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Another IT hardware manufacturer outsmarting the buyers of it’s products
- Thread starter GON
- Start date
I was a victim of the Epson upgrade crap. My printer started showing firmware upgrade required so I let it install. From that point on I could only use Epson cartridges. I was able to undo the upgrade and go back to the old firmware. I will never again own an Epson product. Next printer will be a Brother laser.
It could be worse, it could be an HP...
FWIW the initial cartridges only have about half (or less) ink than a regular one.
FWIW the initial cartridges only have about half (or less) ink than a regular one.
From recent reports laser printers are .02-.04 cents per sheet versus several times that with ink printers.
TechAdvisor's review of the EPSON ET-3850 EcoTank printer indicates a cost of .035 cent per sheet (color) which is comparable to the cost of B&W laser prints.
Techadvisor Epson EcoTank Review
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GON
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Lots of good comments..thank you!!
Went to Walmart to buy the black OEM Epson cartridge. $31 USD for the normal, $39 USD for the xl capacity. The printer itself costs $79 USD (which is irrelevant).
Want to note we might use the printer two-three times per year. Seems every time we use a ink jet printer, the black is out and a run to the store. Time and money and hassle.
Walmart has the Brother Laser on rollback price of $140 USD, before tax. Based on the comments in this thread, that the Brother Laser is a thumbs uoy, that is the COA I went with.
Went to Walmart to buy the black OEM Epson cartridge. $31 USD for the normal, $39 USD for the xl capacity. The printer itself costs $79 USD (which is irrelevant).
Want to note we might use the printer two-three times per year. Seems every time we use a ink jet printer, the black is out and a run to the store. Time and money and hassle.
Walmart has the Brother Laser on rollback price of $140 USD, before tax. Based on the comments in this thread, that the Brother Laser is a thumbs uoy, that is the COA I went with.
IMHO the only ink jet printers worth buying are mid and high end photo printers.
All printers normally come with demo size ink from factory.
Ink jet printers need to be used on regular basis to keep nozzles clean and unclogged.
Ink jet printers are normally more expensive to print per page and prints are not moisture proof.
I had worked as printer repair tech back many years ago and owned many brands and models. Have 3 printers at home now, Brother mono laser MFP, Canon color laser MFP, Epson photo ink jet mid end.
My first advise would be to get a laser printer, color if need be and MFP (multi function printer). Mine is Canon imageCLASS MF656Cdw, not very cheap to buy but should last many years and cheap to print per page, good prints in color and black, scan to email in PDFs and wireless.
All printers normally come with demo size ink from factory.
Ink jet printers need to be used on regular basis to keep nozzles clean and unclogged.
Ink jet printers are normally more expensive to print per page and prints are not moisture proof.
I had worked as printer repair tech back many years ago and owned many brands and models. Have 3 printers at home now, Brother mono laser MFP, Canon color laser MFP, Epson photo ink jet mid end.
My first advise would be to get a laser printer, color if need be and MFP (multi function printer). Mine is Canon imageCLASS MF656Cdw, not very cheap to buy but should last many years and cheap to print per page, good prints in color and black, scan to email in PDFs and wireless.
I agree, after decades of ink jet printers we made the move to a Laser Jet some years ago. Maybe 5?
It's a bit more expensive one at the time on a killer sale price.
Cannon Image Class MF 445 I went with the black and white because we only print documents. I dont have a need for color.
No more clogged jets, no more ink cartridges... The original Toner Cartridge that came with it lasted a couple years. Maybe of infrequent use. Replaced with a high output Cannon OEM and made it around 2 or 3 years over more heavy use, more so as we bought a new house last year and did the ENTIRE purchase on line. Plus more health related stuff over the last couple years.
Only this past week or so did low toner come up when printing. So we will be on our third Toner soon. For the first time I bought a 2 pack of generic high output toner cartridges for $45 shipped to my house. Time will tell but they have great reviews. If they work the same, they might make it another 5 or more years. *LOL* and no matter how long they sit unused, since toner is not ink, nothing ever dries up. It just works.
Edit, year back my wife had a huge HP color laser printer from her work place in our home, same deal, they gave it to her for free and they no longer needed it. Even then, she bought aftermarket toner, worked the same as OEM. Big difference between the powder of toner vs ink in an ink jet.
It's a bit more expensive one at the time on a killer sale price.
Cannon Image Class MF 445 I went with the black and white because we only print documents. I dont have a need for color.
No more clogged jets, no more ink cartridges... The original Toner Cartridge that came with it lasted a couple years. Maybe of infrequent use. Replaced with a high output Cannon OEM and made it around 2 or 3 years over more heavy use, more so as we bought a new house last year and did the ENTIRE purchase on line. Plus more health related stuff over the last couple years.
Only this past week or so did low toner come up when printing. So we will be on our third Toner soon. For the first time I bought a 2 pack of generic high output toner cartridges for $45 shipped to my house. Time will tell but they have great reviews. If they work the same, they might make it another 5 or more years. *LOL* and no matter how long they sit unused, since toner is not ink, nothing ever dries up. It just works.
Edit, year back my wife had a huge HP color laser printer from her work place in our home, same deal, they gave it to her for free and they no longer needed it. Even then, she bought aftermarket toner, worked the same as OEM. Big difference between the powder of toner vs ink in an ink jet.
This. The last honest printer company on earth.
I’m surprised to see so many people still using inkjets. Laser printers have been quite affordable for at least 10-15 years now.
My current laser printer is Samsung all in one and it’s about 7-8 years old. It doesn’t have any subscription nonsense and cheap Amazon toner replacements work with it.
I dread the time when the drum unit goes kaput and I need another printer. I’m hoping there will still be few models left that don’t put restrictions on toner choices.
My current laser printer is Samsung all in one and it’s about 7-8 years old. It doesn’t have any subscription nonsense and cheap Amazon toner replacements work with it.
I dread the time when the drum unit goes kaput and I need another printer. I’m hoping there will still be few models left that don’t put restrictions on toner choices.
I have the same experience with our Cannon MF445 with is a B&W laser. Stupid simple, works all the time, no ink to dry up. Fantastic, it just works, all the time.
With that said, if you want to print true photo quality color prints I think InkJet is the way to go, at least in all the reviews I read.
I actually might get an inkjet for color photos vs having them printed at a local store or sending the files out. Not sure yet but I do know I need to get rid of maybe 10,000 digital photographs and print out maybe a 100 or so through the years and put them in albums for the kids. I know no family will want the task of going through any more than that once you leave this earth
Being it would be an inkjet, once done printing what I need, it would be disposable because we know it will only be a matter of time before it gives trouble.
I found a perfect work around to the issues with the Epson printer. My less than one year old printer started sounds like it was coming apart while printing. Finally, it stopped feeding paper. Mind you it was less than a year old and probably less than 100 pages printed. I found the solution was to completely unplug the printer, pick it up, take it outside and slam it on the sidewalk. Problem solved and I felt better.
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