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[HUELEN10]

Do any of you buy a new printer every time you run out of ink? Not gonna lie GAF, I'm tempted to start doing this (again actually as I did in college for a while; got like 3 or 4 during a year). Basically, quite a few HP,, Epsom, and Lexmark printers with full-sized black and color cartridges can be found for around 20-25 USD new, which is sometimes cheaper than buying ink for them. After I use them, I keep any extra cables and donate them to a local church or school (don't know if you could get a tax write-off for it though), then crack open another one. Again, I haven't done this in ages, but I'll be damned if I haven't been tempted recently; trying to print some coupons and just ran out of black ink.

For example, an HP Deskjet 1512 is about 25 bucks, but the ink is 36. Might as well buy a new printer each time, right?

 

[bcl0328]

no, i get refill ink on amazon for $5

 

[Aeana]

You mean people don't just buy a new printer every time theirs runs out of ink?

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

The money is in the ink, the printer is just the delivery vehicle. A person is more likely to get the same brand supported printer if it breaks and still have a ton of ink left due to cost of the ink.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

Buy a laser printer. Inkjets are garbage.

 

[HUELEN10]

You mean people don't just buy a new printer every time theirs runs out of ink?

Not gonna lie, I did just that in college when money was tight. It sounds wasteful, but at least they got donated and used.

 

[AxeMan]

Loss Leader

Google it

 

[Manmademan]

No, because new printers dont come with anything near a full cartridge. You're wasting your money. Just shop online, look for deals

 

[Cerity]

The ink is pretty much where they try to make their money. Just buy refills/ go ciss or move to laser.

I knew a guy who ran a ink manufacturing/processing facility in Malaysia, and the markups on the entire industry is insane.

 

[akira28]

no, i get refill ink on amazon for $5

those kinda suck.

 

[bcl0328]

those kinda suck.

works fine for me. i don't notice a difference.

 

[Windu]

Ink is where they make their money. the printers are subsidized by the ink, similar to smartphones and Phone contracts.

 

[phillipgessert]

Printer cartridges often include an entire new print head, because people can't be relied on to clean them otherwise. This drives prices up for cartridges. On the other hand, the ink included in the cartridges for a new printer are usually barely filled, so you're bound to need new ink quickly. This makes people feel new ink cartridges are a poor value, since most people will assume the new ones will run out just as quickly. They won't.

 

[bomma_man]

razor/blade model

 

[Zona]

Wish they sourced the information of the graph but...

 

[DJ_Lae]

Buy a laser printer. Inkjets are garbage.

Yeah, after years of being fucked by inkjets I finally dove into laser printers. So much easier to deal with, and if you don't print something for a month there are no print heads to completely clog up and force you to buy new ink cartridges all over again.

 

[Ultratech]

For example, an HP Deskjet 1512 is about 25 bucks, but the ink is 36. Might as well buy a new printer each time, right?

Wanna hear a fun comparison?

$1000 HP Color Laserjet Printer; $250~$300 Toner Cartridges.

Buy a laser printer. Inkjets are garbage.

Yup.

Inkjets are shit and WILL mess up eventually.

 

[UrokeJoe]

Print what?

 

[knicks]

I get my ink for my printer on eBay for like $2.99 w/ free shipping. People who buy printer ink at a retail store are the same people who buy HDMI cables at Best Buy for $50.

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

Buy a laser printer. Inkjets are garbage.

I'm definitely look into this if my old Canon printer ever goes out on me. The thing doesn't even have wifi (I just hooked it up to my desktop to print share and got wireless printing working for my laptop from there) or those fancy LCD panels, but it has been reliable for the last 5 years so I stuck with it as printers are such finicky things, working retail I kept seeing broken printers brought in every week that were barely pass a year old.

 

[User 479360]

Our HP printer is borked. My old man thought it was the ink, so he sent me out to look for new cartridges. However, what he thought was a dried up colour cartridge bled all over the bag.

I think it's actually the printer that just won't work anymore.

I couldn't find colour at Walmart, nor could he, and when he saw the prices, he decided to just buy a new printer instead.

 

[Dai101]

Well, it's because the real business is in the ink. It literally costs more than human blood by ml.

 

[Escape Goat]

Well, it's because the real business is in the ink. It literally costs more than human blood by ml.

You saw the graph too, huh.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

I'm definitely look into this if my old Canon printer ever goes out on me. The thing doesn't even have wifi (I just hooked it up to my desktop to print share and got wireless printing working for my laptop from there) or those fancy LCD panels, but it has been reliable for the last 5 years so I stuck with it as printers are such finicky things, working retail I kept seeing broken printers brought in every week that were barely pass a year old.

I just looked and saw a laser printer for 100 bucks. If you print frequently....knowing that prices for inks scales from $15 to $30, you can literally pay off that laser printer in 3 ink purchases.

