I talked to a computer recycler today and for once it wasn’t about getting rid of the tons and tons of old and broken computers, printers, and monitors. I think we can get some printers for parts at an extremely low cost to the university. In particular I’m trying to find a way to refurbish an old Laserjet 5si printer for pocket change.

“Get a new printer!” might be your response when I tell you that the printer in question has a manufacture date of August 1997. “Not in the budget, lets try to fix it” is what I would tell you in reply. 

Unfortunately if you go through traditional parts depots for a 10-year-old printer it costs an arm and a leg. One alternative might be eBay but those transactions are risky and require a credit card. I actually feel better about reusing something semi-local (the recycler is located in Peoria) from a guy I’ve dealt with before. It turns out that they might be able to supply some legacy parts for old Point of Sale systems too! My hope for humanity and the environment is somewhat restored from my recent post-bee low point.