I love eBay! I currently own an HP LaserJet 4 that I bought on eBay a couple years ago for around $30. I also have another LaserJet 4m that I bought on eBay for $15, but it turned out to have a burned out fuser. I have neve bought toner. The toner cartridge that with in the LaserJet 4 last a long long time. When that ran out, I simply grabbed the cartridge out of the 4m that I have been saving for parts.
I have been looking at starting a small home publishing business. I want to be able to print two sided pages, so I want duplexing capability. After some research I found that the LaserJet 4 (and 4m) were not capable of duplexing. That didn’t come until the LaserJet 4+ and 4m+. So I started watching eBay. When looking for something large and heavy, I search for local auctions to save shipping. I found an auction for a LaserJet 5si that included a 2000 page sheet feeder. I knew I could get a duplexer for this printer. But I called and asked whether the printer would print duplex. They tested it, and said yes it would. GREAT! It already had the duplexer installed! The starting bid was $99.99, and there were no bids. They had a buy it now option for about $300. But I watched, and set up an automatic snipe bid of over $175. I ended up winning the auction and got the printer for $99.99 plus $10 pickup fee, and NY sales tax.
I drove to the place after work, to pick it up. I drive a 2000 Honda Civic, and was concerned whether I could get the printer into the car. I had read, and knew the printer would separate from the sheet feeder. I though that it would fit. When I saw the printer, it was bigger than I thought. But I decided it was still worth a try. The printer just sits on the sheet feeder, and they were easily separated. The sheet feeder wasn’t too heavy, and fit into my back seat. The printer itself was very heavy. The two guys from the place I bought it from, hefted the printer, but realized it would go into my back seat as easily. I said try the front seat. They got it onto my front seat, but I couldn’t close the door. We rotated it, and I could close the door. I had about 1 inch clearance for the gear shift.
I drove home holding the printer, to keep it from bashing around. When I got home, I unloaded the sheet feeder, and carried it up the stairs to the computer room. I carefully extracted the print from my front seat, and set it on the garage floor. I removed the two paper trays, and the toner cartridge to lighten it some. Then I carried it up the stairs to my computer room. I managed to bash a knuckle on a door frame along the way, and was bleeding. I set the printer on to the sheetfeeder, and then retrieved the paper trays and toner cartridge. I didn’t have time last night to hook it up. It didn’t come with power cables or the parallel cable, but I already have some of those, and pulled them out. With the size of the printer, I am not sure where I am going to put it. I am looking at buying a wireless print server, so I can place the printer across the room.
In reading, I found this printer is a workhorse, and is designed to printer millions of pages. I think I got a great deal!

Posted by Rob in Getting Rich on August 17th, 2006 |