<p>Arrgh!.. just lost my post on a refresh… Maybe it was trying to tell me to be more brief in my comments. :)</p>
<p>So, the short version is: we purchased a refurbished laser printer/scanner ($75), and combined with its inexpensive toner cartidges and paper cost a B&W page will cost about $0.04-$0.05 per page. Plus it can be much more convenient to have the ability to print in your room, especially late at night before an assignment is due. But with more and more online submission of assignments this may become less important. The flipside (as hazel implied) is that it will take about 2000 pages before that breakeven point when this becomes any cheaper overall than just paying $0.08/pg for printing at the libraries. Also, the convenience of being in the room will undoubtedly make you print more than if it were a bigger hassle.</p>
<p>The real problem area is the outlandish color cost @ $0.60/pg. This is not a retail Kinkos. I won’t go into detail, but I’ve leased plenty of high end color Xerox printers and suffice it to say $0.25/pg would be more than adequate to cover costs (ink, maintenanace, paper), provide a 2X overhead, and still dissuade students from using color when it’s not really needed.</p>