HP Laserjet 3380 All in One - Fix or replace?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m getting substantial creases down the right side of every page. Some Googling reveals it is probably a tear in the film in the fuser assembly.

I can replace the film or the assembly, but I’m not very handy, and the replacement assembly costs maybe $100. I have no idea how long it would take and how much trouble it might cause. Also, I use it for a solo law office, and the longer I have no printer, the less gets done. I need a pretty quick and reliable fix.

I could have someone else do it, but so far I have a quote of parts & labor of about $250.

I bought the printer in September 2004, so it’s about 3.5 years old. I’m thinking for that repair price, maybe I should just put that money toward getting a new one, or a like model.

I can’t recall what I paid for it, but I got it at a major office supply store.

I prefer to stick with HP, but I’m open to suggestions.

Thoughts? Thanks!

2

At the semisolo law office I work at I replaced the 3 year old HP printer with the HP laserjet m1522nf and it has been working great. It’s not that much more expensive to buy a new printer and you never know when the next part will break.

HP product page

3

Does it print standard envelopes?

4

While I know nothing about your specific printer, I’d lean heavily toward replacing the printer. This is because printers seem to be made awfully disposably. Besides, printers are a subset of computer equipment, most computer equipment is arguably better to replace than repair.

Also, replacing the printer gives you much more “instant” functionality, which is certainly a consideration in your present circumstances.

5

I was thinking of buying new, then later buying replacement parts to fix the old one on my own time.

6

Yeah this. I give mechanically-broken printers about a half hour of my time and then make the decision to replace it. A 3.5 year-old printer is not a huge waste.

7

One of thehe least expensive HP laser All-In-One devices is the M2727nf. CDW has it for $599 but there is a $200 rebate through the end of the month, so it would cost $399. And if you’re not committed to HP, I have a Brother MFC-7820N, which is about $208 at Amazon.com. So it does look like you’re better off replacing the printer than trying to get it fixed.

8

I got two repair quotes for $250 and $450.

I contacted HP and they steered me toward the HP LaserJet M2727nf. I went with this.

$399 at Office Depot after matching the current sales price at Office Max (usually $599).

Now, the question becomes what to do with the old one. I could spend about $100 and maybe a couple of hours trying to repair it, or just E-Cycle it. Maybe sell it to a refurbisher?

9

List it on craigslist or freecycle - even with a bad fuser, there’s probably someone out there looking for some other part, or that’s willing to work on it.

It sounds like this model is a beast to work on. If your mechanical aptitude ends at being able to replace toner cartridges, it’s probably not a good first project.

I doubt you’d get anything more than a “thank you” from a refurbisher, if you’re able to find one. There’s just no market that I’m aware of for old SOHO-grade printers. Enterprise-grade stuff, however, is a decent market - stuff like LaserJet 4s that will work with anything and not need funky drivers, and 8000-series workgroup printers the size of dishwashers.