Printers And Ink-oh My..

[Geofa 108]

Maybe a slightly different hardware discussion. I went out tonight and got replacement ink for my epson printer-with a $10 off coupon I still paid $75 for new ink carts. and they don't last all that long. I figure I could just as easily buy a new printer every time I run out of ink and it would probably cost the same.Any opinions of the "cheapest" printer to run including the cost of ink? Are the Laser printers now competitive-would one be better off getting one of these considering cost per page?I am almost tempted to pull one of my old printers out of the closet with a single black ink cartridge-the cost now is really ridiculous-maybe time to go back to a typewriter and ribbon-they didn't cost that much!

[Guest jbinner]

Well, if you can get away with mono-chrome, Laser is ALWAYS cheaper per page, toner lasts longer, etc. However, that being said....Couple months ago, I watched an info-mercial for the Kodak newest lines, with supposedly cheap ink costs. Turns out the reviews of the printer itself are junk. :) So, I ended up with a new Canon MX310. All-In-One with ink costs around $20 each, for color or black. Its quick, quiet, and does the job well. It got good reviews when I looked, and can do photos with another photo ink :)There are other choices, but this is my $0.02 :)

Maybe a slightly different hardware discussion. I went out tonight and got replacement ink for my epson printer-with a $10 off coupon I still paid $75 for new ink carts. and they don't last all that long. I figure I could just as easily buy a new printer every time I run out of ink and it would probably cost the same.Any opinions of the "cheapest" printer to run including the cost of ink? Are the Laser printers now competitive-would one be better off getting one of these considering cost per page?I am almost tempted to pull one of my old printers out of the closet with a single black ink cartridge-the cost now is really ridiculous-maybe time to go back to a typewriter and ribbon-they didn't cost that much!

[ryanbatc 12,798]

What my wife and I use is the HP F340 mutlifunction printerhttp://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4837453I think its about 15 bucks for a black cartridge and 20 for colorI print almost everything on Draft mode in B+W and we have only changed the black twice since we bought it about 3-4 yrs agoAlso I've read a few of the Canons don't go through ink fast, however I think you have to buy the colors separatelyhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16828102254

[Geofa 108]

Thanks for the advice you guys! Both sound much more reasonable.

[TechguyMaxC 516]

Maybe a slightly different hardware discussion. I went out tonight and got replacement ink for my epson printer-with a $10 off coupon I still paid $75 for new ink carts. and they don't last all that long. I figure I could just as easily buy a new printer every time I run out of ink and it would probably cost the same.Any opinions of the "cheapest" printer to run including the cost of ink? Are the Laser printers now competitive-would one be better off getting one of these considering cost per page?I am almost tempted to pull one of my old printers out of the closet with a single black ink cartridge-the cost now is really ridiculous-maybe time to go back to a typewriter and ribbon-they didn't cost that much!

There's no such thing as "cheap" when it comes to printer ink, and this is by design. Printer manufacturers make all their money on ink cartridges, often selling the printers themselves at a loss, knowing they'll more than make their money back on ink sales over the years.If you find cheaper cartridges they're either:-off-brand/re-conditionedor-half fullNote: the cartridges that come with virtually every printer are "starter" cartridges meaning they're half-full at best (I've seen them be as low as 1/4 full even).