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Showerthought: Is it time to ditch old tech when it breaks, or fix it just for the nostalgia? My 2009 HP printer finally died

My trusty old HP LaserJet from 2009 finally gave up the ghost last Tuesday. It just started making this grinding noise and then stopped pulling paper through. I've kept it alive for years with random parts I found online, but this time the main gear snapped. Part of me wants to find a replacement gear on eBay like I always do, because that printer prints SO sharp and I know every menu by heart. But on the other side, I spent 2 hours looking for a gear that costs $15 and shipping takes a week. Meanwhile my neighbor offered me his old Brother laser for free, and I bet it's way faster. Which side do you fall on when your dinosaur tech finally kicks it? Do you hunt down the weird fix, or finally admit it's time to try something newer?

2 comments

2 Comments

riverknight1mo ago

Oh man, the "dinosaur tech" thing is so real. I had a Canon all-in-one from like 2006 that I kept alive with a rubber band holding the scanner lid hinge together for years. When it finally just refused to turn on, I spent a whole weekend trying to find a capacitor for the power board. In the end I gave up and grabbed a free HP from a neighbor, and honestly it's way faster and the wireless setup is actually nice. But I still miss that old Canon every time I need to scan something simple.

lunah861mo ago

Rubber band and a prayer, that's how legends are made. Is it really a printer if it hasn't been held together by sheer spite and a hairpin? Sounds like you gave that Canon a better retirement than most people get. Bet that HP will crap out in two years with some stupid firmware update, while the Canon would have chugged along until the power grid went down. Classic case of new stuff being fast but old stuff being built to actually last.