Should I bring my huge color printer?

College Life
1

<p>Hi guys,</p>

<p>I’m a high school, college-bound senior who is wondering about printers and computers. Right now, I’m leaning towards bringing my SONY desktop computer which is extremely powerful. I like to play Civilization IV on my desktop, and I also think a laptop is inconvenient since I would have to keep carrying it around, easily stolen, very hard for me to type with the thin keyboard, I don’t plan on taking notes via computer in class, etc. I also have an hp printer (with color) with me that I put on the same desk with the desktop (since my desk is rather large). However, I’m wondering - should I bother bringing my huge hp printer? It’s practically a 2 by 2 feet cube in size. But it does print with color. :)</p>

2

<p>Sounds like that printer takes up a lot of room. Will your proposed major require that much color printing, or is digital photo a hobby? For special uses, you could always save to a thumb drive and then print off on a color printer at a local copy center.</p>

3

<p>It’s very convenient having your own printer in your dorm room. They’re so cheap now that you could consider buying a smaller ink jet one for college.</p>

4

<p>I have a desktop and there isn’t a whole lot of room for a printer. It depends on how your desk is designed, but I would have to have either the tower or the printer on the floor.</p>

5

<p>You might also find out what your college will provide because some have fairly convenient computer labs with printers.</p>

6

<p>Yeah, check if the lab has a good printer or if there are any local copy centers. But if you plan on bringing that desktop, you could fit the printer if you dump the desktop and printer under your desk. Although that might leave you with little leg space.</p>

7

<p>Having a printer handy is often extremely convenient, especially if you get PDFs or .doc’s from your professors — sometimes it really makes sense to print out your work and leave your computer somewhere else.</p>

<p>There’s probably plenty of room for the printer on the floor if space will REALLY be an issue…</p>

8

<p>Seems like you’re already decided on brining your desktop - go for it!</p>

<p>As for your color printer, I would suggest that you purchase a smaller one for issues of space and convenience. I personally purchased a Samsung CLP-315 for $129 (you can find them now for $90) after I came to college, and it fit in my dorm room nicely. It’s about 1.5ft x 1ft x 0.75ft – much smaller than your HP.</p>

<p>Personal findings:

  • The color laser part is extremely nice, and I’m pretty much the only person I know that has a color laser. You can’t find those anywhere unless you go to a copy shop.
  • I haven’t had to use the color much, but it has come to be very useful the couple times I per year I do have to use it (hint: very cheap and nice color printouts).
  • The black-and-white part, while mediocre, is a convenience that’s worth every cent, even though I get more than a thousand pages of very nice free printing at various places per semester.
  • The particular model I have, I’m not too satisfied with the print quality, but my friends say otherwise. Perhaps I’ve just been too used to nice B&W color lasers. In either case, no ink bleed. :)</p>

<p>Last tip of advice: don’t bring too much to your dorm. You’ll find you’re wasting lots of time and energy transporting stuff that could be easily obtained at the dorm. I pity the fool who rents a U-Haul to move-in.</p>

9

<p>Thanks for the input. I’ve decided that I’ll probably bring a laptop with a basic printer. I don’t want to get too fancy here.</p>

<p>excelblue - I definitely won’t bring too much in. :D</p>