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 ...
Thanks TChris.
Roger that. Anyone who takes the advice from a grey box unverified deserves to get hosed...
Nothing new in that concept (think razors and Razor Blades).
Sounds like it was a real mother. ;-)
Epson does a great job printing pictures.
HP ink jets I use for mostly business printing.
Canon printers are probably my favorite, but the ink carts are smaller than other printers. Cheaper to print, but each cartridge only hold 500 pages of ink.
I have printed quite a bit of photos and letters and such. Only thing I do is clean and align the heads often. For the $ it can’t be beat. I do believe it is a discontinued model though.
I quite successfully refill HP black ink cartridges multiple times (Models in the 700, 800 and 900 series and a 1200). The color cartridges are more problematic and even when it works the color matching is questionable for photos.
I have a wide carriage Epson dot matrix printer (LQ 1050 IIRC) that is free to anyone who will FReepmail me to get it. You pay shipping from Dallas.
Very cheap printing cost with the old ribbon printers.
Not only that, but used 722s are cheap when you find one at the recycling center.
I keep going until the sucker is spitting out white paper then I’ll reprint the last 10 pages of whatever I was printing.
When I read the headline I thought that printers had joined the democrat party.
“Went to lazer years ago, inkjet just isn’t worth the hassle, or cost of cartriges.”
I’m with you!
I had an HP Lazerjet 6P for 9 year and just switched to an Okidata 3200n color lazer and it works fantastic, full page color photos on plain paper that look like they were printed on photo paper.
They have really come down in price, bought the Okidata delivered for $192.
I used to until I bought a small laser. Now I refill my own toner. Neither is too hard and you can generally refill a cartridge 4 or 5 times with no loss of quality. I really just got tired of how cheap the ink jets were made, they seemed to be designed to break every fourth cartridge. I have been quite happy with my laser and I do believe that it is a big cost saver in the long run!
For large batch printing, lasers are usually more economical though. Even color lasers aren't insanely expensive these days.
I got a Minolta 2300W. Things about as big as a small washing machine.
Refills for this baby were over a hundred bucks each. As these things go, in time somebody figures out how to beat the system.
Sure enough you can now buy refill ink and re-fill the cartridges yourself. I was nervous as all get-out and some things in the surround ended up a weird shade of yellow and cyan....but it worked! For pennies, PENNIES I tell ya, on the dollar to buy a new refill.
One thing that was interesting, in order to get the machine to quit telling you it’s low on color you gotta follow this long list of instructions, unscrewing this and removing that. To fill the cartridge with more color is a ten second deal but to turn off the flag that keeps telling the computer to warn you the color’s low is a big damn deal.
So I didn’t do it. I figured the hell with it. I ain’t making a career out of changing this cartridge. So I put it all back together and every time I print the computer tells me I need black, I need cyan, I need magenta. I keep clicking okay, okay, okay...and boom, it prints.
Bit of a pain but that other long-winded crap I hadda do would have had me cussing.
Scenario: You get a call from someone who claims to be from your regular office supply company offering a great deal on copier paper, toner or other supplies.
Scam: The supplies never arrive, or the quality is inferior and overpriced, and the company has no relation to your regular supplier.
Be wary of anyone who calls claiming to be from your office supply company and offers you a “last chance” to buy copier paper, toner or other supplies at the current price before it increases. It could be a “paper pirate” or “toner phoner” working for a company that has no connection with your regular supplier.
Ask for the person’s name, the company name, and a phone number. Then contact your regular supplier to verify the story.
Promises of cheapest prices may not always be true. Shop around with companies you know and trust for the best deals.
Use only good quality supplies. Inferior quality office supplies can damage your equipment and invalidate your warranties or maintenance contracts.
Even if no one at your business places an order, you might receive a bogus invoice for supplies that were sent anyway or that were never delivered at all.
Designate specific people in your company to handle office supply purchases. They should know who your regular suppliers are and control the ordering process.
Before paying invoices, the person who is responsible for your bills should confirm that the supplies were ordered, who they came from, that they have been delivered, and that they were the correct brands.
If the supplier misrepresented itself or the goods, write the company a letter explaining why you are disputing the bill. Offer to send the supplies back if you received them, at the supplier’s expense. Keep a copy of the letter for documentation.
Don’t be pressured into paying. Fraudulent companies often use threats of collection or legal action to get payment.
Report paper pirates and toner phoners to law enforcement agencies. The Business Technology Association can provide more tips about these scams and welcomes information about fraudulent suppliers.
Found the same printer on a "close out" shelf. Bought two of them. At $35 close out each and with cartridges included, I got a great deal and have extra printers (that I like) for the inevitable.
I had the old cartridge out for a couple weeks until I got new ones. Now it don’t work at all.
I think it must have dried ink on the feeder thingy?
I live in BFE and there is no place to take it in to have it cleaned or looked at.
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