Rico's Rant

Rico · June 19, 2009, 06:56:27 AM

I don't "rant" often and this really won't be a big deal. But I want to talk about ink jet printers/cartridge costs. I've had a few ink jet printers, none of them perfect. But all of them charge a TON for tiny bits of ink in a plastic housing. Now, I know there are refill kits, generic replacement cartridges, etc. but in my attempts, none of that stuff works very well. I currently have a pretty good Epson multi-function scanner/printer, etc. It even prints well on printable DVD or CD's. Now this thing takes like 6 ink cartridges. One black and the others are all color. To replace one cartridge it costs $15. Yesterday I had to buy 4 that had run out (been printing photos lately). I tried to go online to a place called Clickinks.com and find a cheaper source for them. I ordered what I thought were Epson cartridges only to have some cheap, knock-off ones show up. I tried two of them and they wouldn't work. So I shipped them all back for a refund. OH - don't ever order from Clickinks.com They wouldn't even cover my return shipping.

I want to get a color laser printer, some day. Just can't really do it right now. I've known some people even buy a new printer when all the ink runs out. It doesn't cost much more! It's nuts! I know this is where they make their money, it's like the razor and the razor-blade thing. But this is just robbery. Anyway, just had to vent a bit. So, there's my rant. :taz

billybob476 · June 19, 2009, 07:03:30 AM

I fully agree. I don't print a ton of pictures so when I need to, I just go to Kinko's or the photolab and get them done. For other stuff I have a black and white laser. So worth it!
My sister in law is starting grad school in September and she wanted to take my old inkjet that's sitting on the floor. I told her not to bother, printing pages and pages of notes on an inkjet is NOT an economical option.

Rico · June 19, 2009, 07:13:04 AM

Yeah, for big photo jobs we have used some other places. Lynn printed a lot out last year after her trip to Europe that way. Not bad. I don't print a ton, but I like to be able to do some at home. Oh - I also don't like how it basically forced me to buy new cartridges and wouldn't even keep printing. I know there was a little ink left in there!

billybob476 · June 19, 2009, 07:14:09 AM

That's why I like my laser. Shake the cartridge a bit and it goes a bit longer.

M-5 · June 19, 2009, 11:48:57 AM

I feel your pain. Once I needed a color replacement cartridge. The replacement cartridge was 34.99 and a new printer was 24.99. Needless to say, I bought the new printer and it's still going after eight years.

iceman · June 19, 2009, 12:51:28 PM

I Know your pain my printer has eight cartridges so that's a wopping 160 to replace them all, I get replacements at Costco and can usually save 50 bucks on the ink.

Its a great scam isn't it 100 bucks for the printer 20 bucks for the ink cartridges each.

Allen · June 19, 2009, 06:46:05 PM

I hear ya, Rico! if some genius chemist could invent really cheap ink, he'd be the next billionaire! I know a chemist (wink wink), now if only I could find an investor....

The walgreens in our area have ink-refill stations in their photolabs. It's like $5 for black and $7 for color. We've refilled our HP cartridges several times with no issues. Don't know if they do Epson though.

Kodak had some deal claiming their ink was the cheapest ever, but I haven't shopped to see if their printers are more up front or something like that.

I just send all my pictures to Walmart.com and have them printed that way. Not as fast as doing them at home, but we go to Wal-mart like twice a week anyway so we just pick them up when we're there.

Meds · June 20, 2009, 12:58:45 AM

We've a epson multi printer as well and we now just refill our empty cartridges at a place called cartridge world. It's less than half the price as buying new ones and the quality is excellent. Not sure if they have stores in the states though.

Jobydrone · June 22, 2009, 05:41:40 AM

Snapfish.com is a good service for photo printing. Pretty affordable and convenient. I haven't had a printer at home for many years because of the issue Ric is ranting about.

Rico · June 22, 2009, 06:10:40 AM

Quote from: HawkeyeMeds on June 20, 2009, 12:58:45 AM
We've a epson multi printer as well and we now just refill our empty cartridges at a place called cartridge world. It's less than half the price as buying new ones and the quality is excellent. Not sure if they have stores in the states though.

We do have stores like that here. I may try having them refill one or two the next time this happens. I think what kills me the most is how little ink is in these things and how quickly they seem to run out.