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Need the best printing and printer advice?

April 6, 2020 by Vikram Goyal

We have done a very basic non-scientific poll within our family and friends to bring this post.

I don’t know about you, but our humble printer has taken a beating since we have entered lockdown 3 weeks ago. I have had to print out a lot of documents for offline reading (how long can you read long documents on the screen?), the kids have assorted lesson plans for home schooling needs, and our whole household wants to try their hand at different games, recipes and all sorts of fun activities which can only be printed. I say all this is good news – as much distance away from a device for an offline activity is good.

There is, of course, a down-side to all of this. We have run out of not only printer paper, but printer ink. Twice! And our humble printer is showing signs of bulking against this onslaught of work. It never expected to bear a brunt of a whole household trying to use it 10x more than what it was intended for.

So we went searching for the best possible, most cost effective way to keep our printer running keeping in mind running costs and paper. At the same time, we wanted to find out what would have been the most economical printer. Here are our results, based on polling 25 of our friends and families and, of course, our own research.

So here are our poll favourites:

Most economical printer:

HP DeskJet 3755

Why? Compact, cheap and does it all. “It seriously does everything.”. – said the kids’ grandfather.

Second place:

Canon Pixma TR4520

Why? Not as compact, but faster than the HP. “I love the sharp colors it prints.” – said my brother in-law.

Most economical paper:

Face it, you don’t need to be printing reams of good quality A4 paper for every little recipe or project. These are the best recycled or throw away papers as voted by the quorom.

  • Buying bulk? Try the Hammermill 2500 sheet pack. “Best value for money.” –  as ordered by the big family of cousins across the country.
  • Buying a small amount? Try the Xerox 500 sheet pack. “I don’t need much.” – said our lovely neighbour.

Do you want other ways to save on printing? Follow these tips from the group:

  • Only print when you need the most!
  • Print both sides – make it a default setting.
  • Print in draft mode.

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from those links, we get a small commission.

Looking for ink? Check out Cartridgepeople.com for the best online ink deals.

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Have you read?

Learn about Chile for Kids

I don’t really know why, but Chile was my favorite country when I was younger. Something about the shape, or the name, or the remoteness of it was really interesting to me. Let’s learn all about Chile.

Chile Basics

  • Chile is officially the Republic of Chile, and it is a long, skinny country on the west coast of South America, bordered by Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. It’s the southern-most country in the world and the closest to Antarctica.
  • The country controls several islands, including Easter Island, and including the islands the country is about 291,933 square miles, or 765,102 square kilometers. It also claims 480,000 square miles/1.25 million square kilometers of Antarctica.
  • It is 2,670 miles.more than 4,300 kilometers long north to south, but at is widest point east to west is only 217 miles/350 km across. Because of its size it has many geographic regions and includes desert, volcanoes, a central valley good for agriculture, forests and more. It is considered part of the Pacific ring of fire because of the presence of volcanoes and the tectonic plates that created the mountains of South America.
  • The capital and largest city is Santiago, and the national language is Spanish. Parts of the country were colonized by the Spanish in the 16th century, and they declared independence in 1818.
  • The population is around 17.5 million.
  • Chile had a lot of unrest from the 1960s through the 1980s, with a coup followed by a military dictatorship. The country is now a presidential republic and is considered one of the most economically and socially stable countries in South America.
  • It’s not really known where the name Chile comes from. It could be the sound of a bird from from a word from one of various native people that could mean something like the ends of the earth, cold, snow or the deepest part of the earth.
  • The Mapuche were early settlers in the area now known as Chile, and the Inca briefly ruled part of northern Chile but faced great resistance from the Mapuche.

Chile National Symbols

The flag of Chile features a red band across the lower half, with the top half being about two thirds white and one third blue, with a five-pointed white star in the center of the blue square. The star is said to represent Venus, considered a guide by the indigenous Mapuches. Others say it represents the independent nation. Blue represents the Pacific Ocean, white is for the snow-capped Andes and the red recognizes the blood spilled to gain independence. The flag was adopted in 1817.

The national anthem is sometimes called the National Song, and other times referred to by its first line, “Puro, Chile, es tu cielo azulado,” or “How pure, Chile, is your blue sky.” It was adopted in 1828.

The Andean condor is a national symbol of Chile. It is one of the largest flying birds in the world and has the longest wingspan of any bird. Along with the condor, the south Andean deer is featured on the country’s coat of arms. This critically endangered species of deer lives in Chile and Argentina and tends to stick to difficult habitats like periglacial grasslands and bluffs.

The lapageria or Chilean bellflower is the national flower. It’s a climbing plant that grows in the rainforest.

Huaso, the Chilean cowboy, are considered a national symbol because of their importance in folklore.

Chile Learning Activities for Kids

Learn about Chilean rodeo, an important national sport. Here’s an animated overview of the sport, and a video showing how its done.

While they aren’t national symbols, there are llama and the related guanaco in Chile if you want to learn about them and what the difference is.

Find resources for teaching kids about Chile at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Learn about Pablo Neruda, a famous poet and politician from Chile. The children’s book Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People is a great place to start. Isabel Allende is another famous writer from Chile.

Explore Easter Island and make an Easter Island craft with this tutorial from Surviving a Teacher’s Salary.

Try some Chilean food like ensalada Chilena (this one is from Kid World Citizen) or cazuela de pollo (Chilean Food and Garden).

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