Open Thread: What's Your Solution to the High Cost of Printer Ink?
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
Not print :-)
I go to the library and print. I can print 15¢ 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.
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.
Even with the lexmark … notice how difficult they make it for you to print in grayscale!
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.
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.