Open Thread: What’s Your Solution to the High Cost of Printer Ink?
May 21st, 2007 (4:53pm) Anne Zelenka 33 Comments
A study commissioned by Kodak found that people use different tactics to deal with the high cost of printer ink. Some print in black and white or in draft mode, some view information on the screen instead of printing, and some print at other places like friends’ houses or their workplaces.
I avoid the inkjet ink premium by using my inexpensive monochrome laser printer (a Lexmark E240n) for printing text documents at a cost of about two pennies a page. I don’t print photographs except at Christmastime, and for that, I use Costco’s cheap printing service.
I own three Hewlett-Packard color inkjets, but as a matter of principle and frugality, I rarely use them. Message to HP: don’t think I didn’t notice when you decreased the standard inkjet cartridge size by over 50% between generations of printers. Because of that, I went out of my way to buy a Lexmark laser instead of Hewlett-Packard, though I’m sure Lexmark marks up inkjet cartridges in the same outrageous way.
What’s your solution to the high cost of printer ink? And are you satisfied with your current printer? Share in the comments.
33 Comments Post your own comment
Lon Phillips says: May 21st, 2007 5:19pm
First, I don’t print very often; second, I use draft mode and third, I will be refilling my current cartridge instead of getting a brand new one.
justin says: May 21st, 2007 5:24pm
Mostly, I print maps for places I need to go. So I just take a screenshot and send it to my phone over bluetooth. Works pretty well.
Otherwise, when I need to print an invoice, I have access to a laser printer that works pretty well.
warren says: May 21st, 2007 5:48pm
All my stuff is printed on the trusty mono laser workhorse, but my wife is a teacher, so as you can imagine there’s a LOT of colour printing that gets done here.
I’ve promised her that the next colour printer will be a laser, (and coming very soon) because I’m sick of the ridiculous cost of inkjet printing and the horribly variable quality due to uncleanable print heads, etc, etc. The last printer died because the print head was gunked up, and a replacement head was out of the question - throw it away and buy a new one was the consensus.
The volume of colour printing that gets done here, we should see a laser pay for itself within 12 months… it’s just the initial outlay that stings, but then i guess that’s what happens when you aren’t making up the margin on consumables.
Tim says: May 21st, 2007 5:50pm
I use the new Kodak Printer. For one ea. color and black and white cartridge the total was $21. The printer was about $150. It seems to be a decent machine so far, although I’ve only had it maybe 3 or 4 weeks.
Zvi Band says: May 21st, 2007 6:08pm
Not print :-)
michele says: May 21st, 2007 6:29pm
I go to the library and print. I can print 15ยข a page there. Normally I only need to print something once every 2 months and my printer ink usually dries up if I leave it too long. I have had very bad luck with printers in general. The last one a friend gave me and I spent $50 on ink and it printed 2 copies and died. Ugh. That was painful.
zemote says: May 21st, 2007 6:52pm
My solution is to print as little as possible, about the only printing I do these days are photo’s which are pretty rare, but I will not use aftermarket ink for that.
VB says: May 21st, 2007 7:09pm
Even with the lexmark … notice how difficult they make it for you to print in grayscale!
Nick says: May 21st, 2007 7:19pm
I have a fax machine that doubles as low cost, networked laser printer. But this is practical only if you need a fax machine for your business (which my wife does). Otherwise, the extra phone line charges offset any ink savings.
bkardokus says: May 21st, 2007 8:59pm
With the cost of gas these days, it can cost less to print yourself than to drive to Costco or a friend’s house to print.
astobasto says: May 21st, 2007 9:00pm
Not print and outsource all the administrative work.
colleenlynnecox says: May 21st, 2007 9:39pm
Normally, I take notes of the computer onto a sheet of paper. For use laptop users, when I find some bit of information I want online to take to a meeting or something, I bookmark it, bring my laptop to the meeting and share it off the laptop, or I just e-mail the damn thing to them, because I am usually one of several with laptops at the meeting.
(I should note I am a student, and some departments - like mine - require that you buy a laptop before starting school).
Saiko Bob says: May 21st, 2007 11:19pm
I use a program called InkSaver… http://www.inksaver.com.
It allows me to control how much ink gets used with a slider that can be set from 0-75% savings. I usually have it set to 50% savings, and my prints look great; most of the time I can’t even tell that it’s saving ink!
I turn it down to 10% or 0% savings when I absolutely need a printout with heavy ink usage, which is rare.
Prateek Sharma says: May 22nd, 2007 1:30am
I have a canon ip1000 inkjet printer (which i bought in 2005 for $60)..
Unlike the HP printers, the ink cartridges for this printer are cheap as they dont have the print head attached to them.
For 10$ I can buy both color as well as B&W cartridges that last for nearly 400 pages!
But wait! There is more to it, I can buy 3rd party refill cartridges which cost around $4(both color and B&W) and give me the same quality! So that ways, I get the maximum output with minimum cost!
Razib says: May 22nd, 2007 4:11am
We use an HP 4250 S Printer in our office. We use a toner of about $185 for it in every 15 days.
Canvas of life - Lives of real people around
FeralWorker says: May 22nd, 2007 6:11am
Even if you rarely print, your print cartridges are silently dying. Their eager little hearts shrivel due to your neglect, and when you finally have something you really need to print, you discover the cartridges gave up on you long ago and quietly achieved a higher state of existence, far beyond the reach of your USB cable and your desperate need for something on paper. This usually happens at 11 PM on a Sunday when Staples is closed.
IDX says: May 22nd, 2007 6:53am
Ditch HP, use a Canon. All the colors are separated and each cartridge is 10-12$ Much more efficient. I used to have an HP and was constantly throwing out half full cartridges.
