Posted on 06/27/2009 5:57:23 AM PDT by shove_it
Leo Tolstoy, wordy fellow that he was, used a lot of ink. He was also on the frugal side, eventually renouncing his fabulous inheritance, trying to free his serfs and opting to stay in his kid sister’s convent. So you’ve got to wonder, if the Russian novelist had a home office, what kind of ink-jet printer would he use? It’s a question worthy of a great thinker’s consideration. After all, depending on which system you choose, the cost of printing a black-and-white page can range from two to 14 cents. Whether you’re printing a 1,400-page novel or your favorite borscht recipes, it adds up fast.
Maybe he’d go for the Kodak. Unlike its rivals, which sell printers at a loss and make huge profits on the ink, the photo giant has been marketing its ESP printer line with an appealingly contrarian pitch: a fairly priced printer that takes cheap ink. Yes, it costs 30 percent more than comparable models, but the cartridges cost less than $15, and per-page printing costs are among the lowest in the industry. When I recently tried printing War and Peace using the Kodak ESP 5 and its $10 black cartridge, I got all the way up to page 317, where Rostov hears that the czar has been hit with a cannonball. Three cents a page works for me.
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(Excerpt) Read more at smartmoney.com ...
I thought printer ink was so expensive because Congress uses so much of it.
They use the black ink to print bills after they have voted on them. And don’t get me started on they use red ink.
FWIW, I found that it’s cheaper to have photo prints made at CVS than just the cost of photo paper from Staples. Doesn’t even consider the cost of paper. Definitely consider taking your prints to CVS or a similar outlet if you’re making more than a few copies.
I wonder if similar economies are available for text at those “office” chains, like mailboxes etc.?
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Get a Laser jet. My old Laserjet4 is very frugal with toner.
I have several computers. My newest one does not even have a printer attached and I doubt if it ever will.
I used to print out everything from Mapquest maps, to emails to notes to myself. But it seemed like I was changing a cartridge every few weeks. I started keeping track and it turned out I was!
Now instead of printing a map, I make a hand drawn map using the instructions provided.
Notes to myself, I go back to the way we used to do it. just write it down. ( I must confess I must take care so I can read my own writting).
Printing photos used to take a lot of ink until I discovered Walgreen photo printing. There are only a few photos I actually need a print of and the cost of having Walgreen do it is cheaper then using printer ink and the quality is much better.
I have no idea how much money I have saved since I stopped printing everything. Besides the ink cartridge I have discovered I am not using as much paper as I once did. I estimate at least $40 to $50 a month (here not counting the trip to the stationary store where I almost always impluse buy more).
I still have a printer. I still have a lap top I can connect to the printer but because it is not just there ready to go, I have to really need to have a print out before I do it. I can go months without that need popping up.
You can live without a printer. You will save money.
That’s my wife’s answer. She’s always sending me stuff to print at work.
Why is Printer Ink so expensive?
Because it is refined from the kindness in a liberal’s tarry black soul.
I refill my own...Buy a pint for $32.....Excellent...lasts forever....”Printer Filling Station”
That’s cool. How do you get a post with nothing in it?
Are you calling that adorable little kitten “nothing?”
Ink is expensive? That is news to me.
On the other hand, I can use a screw driver without cutting myself, know which end of said screw driver to hold, and even have tools beyond a screwdriver.
I can even understand a page of instructions, too. Lucky me - my parents insisted I learn something in school.
So, when I found ink was being sold at prices I didn’t like, I ordered bulk ink. Ink costs for a Canon s9000 dropped from $12 per cartridge (6 of ‘em!) to a bit over $1.00 per refill.
My present printer is a 17” graphic arts printer that uses 6 ink tanks that hold 100 ml. Bulk ink is $23 for 200 ml, and that is the high end of the price because that is the smallest size they sell. End cost is $12 instead of $85 per refill.
So - I can print on 17” by 100 foot rolls of heavy photo paper ($68 for 100 feet X 17” wide) for next to nothing.
Ny first printer was a laserjet (1994)-—I miss it.
The next one will be laser too.
How about color cartridges?
I can’t imagine anyone still using ink jet printers with the dinky little cartridges.
I read some time ago that, in the cartridge, the ink was the most expensive liquid in the world...$6000 per gallon?
They almost give away the printers in order to suck you into buying the ink.
I bought a Xerox laser printer last year. Does only B/W but I love it.
Was at WalMart the other day buying ink. Color and B/W cartridges cost me $70 bucks. On the shelves right next to the ink were brand new printers, none of them priced over $69! Most were between $35 and $60. Unbelievable.
I’ve been taking mine to a Rite Aid and it’s a lot cheaper. Plus it’s easier to edit pictures and stuff.
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