TIME TO GET to the bottom of this INK issue. Buy printer or buy ink.

[Byte 2.0]

Ok, I have an X75 printer scanner by Lexmark I brought a few months back for less then the price of 2 inks. It used color number 26 and black 16.

Well I am out of ink and went to get either ink or another printer.
Replacement ink was about 29 and 32 dollars each.

There was a printer for sale, Lexmark z515 that used 2 cartridges, 17 and 27. for sale for 34 dollars.

sitting there it seems pointless to buy replacement ink when I can get a new printer cheaper.

Question, the ink you get with printers, is there less of it?


using the new printer for example, it came with 1 black cartridge number 17, is there as much ink in that cartridge as in the number 17 I could buy as a replacement?

[mark70]

I bought a cannon printer for just that reason- ink usually cost more than the printer. I just print mostly in black, cartridges cost less than 10$

[mark70]

Even less on the internet. By the way what is the green button in the lower left hand corner for????

[vanvock]

I use one of those refill kits on my Cannon. It can be a little messy but once you do it a few times it's easy. Saves money & trips to Office Depot.

[glc]

Nope, the cartridges shipped with a printer are only partially full.

[Redfallon]

Is that true on all printers, glc? I only ask because my Deskjet 5650 I got at work late Jan '04, and the black ink cartridge lasted until late july '04 and I print a *lot* of apps, quotes, etc at work on a daily basis. I thought usually they included slightly smaller ink cartridges if they did that, not normal size cartridges half full. I may be incorrect though, just wondering

[glc]

I don't know about the new generation HP's, but the ones I'm used to all had half full standard size "starter" cartrdges.

[Kov-Ice]

I thought I read on C|net or Consumer Reports that HP still shipped with starters. I've tried using refurb cartridges (often lower print quality) and refill kits (what a mess!), but I did justify my purchase of a nice, big, expensive printer so I wouldn't be tempted to do what Byte's considering! Sam's Club saves you a few bucks a cartridge when you buy a bulk 3-pack. Dunno if they carry Lexmark, tho.

mark, the dot is green when you're online, blue when off.

[glc]

Yeah - Sam's carries 2 packs of a few Lexmark numbers. Go to samsclub.com, then click-n-pull, put in your zip code, pick a store, go to office electronics, ink and toner cartridges.

[Mesaeus]

All printer manufacturers seem to pull this little stunt. Except Canon it seems. Canon is the only company that doesn't charge an arm and a leg for their precious ink AND they're ok with third party refills. No high tech chips used to prevent ink refills like with HP and Lexmark. The result is that everywhere I go, I recommend Canon. I hope the other, greedy manufacturers go out of business soon. But that won't happen because they're getting rich because of their overpriced ink. Grrrr.

[bailey]

I have solved all that ink problem by going with a laser printer

[rkershaw]

I've got a cannon Mp 390 and get ink from inkgrabber.com for 2.50 for black and 3.50 for color works great

[Kov-Ice]

bailey, what about color? Aren't laser color printers way expensive? Toner cartridges are reasonable, then?

[Jaggannath]

I'm convinced that the reason all printers are moving away from being just printers and now addiding scanning and fax functionalities is precisely for this reason... it's ridiculous how much one has to fork out for ink, it's cheaper to buy a POS printer and replace it
And my printer came with a full ink cartridge