Shoutout to that $7,200 plotter I bought used on Craigslist

Everyone told me I was crazy for buying a used HP DesignJet T520 off some guy in Phoenix for $7,200 instead of dropping $12k on a new one. But two years later and that thing has saved me on service fees and downtime more than I can count. Has anyone else had luck with older gear that everyone warned you against?

2 comments

2 Comments

hill.troy26d ago

That 7,200 number jumped out at me because I've seen the same pattern with cars and even appliances. My neighbor picked up a 20 year old fridge off Facebook Marketplace for 50 bucks cause everyone said the compressor would die in a month. Three years later it's still running cold while his buddy's fancy smart fridge from last year already had the ice maker break twice. People get too caught up in the shiny new stuff when the older models are built tougher and easier to fix yourself. Same logic applies to that plotter you bought - sometimes the old workhorses outlast the new junk they're selling today.

sandragonzalez26d ago

Right there with you on this. My own washing machine is from 2003 and I've fixed the belt myself twice with a YouTube video and 15 bucks in parts. Meanwhile my sister's brand new set had a circuit board die after 14 months and the repair guy told her it would cost more to fix than just buying another one. It's frustrating how much perfectly good stuff gets thrown away because nobody wants to bother with basic repairs anymore.