Posted on 06/21/2007 1:05:59 PM PDT by TChris
A new study says that on average, more than half of the ink from inkjet cartridges is wasted when users toss them in the garbage. Why is that interesting? According to the study, users are tossing the cartridges when their printers are telling them they're out of ink, not when they necessarily are out of ink.
The study by TÜV Rheinland looked at inkjet efficiency across multiple brands, including Epson (who commissioned the study), Lexmark, Canon, HP, Kodak, and Brother. They studied the efficiency of both single and multi-ink cartridges. Espon's printers were among the highest rated, at more than 80 percent efficiency using single-ink cartridges. Kodak's EasyShare 5300 was panned as the worst printer tested, wasting 64 percent of its ink in tests. TÜV Rheinland measured cartridge weights before and after use, stopping use when printers reported that they were out of ink.
That's the first problem. Printers routinely report that they are low on ink even when they aren't, and in some cases there are still hundreds of pages worth of ink left.
(Excerpt) Read more at arstechnica.com ...
Canon devices have been getting more and more good reviews in computer publications lately. I might have to try one for my next printer.
With time, those things might be improved upon. Epson is good because the ink cartridge and the printhead are not fused onto a single body, like the other manufacturers, who are basically looking to leach your wallet.
I think there’s something to be said for my old warhorse Deskjet 722...six years old, not very fast, has none of the fancy modern features like being able to read digital camera cards, but at least it doesn’t try to guess when it’s running out of ink. It just prints. And prints. And prints. And when it runs out of ink, it keeps trying to print. :)
Now that's just way too clever. I think we should have 17 new Federal laws governing the whole thing, since the government knows what's best for us!
We had a Brother all-in-one for a few years, and it was absolutely worthless. When we bought its HP replacement, my wife and I took turns firing my .40 cal. pistol at the Brother before taking it to the dump.
LOL! I was going to use my tomahawk on my Lexmark all in one, I seriously switched over to an ancient Okidata dot matrix printer and have not looked back , 6 dollar ink cartridges, and 200,000 million character printer head life.
</Gollum>
You're very fortunate. Every single Deskjet printer ever used here at work was stone-cold dead within two years of purchase. I have switched to Epson for inkjets.
“I just keep printing until the print quality starts getting lousy.”
Me, too .. doesn’t really take genius to just keep using it till you know for sure the cartridge needs to be replaced.
Same here. I have an HP 3-in-1 printer. I don’t change the printer cartridge until I can’t get a readable print anymore!
Does anyone here refill their own cartridges?
OEM inks are a complete rip off, especially in this day and age when a 13x17 print can be had from Costco for $2.99
I got one online for for $66 including shipping. I think it works very well. I have tried after market ink and did not like the quality. Not much cheaper than Epson either. For photos the “DURA BRITE” works best too. Does not fade or rub off once dry.
The thing that REALLY frosts my behind is that every time they put out a new model, they need a NEW CARTRIDGE!! Wouldn’t, say, two or three cartidges do? I HATE HP AND THE REST!! (Although HP DOES make good printers...)
The thing that REALLY frosts my behind is that every time they put out a new model, they need a NEW CARTRIDGE!! Wouldn’t, say, two or three cartidges do? I HATE HP AND THE REST!! (Although HP DOES make good printers...)
I have tried with my Epson, and had mixed results. It just made too much of a mess when the cartridges leaked.
I just buy third-party cartridges now, and they work just fine for non-critical printing.
How is it for durability? Our customers print thousands of invitations with our software.
Brother has us refillers AND the "compatibles" thing licked, too.
My Brother multifunction printer KNOWS when I put non-OEM cartridges in it. First, I was refilling the carts myself. After a few hundred pages, the print head went bad. I called the local authorized Brother service center. "Are you using non-Brother ink?" "Yes." "That's what did it. I shouldn't but, I'll replace it for you under warranty this time." "Thanks."
After I paid thru the nose for Brother ink a couple times, I yielded to temptation again, this time using a compatible third-party cartridges. Same thing--print head died. Called the service guy again. Thankfully, he somehow AGAIN replaced it under warranty—Brother didn't balk—but, I finally learned my lesson.
Needless to say, I've been watching for a good deal on a NON-Brother networkable multifunction printer, preferably Epson. Both of my Epsons work flawlessly with the third-party cartridges (even the ones with the odometer chip).
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