Disposable Printers?

[Kenyada]

Bill Husted, who writes a Tech column in Atlanta's Sunday newspaper, mentioned that he had recently spent over $100 on ink cartridges. He then went into the benefits of Laser printers, and B&W printing. In closing, he made the following comments:

"My final suggestion will sound like a joke. I sort of wish it was because it's an almost offensive example of how we've become a disposable society.

I see color printers for as little as $50. For instance, I've used the Canon Pixma ip1500 and had fairly good results. It retails for $49.99 and comes with the ink cartridges.

As wacky as this sounds, it would make sense for some people to buy a printer like this and use it until the ink cartridges run out. Then donate the printer to charity, or give it to a friend who doesn't mind replacing the cartridges."

Of course, I sent him an e-mail suggesting refillable ink cartridges as an alternative, but I still wondered about disposable printers for the average person who doesn't want to be bothered with high cartridge prices or maintenance of a printer. Is this what we are coming to?

 

[Osage]

Unfortunately the concept of the disposable printer is no joke. Printer manufacturers
count on making their money on OEM refill cartridges. So all manufacturers have these cheap printer they perhaps sell at a loss.---with expensive small capacity refill cartridges that rapidly run out. To add injury to insult these printers usually have a two class cartridge system. A slightly cheaper low capacity and a more expensive high capacity cartridge. You can bet the cartridges bundled with the new printer are low capacity.

What is really meant by the term disposable printer is that the best and cheapest use you will get out of this printer expires when you run out of the ink in the cartridge after initial purchase. Buy a OEM replacement cartridge even once for these cheap printer and all economy is gone. They gotcha. You are better off to simply throw that printer away and get the same new printer with new cartridges. The bonus is you don't even have to reinstall the software. Hence the concept of the disposable printer. ( for example you spend $30. to get a printer that has enough ink in cartridges to print 100 pages. Your ink costs are thirty cents a page. So you spend $40 on replacement cartridges to print another 100 pages. Your per page costs jumps to fourty cents per page. So new printer is better buy.)

But that ignores the fact that you are much further ahead to spend more and get a more economical printer. But every time I go to Walmart I see these $30-50 dollar printers. Or slightly more expensive multifuctionals.

Sorry somewhat crying now. Friends of ours sucked into buying one of those cheap HP multifuctionals. They have two school age children and no surplus money. They do alot of printing, they don't have the time or inclination to refill, and you can't save that much money with third party refilled cartridges. They are thrilled at the initial purchase price and I am not inclined to bust their balloon. So think twice about even giving away those two cartridge bandits to a friend. Someone you really don't like perhaps but not a friend. Better yet, take a sledge hammer to it or convert it into a paper scredder.

But something like the ip1500 paired with dirt cheap internet replacement cartridges has a hope of yielding low initial purchase price and reasonable per page printing costs. I seem to recall seeing an ip1500 as low as $30.--but you would still be better off with a ip3000 for a little more. In terms of a cheap Lexmark or HP, there is no hope withour refilling.

Whats that old saying----You can pay me now or pay me later or maybe a fool and their money are soon parted. So be a friend and tell your friends before they buy
a disposable printer. Its too late after.

 

[Nifty]

This reminds me of the times when I see refurbished Canon printers on sale with a complete set of cartridges. Fry's Electronics had some refurbished i560s on sale for $29 (no rebate required). The cartridges alone are worth more than that!

Oh, BTW, I've also heard rumors that the carts in new printers often have lower capacities than their replacements. I don't think Canon could get away with this since they have translucent casing for most of their cartridges... you can literally see how much ink is in there.

 

[drc023]

What interesting about those refurbished printers is that they often end up on eBay, sans ink cartridges which are in a different auction.

 

[Osage]

Drco23 raises an interesting point about printers available on ebay vs. buying cash and carry at a place like Fry's even if both printers are refurbished. It is relevant to raise the point its very different to buy an inexpensive but still excellent printer with Canon OEM cartridges also bundled worth more than the purchase price of the printer alone vs. buying on ebay where one is likely to get no cartridges bundled with the same refurbished printer. What is unmentioned is that the ebay printer is likely to carry a fifteen to fourty dollar shipping charge.

In either case, its a likely marketplace of the more educated rather than the foolish impulse buyer of the disposable ripoff printer cited in the opening thread.

But I do wish to post my experience on ebay. I bought a Canon MP730 for $26.00 from one of those refurbish places. The curse was shipping was $40. and I knew no cartridges came with it. But I needed a printer with a scanner and a fax.( beware, some don't come with print heads) If I was longer on the buck I would have bought a new Canon MP 780 and been done with it. At that time the cheapest new MP780 cost $250, now its dropped to $200.

So I ordered in bulk the required cartridges from a cheap but good vendor and put them into MP 730. I am one happy camper--I gambled and won--some gamble and lose on ebay. But bargains are to be had on ebay for only expensive high quality printers in my opinion. Always better off cash and carry from a store if what you want is available. Nothing wrong with looking on ebay. Never seen a refurbished MP730 or 780 at Fry's yet. You can help me kick myself when I see one under $66.

 

[zakezuke]

So I ordered in bulk the required cartridges from a cheap but good vendor and put them into MP 730. I am one happy camper--I gambled and won--some gamble and lose on ebay. But bargains are to be had on ebay for only expensive high quality printers in my opinion. Always better off cash and carry from a store if what you want is available. Nothing wrong with looking on ebay. Never seen a refurbished MP730 or 780 at Fry's yet. You can help me kick myself when I see one under $66.

mp780.. probally not... mp750... i've seen that about.. can't remember if it was outpost (aka frys) or tigerdirect. But for a time a new one was $120 or so.... about the same price as a ip4000. The mp750 doesn't have the fax modem... i'm not sure the mp730 can be fited to work with it, nor do I know the details of enabling fax printing on the mp780.

Ah yes, http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4311355?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG back down to $100