Modern color ink jets are like modern consoles. They sell the initial hardware cheap, but the cartridges (literally) are ridiculously expensive. It's a little box full on ink, how much could it possibly cost to manufacture? Apparently enough to charge consumers, on average, about $20-$30 a pop for them. If you're mostly going to be doing or can get away with B/W, I'd highly recommend just picking up a lower-end HP laserjet. If you do alot of printing, you'll save a ton of money in the long run. You can find them for like sub-$200 these days easily. Personally, I save all my printouts for work or school, where I can waste their money.