The Printing (Ink) Business
Posted in Money by George
Have you spent more money on printer ink than you have your actual printer? Most people probably have. Why? Because printer ink is really, really expensive!
It’s quite clear that the printer companies that make the ink have something to do with it. They sell you a printer cheap, force you to buy a cartridge that only works for that specific printer, and then jack up the prices to $20-$30 per cartridge. On top of that, some printers, specifically certain Epson models, won’t let you print in black and white if you run out of color ink, and won’t let you print at all if a digital management chip in the cartridge says that you’re out.
So what is someone who needs to print but doesn’t have tons of money to blow on ink going to do? The first option is to buy third party ink. Printer companies say that using this will damage your printer and make ink explode all over you and your life will be ruined. This is not true. I’ve been using third party ink for the past three years and the quality is better and the cartridges last longer than the brand name ones.
The second option you can use is to buy a refill kit and refill your cartridges. Once again, printers will include a warning in their packages stating that refilling your cartridge is danger to your health and your printer. Blah blah blah. Everyone I know who has tried this has said it works beautifully. My girlfriend recently started refilling her cartridges and says that it causes no problems at all.
Of the two options, a refill kit is cheaper. I haven’t tried it yet because I have a bunch of extra third party cartridges that I haven’t used yet. But when I run out, I’m definitely thinking about switching over. Do a google search on this stuff or buy it on ebay. Just don’t waste your money buying so-called authentic ink when it’s no different.
April 15th, 2006 at 10:01 am
For those national security types out there, you may not be aware that terrorists are aware of the cost of ink and are trying to bleed you dry. If you bleed money that is, as US businesses do.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000380.php
In a bulletin issued yesterday, the Homeland Security Department warns U.S. businesses of the threats they face from animal rights group and “eco-terrorists.” Such radical extremist groups may use several tactics — each devastating in its own way — including:
- “organizing protests”
- “flyer distribution”
- “inundating computers with e-mails”
- “tying up phone lines to prevent legitimate calls”
- “sending continuous faxes in order to drain the ink supply from company fax machines”
That’s right. If the ink runs out of your fax machine, that means the terrorists have won.
April 15th, 2006 at 10:05 am
Ha where do you find this stuff Shaniqua? That’s absolutely hilarious!
April 15th, 2006 at 10:17 am
Just my daily survey of lefty blogs. We gots to be vigilant of threats that expose our soft, white bred, underbelly to the french infiltrators.
But I usually start by reading the daily thoughts of a heterosexual, christian male that’s an 11 on the absolute scale of manly gender. Of course, I’m speaking of http://patriotboy.blogspot.com — it’s a good place to start when looking to keep the seditionists in their place.
April 17th, 2006 at 11:06 am
often times i’ll just buy a new printer. Its cheaper than a new color and new black catrdige. take that hp
May 2nd, 2006 at 8:08 pm
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2066
Interesting link about Printer companies suing generic ink makers.