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artie

Sawdust manufacturer.
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Replacement ink cartridges for my 6 yo printer are £29.

Brand new current model printer including cartridges £39.

Considering that my printer won't print, but is not showing empty cartridges, I think I'll play safe and get a new one.
 
Similar situation with my Epson printer but there are many 'compatible' (i.e. not manufactured by Epson) cartridges out there that work fine. The printer tries to stop you using them but it's easily defeated (the supplier tells you how; basically you have to fit them a couple of times and then the printer gives up and plays ball). The ones I use are literally a third of the price of the ones Epson wants me to buy direct from them.

The thing that really annoyed me about the cartridges that came with the printer (and made me determined to say 'F**K YOU EPSON!!') was that they are special ones with enough ink to last only a few pages. Not playing that game thanks.

Edit: SeanF beat me to it.
 
Similar situation with my Epson printer but there are many 'compatible' (i.e. not manufactured by Epson) cartridges out there that work fine. The printer tries to stop you using them but it's easily defeated (the supplier tells you how; basically you have to fit them a couple of times and then the printer gives up and plays ball). The ones I use are literally a third of the price of the ones Epson wants me to buy direct from them....
You obviously have no idea why Epson make by far the best ink-jet printers and why they still refuse to license their technology to any other manufacturer!

All other manufacturers use the Canon 'Bubble Jet' technology which uses a heater to create a 'bubble' which explodes, forcing the ink (uncontrolled quantity) out of the nozzle. ---- Epson on the other hand use a Piezoelectric pump to deliver a specific amount of ink (as little as 0.2pico-lt). This means that the quality of the ink (the size of the particulate matter) must be finer since the nozzles are smaller than those using the Canon technology. 'Compatible' ink cartridges do not use the superior quality inks so risk clogging the nozzles.
 
Another thing a lot of people don't realise (including my other half) ink will dry out in the cartridges over time, we bought a new printer and only used it a few times, was probably a year until we needed to print again and the ink was dry.
 
You obviously have no idea why Epson make by far the best ink-jet printers and why they still refuse to license their technology to any other manufacturer!

All other manufacturers use the Canon 'Bubble Jet' technology which uses a heater to create a 'bubble' which explodes, forcing the ink (uncontrolled quantity) out of the nozzle. ---- Epson on the other hand use a Piezoelectric pump to deliver a specific amount of ink (as little as 0.2pico-lt). This means that the quality of the ink (the size of the particulate matter) must be finer since the nozzles are smaller than those using the Canon technology. 'Compatible' ink cartridges do not use the superior quality inks so risk clogging the nozzles.
You have no idea how much or how little I know about printers. You might have a point if I were printing photographs or similarly graphics-intensive pages. In retirement I just need to print the occasional document and for me the compatible cartridges work just fine on my entry-level inkjet.
 
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Though the bill to replace all four toners in my colour laser printer is very painful indeed. Only comes up every 5 years or so though.
 
I don't miss owning an inkjet printer at all, laser printers are cheap enough these days for those who print infrequently.
I've been wondering about them, are they cost effective for someone who prints very little?
 
I've been wondering about them, are they cost effective for someone who prints very little?


In my own case, YES, though I hasten to add that my Laser (a Brother actually, though I think it makes little difference, any of the big names seem more or less the same) is "only" B&W printer. At a very rough guess, since retirement I probably print no more than about 30 to 50 pages per month.

I probably use one toner pack about every 2 years, perhaps a little longer, and at about 20 quid (equivalent) I find that not too bad. One "trick" (which was listed by Brother in their Manual BTW) is when you first notice your prints getting a little faint, remove the toner cartridge and shake it side to side a bit (not too violently), then replace. That seems to help, along with setting the printer to "toner saving" for all prints. That doesn't seem to make the prints at all faint.

BTW, I always have a spare toner cartridge on hand, and it stays within its sealed plastic pouch (and cardboard box) until its actually needed.

However I do also have an Epson colour ink jet printer, simply for photo printing these days. Again I don't print all that much, but at the time I bought it, it came up with good marks in all the reviews for high quality photos (with the special Epson paper, which I also use). I print perhaps <10 photos per month, on average. The specific model I have is the Epson Stylus Photo R360, but as said, it's probably at least 8 years old now, maybe more. The cartridges do dry out from time to time, though I keep the printer covered when not in use, and it's also half way up the wall on a shelf, and not directly in front of a window, all of which MAY help delay drying out. Although the cartridges are VERY expensive (IMO) at least the R360 has 6 separate ink cartridges and it will allow you to change them individually so buying "1 or 2 at a time" is not too pocket busting.

I did try non-Epson cartridges once, but despite the manufacturer's instructions, I never did manage to get the Epson to play ball with them. But at least I did get a refund for those when I returned them.

HTH
 
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Tis the reason why printer ink is one of the most valuable commodities by weight .
Have you tried giving the print heads a good clean :unsure:
 
For ink?

I saw someone offering ink for £10 per month
HP's Instant Ink service starts at £0.99 per month if you are a very light user (15 pages per month, with £1 for an additional 10 pages if needed). It can work out much cheaper than buying cartridges retail if they have a plan that suits you and they automatically send new cartridges out as needed and reuse/recycle the old ones

Sean
 
I've been wondering about them, are they cost effective for someone who prints very little?
For me it has: I paid £55 for the printer (a Dell 1250c) in 2012 and paid about £14 for four compatible toners about 4 years ago of which I've installed two so far. My printing needs are very minimal so its worked out very well.
 
😆 950 quid!!!!!

Back to Epson printers, i too have one, bought a load of cartridges for about 12 quid off ebay, fake, and after the hasstle of making the printer accept them, happy days. The reason the printers are cheap is probably to get you to buy into their brand. Our cartridges were about 30 quid for one set of epson. I only use mine for invoices and occasional printing emails etc. At one point the mrs printed hundreds of pages for her coursework.... all good on fake cartridges. Our printer ( and laptops ) are all over 10 years old now
 
I never realised how expensive printer cartridges were until I started doing the home schooling thing during lockdown

I normally just print off the odd invoice but suddenly it was pages and pages everyday, and in colour 😲

Cost me a fortune.
 
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