I'm considering one now.

 

[Sean]

For example, an HP Deskjet 1512 is about 25 bucks, but the ink is 36. Might as well buy a new printer each time, right?

Almost every printer comes bundled with "starter" cartridges which are tiny with barely any ink in them. So you wouldn't really be saving money in this scenario.

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

I just looked and saw a laser printer for 100 bucks. If you print frequently....knowing that prices for inks scales from $15 to $30, you can literally pay off that laser printer in 3 ink purchases.

I'm considering one now.

Yeah, you're right. I should take the plunge soon as I do print a lot as I pay most of my bills and started purchasing more and more things strictly from home.

 

[HUELEN10]

If I go color laser, what is the best (brother?) sub-200 USD thing with toner that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?

 

[Dai101]

You saw the graph too, huh.

Years ago. Also is in my business range to know this.

 

[Wafflecakes]

Buy a laser printer. Inkjets are garbage.

This!

 

[Sectorseven]

I rarely print things, but next time I run out of ink I'm very tempted to buy a laser printer. I can live without color if need be.

 

[UrokeJoe]

I rarely print things, but next time I run out of ink I'm very tempted to buy a laser printer. I can live without color if need be.

Brother for documents. Services for everything else.

 

[Escape Goat]

Years ago. Also is in my business range to know this.

Haha im just joshin ya. Someone posted it up the page.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freebie_marketing

Its the old Gilllet business model

 

[NYCmetsfan]

Loss Leader

Google it

technically not a loss leader but they're related.

this forum should know this practice as its the same practice that drives the video game console market

 

[GK86]

You know how banks give away pens? I take those and use the inks from there.

 

[UrokeJoe]

Seriously who are we kidding, it's all a dead end.

 

[Professor Lich]

You mean people don't just buy a new printer every time theirs runs out of ink?

The real cost is getting rid of all the empty printers! Can't just throw them away.

 

[hateradio]

This is like the successive thread to this. Home office printers are the worst. Don't print black and white when color is gone.

Get a laser printer, never look back.

 

[Chanser]

Epson has ditched ink cartridges for ink tanks.

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/1...rs-goodbye-ink-cartridges-hello-ink-tanks.htm

 

[UrokeJoe]

Get a laser printer, never look back.

.

 

[Stumpokapow]

If I go color laser, what is the best (brother?) sub-200 USD thing with toner that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?

You don't want to ask individual people for printer advice. People only own one printer at a time, so all they can tell you is if they feel theirs is shit or not shit.

What you can do is look at product reviews:
http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-cheap-printer/

The Wirecutter compared a variety of printers based on quality and price and concluded the Samsung Xpress M2835DW is the best option. Its availability on Amazon is spotty, and so they recommend if it is not available to get the Brother HL-2270DW.

 

[Dai101]

Epson has ditched ink cartridges for ink tanks.

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/1...rs-goodbye-ink-cartridges-hello-ink-tanks.htm

And that was after years of strugling with aftermarket CISS

The bad thing is, those printers aren't really reliable (anecdotal evidence) as far as i know.

 

[MauMau]

The HP OfficeJet 8600 Pro is a doozie.

Want to print a black and white image and the Cyan is out? It won't. No matter what you set the settings to. Impossible unless you fill up the Cyan. HP's response is having an empty cartridge can damage the print head no matter what colors you are actually using. I call bullshit.

 

[Loofy]

I do this aswell. Go on slick deals and theres always inkjets printers on sale.

I wish wifi was more common in cheap laser printers though.

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

The real scam with inkjet printers is when they come with trial cartridges. What a joke that is.

 

[hoy]

I have been shopping on ebay for years for ink cartridges and see it as being cheaper than getting the printers that are on sale with a single set? $20 got me a bag, enough for 5+ changes last time I ordered. Print quality isn't something I have a clue about, I just use it for copies, forms, text and it gets the job done.

 

[Necromanti]

I get my ink for my printer on eBay for like $2.99 w/ free shipping. People who buy printer ink at a retail store are the same people who buy HDMI cables at Best Buy for $50.

Are they official cartridges? Because I thought that a lot of printers use cartridges with sensors that prevent the use of refilled or non-legitimate cartridges these days. Heck, some printers even have region-locking; there are some printers that won't accept a cartridge compatible with that model if it was bought outside Russia or the Middle East (for a lower price, naturally).

 

[AxeMan]

technically not a loss leader but they're related.

this forum should know this practice as its the same practice that drives the video game console market

How is it not a loss leader?

They are selling a product for pretty close to cost if not below to get you locked into over-priced consumables

 

[Mineshaft_Gap]

Monochrome laser.

Brother monochrome laser.

8000 yield for $80.

 

[Persona7]

They haven't been putting full cartridges in printers for a decade or longer and instead use sample cartridges.