Richlist Posted November 16, 2014 Report Share Posted November 16, 2014 The Mail on Sunday today have an article on the exhorbitant cost of printer ink. As I will be replacing my printer soon & the press article is inconclusive I wondered if anyone has any recommendations or is aware of any comparative study of printer running costs ? It seems that buying a printer based just on a cheaper purchase price can be a false economy as many manufacturers sell at a loss & make their profits from the subsequent sales of printer ink/ cartridges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 I saw that article as well.Though I cant recommend a certain printer I believe it is a lot cheaper to get one with the four individual colour cartridges.Also be aware of using copy cartridges in your printer during the warranty period as it will register it on the software and can invalidate the warranty.Toner graphics I have always found to be very competitive on price for original and copy cartridges and will beat the prices if you get it cheaper else where.http://www.tonergraphics.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave A Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 I have used laser colour printers for a few years now, initial layout for both printer and toner cartridges is way higher, but unless you are a massive user you just install tham and forget about them. Forget the onscreen warnings about replacing the toner cartridge as well, mine has been coming on for about 3 months now, still printing. No good for photo quality printing. Excellent for all office based stuff. Current one is an HP laserjet 200, use it on the wireless network, excellent machine. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 I refill my own cartridges. Canon printer. Must have saved a small fortune over the pass 5 years especially on black ink when you have print off dozens of pages for contracts, inventories and DPS etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbut Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 I have a Brother which I have had for 6 years +, I always get my inks from Ebay and the colours are the same as the expensive ones , I have never had a problem with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted November 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 Thanks for the responses. The Mail on Sunday article went into detail as to the sorts of tricks that some manufacturers play: * Sell the printer at a loss and make their profits on subsequent ink/ cartridge replacement. * Have the printer run regular/ unnecessary printer head cleaning programs that use ink up. * Build triggers into the software that tells the user the printer is out of ink when it isn't. * Additional triggers will tell the user the cartridge is empty based on the number of prints made & not on ink levels. * etc etc. Perhaps I can also check if ''Which' has run a comparative test recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 My canon "empty black ink light" flashes even when I have just re-filled the cartridge. It's still flashing now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 If you use just black ink that can save you loads especially if they use a FX10 Cartridge as they last forever and I am talking about commercial office use. http://www.qualitycartridge.co.uk/0263b002aa-fx10?gclid=CNLAwanQgcICFerjwgodKRQAkg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazman Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 2nd vote for ebay. I pay about £12 for 4 cartriges of each colour. Treat your printer as disposable, They tend to pack up every 2-3 years anyway. Or you could look into a continus ink system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted November 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 It seems to me that most of the people replying have no idea how their printer performs compared to the competition.....i.e. how their ink consumption compares, how their running costs compare etc. Like me they have a printer that works, are reasonably happy with it and the ink is just a few pounds to replace now & again. In the last complete tax year (2013/14) I spent £66 on printer ink. Not much I suppose when you deduct the tax savings......so perhaps I should keep my current printer for a while longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 My Canon printer is 7 years old and has worked hard. My black ink costs about £10 a year self- filling by me. Don't use colour very much. I will look into HP's £1.99 a month for continuous ink supply as this on the face of it seems very reasonable to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted November 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 I will look into HP's £1.99 a month for continuous ink supply as this on the face of it seems very reasonable to me. Thanks for the info'......I didn't know about that offer so, will now take a look at the details. I guess the big question then is .... at what price have HP set the printer. After all, they have to make a profit somewhere and if its not from ink sales....! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave A Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 I bet there's a "from" somewhere in that offer! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted November 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 Been looking at the Epson Eco Tank L355 & L555 printers but the following article suggests its a rather foolish / expensive choice :- http://printercartridgesinkuk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/eco-tank-l355-and-l555-printer-nothing.html Seems Melboy has the right idea with refilling his cartridges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 Seems Melboy has the right idea with refilling his cartridges. It is easy to do as well, well, it is on my Canon Pixma 160. I think Youtube do a video on cartridge filling for a lot of the common use printer's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortitia Posted November 22, 2014 Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 I had a Brother printer/fax bought in Dubai that lasted 10 years of daily use - re-filled the cartridges with Tesco ink. Recommend wearing surgeon type gloves during process. It died after a software malfunction. Now got a pair of Canons (one home, one office) that run lovely on cheap Ebay cartridges - found the Tesco ink leaked in the Canon cartridges. Anything HP has always been a disaster in our house and this £1.99 thing sounds suitably suspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landlord1983 Posted December 3, 2014 Report Share Posted December 3, 2014 Electronic transfer and storage of documents would cut your printing costs right down! If anyone has a Kodak printer is it just me or do the cartridges run out ridiculously fast? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted December 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2014 Electronic transfer and storage of documents would cut your printing costs right down! I much rather you said COULD.....not would. Doesn't it rather depends on wether you ACTUALLY need a paper copy. Personally I rarely print a copy just to file it away. So no, I don't think electronic transfer & storage is the solution for me. The solution for me would be a reasonably priced printer with low running costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortitia Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 Good point RL. I've just tried using Dropbox to show damage to a flat using 25 photos sent to tenant and DPS. Took 5 goes to get it all in place then ex tenant moaned she could not access it on her smart phone! Online comment said how BT Cloud can slow you system down but raved about Dropbox. I like paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antnkel Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 I've just ordered replacement cartridges x 4 for an epson printer. £6 of eBay not sure if they'll be any good at that price but thought I'd give them a go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antnkel Posted December 8, 2014 Report Share Posted December 8, 2014 Just used these, their just as good as the originals. Can't see how they can be so cheap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdavidson Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 The only rule I go by is just make sure your cartridge(s) don't need a chip. You can refill as many times as you like. Toner is cheap. You can get replacement chips but this adds to the cost and defeats the object. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted December 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 By the word toner do you mean printer ink ? If so the toner is NOT cheap. You may be able to buy cut price cartridges & refills but that doesn't make them cheap......just cheaper than normal retail prices. Printer ink is the one liquid that is more expensive than perfume or aftershave per millelitre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortitia Posted December 14, 2014 Report Share Posted December 14, 2014 ...........and when injected into some cartridges it goes everywhere, leaks and makes a real big hard to get off mess. Cheap Ebay cartridges are good - buy from the 'power sellers' with 100% or near feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antnkel Posted December 14, 2014 Report Share Posted December 14, 2014 I agree with mortitia, £30 for 4 original cartridges. £6 for 12 on eBay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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