I'm going to be living in a Unit 3 triple this year, and at this point in time, I'm leaning towards not bringing a printer. I don't think my roommates are either. I've heard that you can get 250 free pages printed /semester at the OCF. Isn't that enough for most people? If not, then how much does it cost after the free pages are all used up?
Yeah, I realize it'd be more convenient to bring a printer. On the other hand, a printer + ink can get pretty expensive. The OCF opens early and closes late so it's an enticing option.
and yeah, raNe, i'm not bringing one either. i plan on borrowing from someone else or using the free 250. unless, of course, a working printer just shows up on my doorstep in the next 5 days (unlikely)
how many pages can a person expect to use in one semister anyways, though many freshman might be taking a R1a class or something... Do those classes eat a lot of pages?
Officially, UC Berkeley says you're supposed to write 32 pages in both R5A and R5B. Some teachers are lenient and let you get away with fewer pages by doing in class writing exercises or counting drafts for pages (For German R5A, I probably print 16 pages or so, but for South Asian R5B I print about 30 pages) . How much you print is largely dependent on the type of courses you take.
OCF = open computing facility. Open Computing Facility at U.C. Berkeley
it gives you i think 250 free pages of printing. it's a distance from the dorms, though.
another option is to purchase pages for printing from the underground computer labs in each of the units / dorms. when i was a freshman it was $5 for something like 250 or 500 pages, a great deal, and this was what most people did who did not bring a personal printer.
