<p>I want to know a few things about their printers before deciding if I want to bring my own printer. Let say I want to print something, how far away do I have to walk to get something printed? In other word, how much time would I need to go get it printed? If having a printer in my own room can save me some time considering that I probably need to print a lot of things for classes then I'm going to bring my printer with me to Madison.</p>
<p>I think all dorms have computer lab/techno center, as do the libraries and other campus locations. My student took a printer to Sellery, it worked and was convenient for a couple months, but once it ran out of ink he and his roommate never bothered to refill it and just printed in the basement computer center. As a sophomore, he didn’t bother taking with one, and prints in library etc. Most of his work is turned on electronically, on Learn@uw, so he rarely needs hard copies. </p>
<p>Thanks for you answer! But I need to be little clear on how much time would I take for me to get something printed without my own printer?</p>
<p>It depends on the dorm – if you are on the 10th floor of Sellery or WItte and need to go to the computer lab, which is in the basement, you take the elevator downstairs, could be 10 minutes but if you are on the 2nd floor in a smaller dorm and have to go one flight, its a couple of minutes. From my son’s experience, it was not a significant inconvenience and he adapted. Unless you are someone who has to print everything you read, there is not as much printing to turn stuff in as you would think. He hasn’t turned in a hard copy of anything all year – it is all electronic and email. </p>
<p>If you do bring one, don’t splurge. You can pick them up for $50 at Target etc once they start running dorm sales in the summer. And coordinate with your roommate. </p>
<p>Buy one at DoIT once you arrive on campus:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.doit.wisc.edu/students/checklist/?utm_source=techstorepersonal&utm_medium=homepagelink&utm_campaign=soar_summer2013”>http://www.doit.wisc.edu/students/checklist/?utm_source=techstorepersonal&utm_medium=homepagelink&utm_campaign=soar_summer2013</a></p>
<p>Maidison85- I see in the link they sell Ethernet cables. How much of the University is wireless? Thank you </p>
<p>Son never had a printer. He also took enough comp sci courses and had enough extra free print pages he never had to pay for printing. He was a math major however and didn’t have many papers to write. Also I suspect a lot of assignments can now be transmitted electronically without needing to be printed.</p>
<p>Regarding cables- Res Halls sold them at the front desk- it would have been cheaper to buy through them than getting one before coming to campus.</p>
<p>Check the DoIT site for the latest info. I just used the above link and went to the about DoIT page. That said 80% of campus has wireless connectivity.</p>
<p>Engineering students get 300 pages of free printing in the engineering labs, double-sided, enough for most people. Printing in the dorms was 7 cents a page as of a few years ago, libraries about the same. Not every dorm has a computer lab, the locations are here: <a href=“http://www.housing.wisc.edu/tlc/info”>A Message from Our Dining Staff – University Housing – UW–Madison. Every southeast dorm does. </p>
<p>You will likely need an ethernet cable unless your roommate has a wireless router. Wifi can be slow, spotty, or nonexistent in dorms, and the ethernet is much faster. Just about everywhere I’ve tried on campus that wasn’t a dorm has had decent wifi.</p>
<p>I don’t have a printer and just stop by a computer lab to print when I have to. </p>