Is Your Printer Worth the Expensive Repairs?

While some repairs can be done on site, others will require parts and a technician. When labor costs are involved, the bill for repair can quickly skyrocket. When deciding whether to repair or replace your printer, consider the total costs of replacement parts and labor.

Additionally, many parts for home inkjet printers are just not available, making the process moot.

MCS recommends choosing the right printer for your needs, whether that’s only printing once every few days, or printing several documents every hour. The type of printer you need and the quality of printer necessary will depend on how often you use it, and what you’re using it for. Read more about how to choose the right printer here!

If you think your home printer is worth having serviced, MCS is ready to help!  Instead of paying for a full hour of service to simply have your printer looked at, MCS offers a $25 printer assessment fee.  Our technician will diagnose the issues and let you know if the machine can be fixed along with an estimated cost of repair, including parts and labor.  When a repair does make sense, MCS will apply this $25 printer assessment fee toward the first hour of labor.  

To read more about our printer repair service for businesses and business-class machines (including our hourly rate), please click here.

We truly care about the Ann Arbor community and want to continue to build relationships with small businesses and non-profit organizations.  We have the ability to help you with all your computer, labeling, and printing needs, including on location printer repair service in Ann Arbor and the surrounding area.

Contact us today to discuss your needs and to schedule a checkup for your printer.

Printer Repair Service Checklist

Have you transitioned to working from home since the pandemic hit?

Working from home has its pros – no commute, sweatpants, endless coffee… but the cons include technology problems that you have to solve on your own with remote help from an IT person.

If you have printer issues, that can be a whole other level of frustration, especially if your home printer isn’t suited to the high volume you might have been printing on your business-class machine at your office.

Before you call a printer repair service or spend a lot of money to repair your printer, ask yourself these questions:

1. Do you have an inkjet printer costing $150 or less?
2. Could your printing needs be solved by a quick trip to the office?
3. Would replacing your printer for a higher quality machine be a better investment?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, hiring a printer repair technician to come to your home or bringing your inkjet printer to a repair shop might not be the best option.

Find out more on our website!

Home Printers: Worth the Repair Cost?

How do you know if you should spend the time and money to hire a printer repair service, or if you should just replace your machine?

Consider:

1. Age of your printer: Find out when the model was released, not just the date you purchased it. If you’ve had your printer for five years, for example, but it was released a few years prior, the overall age could impact its expected lifetime and accessibility of parts.
2. Cost per page: If you’re not using a managed print provider, you can find out the cost per page of your device by dividing the cost of a toner cartridge by the number of pages printed before needing to replace it. A newer model printer will often need a higher capacity toner cartridge, saving you money on overall printing spend. (If you’re considering a managed print provider, read more here!)
3. Labor costs for repair: While some repairs can be done on site, others will require parts and a technician. When labor costs are involved, the bill for repair can quickly skyrocket. When deciding whether to repair or replace your printer, consider the total costs of replacement parts and labor.
4. Lifetime volume of the printer: When deciding to repair or replace, look at the lifetime volume. Printing a configuration page should allow you to see the lifetime volume, similar to considering the overall mileage on a car. Even a new printer can burn out quickly if it’s been over-utilized!

Read the full article on our website!

We know repairs are sometimes the only choice for those of us working at home, and if you feel a replacement isn’t the right choice, we can do a $25 printer assessment to determine what your next steps should be.

To read more about our printer repair service for businesses and business-class machines (including our hourly rate), please click here.

We truly care about the Ann Arbor community and want to continue to build relationships with small businesses and non-profit organizations.  We have the ability to help you with all your computer, labeling, and printing needs, including on location printer repair service in Ann Arbor and the surrounding area.

Contact us today to discuss your needs and to schedule a checkup for your printer.

Cost Analysis for Repairing Your Inkjet Printer

Do you have a home printer that never seems to work correctly?

Do you spend more time fixing paper jams and streaky ink than you do printing documents you need for work or school?

Now that we’re all spending more time at home and our kitchens and dens have transitioned into home offices, you might be noticing that your home inkjet printer isn’t as up to par as you thought it was.

It’s tempting to continue repairing an older printer, but you could be throwing money away! How do you know if it’s time to replace your printer? How long do inkjet printers last?

Here are our recommendations:

• Generally, the average lifespan of an inkjet printer is around 3-5 years under normal usage. If you use the printer more frequently than average or if you’re using it for a business, you might find the life of your printer is shorter.
• Inkjet printers have a lifespan on the lower end, while laser printers last a little longer.
• If you’re spending a lot of money on replacement parts for your printer, it might be a better investment to buy a new printer – low supply of replacement parts could be an ongoing issue.

Read the full article on our website!

MCS offers a $25 printer assessment.  One of our technicians will diagnose the issue(s) and provide you with an estimated cost of repair. If the cost is not worth the labor rate, we’ll let you know so you don’t waste your money or your time. If we think buying a new printer is the best option for you, we’ll let you know about that too, and we can even make recommendations about how to go forward and what printer to choose.

“We are very happy with the service we receive from Michigan Computer Supplies. They provide a great product and a great service to support their products. We typically purchase refurbished, MCS compatible toner for four printers. They are very prompt, friendly and knowledgeable. When we had a few small issues with the refurbished cartridges they came out either that day or the next and replaced them free of charge!” – BCN Services