Looking at buying a new one ,I heard today that you can buy printers that dont take cartridges ,you buy ink and top up anyone know what printers they are, cartridges are such a rip off

treens2 - 2021-04-23 20:02:00

Ecotank printer ........they've got larger tanks on them. Cartridge printers are ok just dont' buy the 'real' ink it's ridiculously expensive. You can buy 'compatible' inks for about 1/5th of the price. The other thing you can do is buy a Lazer printer if you're just wanting text printed. They DO print colour if you buy one that can but inkjet printers do a nicer job.

nice_lady - 2021-04-23 20:04:00

personally I think some of those ecotank printers are a bit of a rip as well. I'm inclined to think they've built in the cost of lost cartridge sales into some of those.

steer clear of the HP ones, i've seen a couple of them where the black tube seems to get clogged up

king1 - 2021-04-23 20:39:00

I bought an Ecotank. The number of pages it said I would get is 3900. What I actually got is 1334.
Nope. Took it back and now have an old obsolete model with cartridges that are accurate about that, and works out very economical.

lythande1 - 2021-04-24 08:21:00

the amount of ink each page takes varies wildly. if you were covering 15% of the page in ink that figure 1334 would be entirely correct.

bitsnpieces2020 - 2021-04-24 08:42:00

treens2 wrote:

Looking at buying a new one ,I heard today that you can buy printers that dont take cartridges ,you buy ink and top up anyone know what printers they are, cartridges are such a rip off

Are you doing a lot of high quality color printing
Basic color printing
Almost all black (letters/ documents etc) printing

Unless you NEED high color printing, then injets will cost you an arm & a leg in ink AND often be problematic if left sitting for more then a month in a lot of cases.
Spend a little more & get a Laser printer
Toners are cheap on Trademe & commonly do 1000 to 2000 pages on a single toner.
No mess or fuss changing toner cartridges

mrfxit - 2021-04-24 11:06:00

lythande1 wrote:

I bought an Ecotank. The number of pages it said I would get is 3900. What I actually got is 1334.
Nope. Took it back and now have an old obsolete model with cartridges that are accurate about that, and works out very economical.

Cartridge page quotes are factory test regulations for 5% cover.
Been like that for many years

mrfxit - 2021-04-24 11:08:00

nice_lady wrote:

Ecotank printer ........they've got larger tanks on them. Cartridge printers are ok just dont' buy the 'real' ink it's ridiculously expensive. You can buy 'compatible' inks for about 1/5th of the price. The other thing you can do is buy a Lazer printer if you're just wanting text printed. They DO print colour if you buy one that can but inkjet printers do a nicer job.

If I needed to print high quality color photo's, yep Inkjet for sure.
Most ordinary ppl at home generally only print letters & documents with a few random photo's

mrfxit - 2021-04-24 11:10:00

I have 2x Ecotanks here and couldn't be happier.

skull - 2021-04-24 15:21:00

You haven't said what you want to print (documents in black and white, or photos) and what volumes. Black and white laser printers are relatively cheap and usually more reliable and economical than inkjets. You may be better off buying two printers. A laser for documents and an inkjet for colour

duncb - 2021-04-24 17:34:00

Thanks for advice really appreciate

treens2 - 2021-04-24 19:28:00

This message was deleted.

kittycatkin - 2021-04-24 19:58:00

This message was deleted.

kittycatkin - 2021-04-24 20:00:00

I am using an ancient laser printer from 1996. It connects to the network and toner cartridge lasts for several years.

tygertung - 2021-04-25 13:42:00

kittycatkin wrote:

They are a real swindle. I assumed that a page of print meant....a page. But it's a small paragraph. No wonder cartridges last such a short time. The shop worker in Warehouse Stationery showed me what a 'page' really was, and I couldn't believe it. The price per page is exorbitant. WS are quite reasonable for printing.

Hence another reason for going to Laser printers
My Canon Laser printer has OEM toners at $85 (1500 page) but I get them off TM for $25 including shipping

mrfxit - 2021-04-26 09:14:00

Unless you have a real need of an inkjet such as printing photographs at home ie you're a keen photographer. Just go for a laser printer. Bc with non regular use the inkjet nozzles can clog up. A friend I know clogged up and I had a A3 Epson photo printer and it clogged up with 10 ink carts in the cupboard at least I got that all used. Laser printers as mentioned are also way cheaper per page and the text is crisper.

Edited by rayonline_tm at 6:51 pm, Tue 27 Apr

rayonline_tm - 2021-04-27 18:48:00