Choosing the right printer
Initial Purchasing Price vs. Running Costs
Printers are an essential part of everyone’s computing experience and every year thousands of new models flood the marketplace, most at ridiculously low prices, and there is a good reason for that.
The running costs. On a cheap printer they are likely to be so high it would be almost the same price or cheaper to replace the entire machine than to replace the ink cartridges.
If you do decide to replace the cartridges on a machine like this, it will affect your printing habits enormously.
You will be constantly asking yourself, do I really need to print that? Perhaps I could write it down? Is set on economy mode, how do I do that again? It can be a real nightmare.
But it doesn’t have to be, whether you’re a heavy or light user; consider the costs of replacing the ink cartridges before making a decision, it will be well worth your while.
What to look for…
1. Printers that compatible cartridges have been developed for (some superseded canon printers & new epson & brother printers), compatible cartridges, depending on what brand you buy and where you buy them are a great way to reduce the running costs of your printer even further.
2. Printers that use a 4 or more individual ink tank system (not just a traditional black & color cartridge).
This ensures more economical use of the color ink in particular. In a traditional color / tri-color cartridge there are 3 different colors of ink (cyan, magenta & yellow).
If for example, cyan runs out, the cartridge needs to be replaced even though the yellow and magenta ink levels are ok. If you apply the same scenario to a printer with a 4 ink tank system, you would only need to replace the cyan cartridge, which means no wasted ink & no wasted money.
What to avoid…
1. Printers from HP, Lexmark and Dell, these are the main culprits for high priced ink cartridges, most of them use traditional 2 cartridge systems & In the majority of cases, compatible cartridges are not available for these printers.
2. Printers that compatible cartridges have not yet been developed for. If you are unsure whether or not compatible cartridges are available printer you are considering, here are
a few things to remember:
- If its seems to cheap to buy initially, it’s probably to expensive to run
- If it is very new to the market, compatible cartridges will probably not exist for it yet
- If you have to spend more money on getting a printer that will accept compatible cartridges, do it.
You will more than make up for this when it comes time to replace the cartridges.
Which Printer…
Below is a brief list of printers that compatible cartridges are available for, if your in the market for a new printer, make sure it’s one of these:
Canon IP1000 / MP780
Epson R210 / R250 / R310 / R350
Epson RX430 / RX510
Epson C45 / C67
Epson R800 / R1800
Brother DCP-110 / DCP-115
Which Cartridges…
If you’re looking for great quality compatible ink cartridges at discount prices, why not try www.discountink.com.au you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much money at time you can save.
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