Recently I found that I was producing an unusually high volume of urine.

I had thought about buying a laser for general printing, where there was not a need for colour, however the price had always put me off. Recently though, the price of laser printers has come down, the cheapest being under one hundred quid, possibly even about the seventy quid mark. The ML1210 was in a Boxing Day sale, reduced to fifty quid, so that is when I bought it. I have since seen it reduced to this price in a couple of sales, so next time you see it; it might be worth getting it.

Set up was as easy as going to the toilet (unless you have a tendency to misfire). Plug the cables in, insert the toner (which is well illustrated in the instructions), switch the computer on, insert the CD, follow the on-screen instructions and that’s about it. Set up in six and a half minutes (depending on the speed of your computer at actually installing the software).

You can fit about 150 pages in the main paper tray, so it sav3es you having to load paper all the time (oh...the effort, repetitive strain injury). There is an added Brucey bonus of a second paper tray, however it is only designed for use with envelopes, or thick paper. That is one sheet/envelope at a time. Yes, it takes time and can get tedious, but it is how you prevent the machine from getting a paper jam. To use the second paper tray, you also need to flick a button on the machine, so that the printed sheet comes out the front, instead of the top, preventing it from bending as much. The second paper tray for envelopes seemed a good idea at first, however after the printer has been on a while, the heater inside that seals the toner onto the paper becomes so hot, it will ruin the glue on the envelope, making it impossible to seal (as well as leaving such a disgusting taste on your tongue).

Any complaints about it? Yes. Every now and then I will press (well click on) print, and the printer will not print, saying it is out of paper, when it isn't. The only way to fix this is to lift the paper out, then put it back in and turn the machine on and off. The customer service help line was not, thank G-d in India, but in fact in England. They were helpful, but because the problem is not permanent (and so they can not actually prove there is a problem), they could not do anything about it. Fair enough though, I can see why they can't help. They do though, if anything goes wrong under the standard one years manufacturer's guarantee, send out a new one by a courier, who will also take away your old printer. A straight swap, so you don't need to be too long without a printer or wait in twice for a courier.

Unlike inkjets, there is no 'remaining ink level' utility that you can use, however faint print is a good indicator of low toner levels. It does though mean you can keep on printing until the cartridge is totally empty. Scientific tests revealed that in some inkjets, you could throw away a cartridge when it still has as much as 20% ink left. Unlike ink as well, you can keep a toner in a laser printer for years. Ink will dry up and clog print heads; toner doesn’t, as it is a powder as opposed to a fluid.