ink efficient printers??

A

albireo13

Full time employment: Posting here.
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Sep 4, 2017
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I've got an HP Envy 5530 inkjet printer which has been working well for years. However, the price of replacement ink has gone through the roof, for OEM ink. I could get a new printer for the price of replacement color and BW cartridges!!

I haven't tried 3rd party ink yet but, am considering looking for a replacement printer if they are more efficient these days. Any good suggestions?
 
Brother ink jet cartridges are cheap.
 
Do you do a lot of color printing? If not, get a Brother laser printer.
 
I've been happy with my Epson Ecotank. It's one of those with no cartridge, you fill it with liquid ink, which lasts forever compared with the few drops you get in each cartridge. It feels good not to be ripped off for cartridges anymore.
 
CaptTom said:
I've been happy with my Epson Ecotank. It's one of those with no cartridge, you fill it with liquid ink, which lasts forever compared with the few drops you get in each cartridge. It feels good not to be ripped off for cartridges anymore.
Click to expand...

+1

It’s great, doesn’t seem to dry up. So happy no cartridges.

The Costco deal even came with a second set of ink bottles. I wonder if we’ll ever run out.
 
I have a Canon laser printer (I can get cheap toner on Amazon and through other vendors), which will eventually get replaced with a Brother. I also have an Epson multifunction inkjet, which I use for occasional color printing. I typically go through an ink set every 1-2 years on the Epson.
 
audreyh1 said:
...The Costco deal even came with a second set of ink bottles. I wonder if we’ll ever run out.
Click to expand...

I bought a spare set of ink bottles with my Epson, too. Two years ago last month. All the ink tanks are still nearly full, except black which I use the most. That one is about 3/4 full. I haven't had to refill any yet, and I still have half of the original black ink bottle, plus all the spares I bought.

I think it was an HP exec who was once quoted as saying they don't sell printers, they sell cartridges. The practically give the printers away, just to drive high-profit cartridge sales. No way do I want to support that business model.

I had a Brother ink jet for a long time, and it worked well. But I put it in storage and bought the ink tank printer when I got fed up with the cartridge prices. The ink tank unit has probably paid for itself already.
 
You’re right, I think we only used half the black ink bottle to fill too.

Kind of a neat system with keyed bottles preventing you from pouring the wrong color ink in a given tank.
 
CaptTom said:
I think it was an HP exec who was once quoted as saying they don't sell printers, they sell cartridges. The practically give the printers away, just to drive high-profit cartridge sales. No way do I want to support that business model.
Click to expand...
A number of years ago, our inkjet printer died. Of course, I always had at least one set of back up cartridges, which weren't cheap. I went on ebay and found a used printer that took the same cartridges. I paid $17 for it but it allowed me to use the cartridges I already had rather than them going to waste. We still have that printer though we no longer use it since we made the switch to the laser printer a couple of years ago.
 
Many printer companies now have their version of Ink Tank type printers.

I believe Epson was the first and I've owned one for a few years. The original bottles of ink lasted about 2 years. I bought refill bottles recently and that should last about another 2 years. It's a good feeling not having to worry about running out of ink and getting socked by high cartridge prices.

Still not perfect though as sometimes the ink does clog which needs to clean cycle (that uses up ink). I've figured out that with my Ink Tank printer, I need to be patient with the clean cycle. Run it once, then don't print overnight to see how well the clean went. Instead I run about 3 cycles and that uses more ink than needed.

For my printer, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give a 7.5.

If you don't need color and just print text, I'd say laser is the way to go. Otherwise, not so clear cut. I've had both and don't think I'd go back to laser. But a personal choice.
 
I think we’ve only run the clean cycle once in 2-3 years and it only took one go.
 
We do a moderate amount of printing. I've owned laser and ink tank type printers over the years, but I settled on a Brother MCF-J4700W. Replacement cartridges are around $1.50 each via ebay. Highly recommend.
 
audreyh1 said:
I think we’ve only run the clean cycle once in 2-3 years and it only took one go.
Click to expand...

I've over run the clean cycle. Granted, I've gone weeks without printing.

I've yet to change the maintenance box of my Epson Ecotank. I find the maintenance box level indicator confusing. I never know it is showing nearly full or empty. I've had the splash screen come of to check ink levels and the box. But then I turn off the printer, turn it back on and it prints again. That's one of the reasons why I'd lower the printer rating if I was rating. Those things are a bit confusing, at least to me.
 
CaptTom said:
I've been happy with my Epson Ecotank. It's one of those with no cartridge, you fill it with liquid ink, which lasts forever compared with the few drops you get in each cartridge. It feels good not to be ripped off for cartridges anymore.
Click to expand...


+1... I bought mine maybe 2 years ago and they gave me extra ink in the box as an incentive... I still have all 2nd bottles unopened... Just looked and am at 50% in the printer...


Now, I do have a color laser that I use but for pics it is not that great which is why I had to buy the inkjet... I print large jobs on the laser...


HMMMM, might have to do some math and see which is cheaper... maybe stop using the laser...


Edit to add after reading others.... I had to run the clean cycle one also... but now try and print something more often as DD went off to college and does not print as much... even with that I still have lots of ink...


Edit to add more.... it says that you get 7,000 pages for a black ink bottle and 6,000 pages for color... WOW, way cheaper than the laser... they get 2,000 or so per cartridge... and the bottle are MUCH cheaper...
 
Last edited:
We do a fair amount of color prints. For this reason I am sticking with inkjet.
 
albireo13 said:
I am looking now at:

Epson ET-2850
or
Epson-ET3850 (splurge)
Click to expand...


I went with the one with the sheet feeder. I've scanned boxes full of old paperwork. The sheet feeder doesn't always work great. It's sensitive to the type of paper and how smooth it is. But most of the time it's OK and saves a lot of time.


tfudtuckerpucker said:
Replacement cartridges are around $1.50 each via ebay.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I tried the cheap-o cartridges too. Some worked, but so many had problems that I gave up. And I never saw anything close to $1.50. More like $15 IIRC.
 
My HP5530 has been a workhorse, running for 5+ years.
It does drop wifi connection periodically but a pwr cycle
brings it back. Print quality is good. However,
I could have bought a handful of nice printers with
the money I've dropped for cartridges.
One possible option is to get a BW laser and keep the HP
just for color.

However, I really want one do-all printer.
 
REWahoo said:
Looks like a lot of us jumped on the Brother b&w laser bandwagon over the past few years.
Click to expand...

Could someone mention a specific model of Brother b and w laser printer please?
 
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