Paul Glover says: May 22nd, 2007 6:55am
We print enough that it was worth the money to have a color laser. Much faster to print, does duplex, and way cheaper per page. It’s an expensive initial outlay, but has paid for itself many times over in lower printing costs and less wasted toner (separate black, magenta, cyan and yellow cartridges are the only way to go!)
Even then, we only use color when it’s necessary to, which isn’t very often.
DK says: May 22nd, 2007 7:01am
I’ve been using http://private.abacus24-7.com for a while. Pretty happy with them.
Pete says: May 22nd, 2007 7:03am
I’m surprised that no one has mentioned using remanufactured cartridges. There is no messy refilling but you still get a huge savings over the printer manufacturer’s cartridges. I use 123inkjet.com but be sure to use a throw away address as they are notorious for spam. There are many others out there as well.
Sergio says: May 22nd, 2007 10:10am
If you’re on Windows, you can use FinePrint (http://fineprint.com/products/fineprint/index.html) and print 2 or 4 pages per sheet, resize, adjust, etc. It sits right between the app and the regular printer driver.
Charlie says: May 22nd, 2007 11:12am
I print in monochrome, draft, always before any final printing. I look carefully at the screen to monitor what I think the colors will be. I don’t have time to run to officemax or any of those places. I suppose if I had a hughe amount of output, I might. Interesting about hp and the smaller cartriges—nice of them to let us know. With the cost of gas, and my time of course, printing at home may be the most frugal way to go.
Mike C says: May 22nd, 2007 12:41pm
I use a multi function laser printer, my wife wanted a color printer for grad school until I explained the economics/costs. If she needs to print color, she prints at the office.
There’s so much paper coming into the house, I’m really reluctant to create more, so I rarely print anything, usually directions.
Don’t let your ink cartridges sit, they dry out over time.
John B says: May 22nd, 2007 12:57pm
First, I rarely print. However, when I do I use an ancient monochrome laser whenever possible. I have an HP multifunction that I usually use for color printing, which is very rare.
I refill my own cartridges using a kit from Costco. Usually I have to add some ink to the cartridges of the HP before I print because I print so rarely. If the HP didn’t have a scanner, or if I had more desk space, I’d try to use an old Canon BJC-4100 for any non-photo color printing, (which is most of my printing), because you don’t actually have to fill the cartridges, just drop a few drops of ink on the foam at the bottom and you’re good to go.
I should also mention that all of these printers were either given to me or found. I don’t print often enough to feel justified actually purchasing a printer.
Richard says: May 22nd, 2007 2:03pm
I use my own blood. It’s readily available and cheaper than printer ink.
source :http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/peripherals/hp-ink-costs-more-than-human-blood-booze-212444.php
David says: May 22nd, 2007 4:37pm
In Harvey Norman (Sydney, Australia) they are always having sales on cheap printers. In fact sometimes they are so cheap that you’re better off buying a new printer (which comes with “Starter” ink and paper) than buying refills or paper.
So the other day they had a sale on some HP photo sized printers for $30. The amount of paper it came with cost $10, and the ink cost about $40 for double what came with the printer. Even money, so I bought 2 printers. After the ink is used up, sell it on ebay for $10 and I make a profit.
Anne Zelenka says: May 22nd, 2007 4:38pm
@Richard: yuck! ;)
Curt Carmack says: May 23rd, 2007 11:37pm
Not all inkjets are ink guzzlers. I use an HP K550 with 4 separate ink tanks. They are about $15 each and last for a very long time (I seem to get at least 2000 sheets out of them). The printer duplexes, is networked, and still costs around $200. Not too bad, and actually cheaper and faster printing than low-end color lasers. Besides, most of the cheap color lasers are enormous and very heavy, to boot.
sathish4u says: May 24th, 2007 6:45am
Please same the resources as much as possible. It’s my advice to all my friends & for me also. So I’ll as less as possible but we have to use for our problems only if it is Hundred percently requierd. Once again I requesting to u all please save the resources as much as possible.
clkl says: May 25th, 2007 9:16am
For us, the color laser printer justified itself within a couple of months. I also have a monochrome laser, which is cheaper to use both in toner and because it doesn’t need to have a drum replaced.
For longer documents, I use the “print 4 pages per sheet” option, often using both sides of the page. This way, I get 8 pages per letter-sized sheet.
Rob Witham says: May 26th, 2007 5:42pm
I used to use draft when I owned inkjet printers. At least the cartridges lasted longer that way. I also never bought color cartridges. When the color ran out I simply printed only in black and white.
Last year I upgraded to an inexpensive monochrome laser. I have never regretted that upgrade! Speed, quality, consistency…
I e-mail photos to the photo shop and pick them up at my convenience. I find it cheaper to have them professionally printed and the photo quality is much better as well.
Paul Palinkas says: May 29th, 2007 4:17pm
I, too, use an old black & white laser printer. The print quality is great, (600 dpi) and I find print cartridges on eBay for $20-$25. The old Apple Laserwriters (many are also Windows-capable) and the HP Laserjet series (up to the Laserjet 6MP) can be found for a song, too. I even have found several new, sealed toner cartridges at thrift stores for $5 each! And the older printers will get you about 3000 pages per toner. Add in a ten-ream box of cheap paper for $20 and you’re set…
I DO use an inkjet for color, though, but with 3rd party ink. What really matters on inkjets is using the proper kind of paper, which is costly, but again, I only use it when warranted.
Peter Olson says: July 22nd, 2007 6:54pm
The best thing is to compare commercial printing to actual cost to print in office or home. Lets say you need 500 postcards. Should you print this on your new inkjet printer or send to a commercial printer.
Consider the cost of paper then the ink. How about cutting those cards. Have you spent. Over a $100 yet? You can but a 1000 full color professional post cards for about $150.
Do you see the savings … your time is worth it.