem.)

(With thanks to Steve L.)

Printer Cartridges on the Cheap

If you haven't been paying attention to our Top 10 lists, listen up: You're missing out on solid, lab-tested advice. We recently looked at ink-jet printers, the cheapest being Epson's Stylus Color C60, discounted to a remarkable $87. Even the top-rated Epson C80 was only $160. Where do I get these prices, you ask? Easy--the nifty PCWorld.com Product Finder, which is linked to the left side of our home page.

In my April Home Office column, I alluded to the razor blade marketing scam: Give 'em a free razor and they'll buy the blades. Ditto for cheap printers and outrageously expensive ink cartridges. One reader said he buys ink for his Epson 860 from an outfit called Klassic Specialties.

He pays about $6 for black and $10 for color (with discounts for three or more), and hasn't had a problem yet. Another reader pays $12 for generic black ink cartridges for his Epson 880 at InkInABlink.com.

No matter where you buy your cartridges, you want to keep your ink-jet printer clean and happy. For details on how to do it, read the July 2000 Hardware Tips . Now don't start kvetching because the article's old--the info's still valuable.

Dig this: Do you know where Bruce Lee lives? I didn't think so. But if you're itching to find out, visit the (oh, please, you know this was coming...) "I Know Where Bruce Lee Lives" site.

The 50-50 Double-Sided Split

Like controversies? Here's the first: In April, in the magazine version of Home Office, I said I save money by printing on the blank side of used paper. Read "Home Office: Pinch Some Pennies While You Print."

This is a harmless tip that saves trees and ink--and something I've been doing for nearly ten years. (Even PETA didn't object.) Of fifty e-mails I received on the topic, most of the people used the double-sided printing strategy. Many of the repair techs also gave it thumbs up; the rest were nay-sayers.

The only compelling argument against this was from a reader who had streaks on the page from ink remnants on his high-end photo printer. My take? Check your printer's manual or setup page. My Brother 1450, for instance, provides docs and settings for "manual duplexing" (double-sided printing). So if you see streaks on your printouts or the printer acts funny, don't print on the blank side; otherwise, save yourself some bucks.

Printing Your Own Checks? Oh, Horrors!

In that same April Home Office, I raved about printing checks on special blank stock using an ordinary toner cartridge. The bits really hit the fan with bankers. They carefully explained that unless checks were printed with special MICR ink (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition--essentially magnetic ink), I'd bring the economy to its knees. That's because if the bank's MICR reader cannot read the numbers, it's needs to be done by humans or via OCR. (One writer admitted that OCR may eventually replace MICR processing.)

The bottom line: Before you go to the expense of buying a check writing program and stacks of blank paper, check with your bank. If you do it without asking and you print only 20 or 30 checks a month, like me, you may be able to slip under the radar. If your bank's unhappy, it may charge you an extra per-check fee.

If you decide to print your own checks, check out Checkmagic, the program I'm using.

Paper runs about $50 for 1000 sheets. I found a site that sells discontinued paper (probably because of the color) for $19 per 1000. Check out Advantage Laser Products.

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