When to replace a printer instead of repairing it

Repair

Offline after a router swap, a stuck queue, and a missing driver are repairs. The hardware is fine. A troubleshooting visit is the cheaper path, and it is often online.

One jam that clears and then prints a clean page is not a replacement signal.

Replace

Replace when cartridges cost more than a basic printer, jams return in the same hour, or the maker has dropped software for your computer's current system. We will tell you which of those we are looking at.

A new printer still needs setup. Budget the visit or the evening, not only the box.

The handoff

Do not recycle the old printer on the way home from the store. Set up the new one, print and scan once, then remove the old queue.

Wipe nothing on the printer that stores scans or faxes until you have those pages. Some all-in-ones keep a copy. Ask us to check before it leaves.

Keep reading

• The printer went offline after a Wi-Fi change

  It is still on the old name. Rejoin it before you reinstall drivers three times.

• Why the printer should not live on guest Wi-Fi

  Guest isolation is a feature until you want to print.

• The computer sees the printer, and nothing prints

  A stuck queue or a wrong default tray looks like a dead printer.