Printer scams

[hazel]

I found this very interesting article about printers in the December issue of Saga Magazine - it's not in the online version unfortunately so I can't give you a link.

We all know that printer manufacturers use the "Gillette" principle: sell the printer dirt cheap and then make a fortune out of selling replacement ink cartridges at sky-high prices. But apparently that's not all they do. Here are a few other tricks (described as documented or strongly suspected):

1) Using very little ink in the first cartridge - the one you get cheap with the printer.
2) Rigging the chip in the cartridge so that it reports the cartridge is empty before it actually is.
3) Putting in a dummy reservoir so that, if you try to refill the cartridge yourself, the ink won't reach the printer head.
4) Using less and less ink in replacement cartridges.

I must say, I haven't had any problems. I use a Hewlett-Packard Deskjet because HP give the best support to Linux. I got it second-hand with a black cartridge and I bought a compatible own-brand colour cartridge from Tesco. I got a warning when I inserted it but it works perfectly well. But then I don't do much printing, mainly occasional sheet music. And I never have the printer switched on unless I want to use it.

Anyone else had problems or been skinned?

[elija]

I usually buy more expensive printers as the cost per page goes down significantly so I'm not as affected by the ink scam (even though it's not cheap). And yeah, I buy HP too for the Linux Support

[Djarum]

It should be noted that ink cartridges are not cheep to manufacture. The process is quite sophisticated, and the technology to ensure that each cartridge performs the same is quite elaborate.

I watched a segment of a discovery channel program that covered the process of one of HP's facilities and I think once you see it, it may give you a whole new outlook. I think what the industry really needs is a shift in the methods of reproducing images and documents, as the inkjet and laser printer while tried and true, may not be the most efficient methods.

If one could find a cheaper method, you stand to make a fortune. Just don't be surprised if you don't get support from the current industries. The financiers who have loads invested in current technology are not likely to lend a financial helping hand either.

[cousinlucky]

I have an old hp 5150 printer that uses HP 56 Black ink. I do not bother with the color ink because it costs too much and i do not print pictures.

I do a lot of printing every day because i take articles from the internet to read while i am on public transportation. I get my cartridges refilled at a local Walgreens by the photo manager. There is a limit to the refills one cartridge will take but it sure is a lot cheaper than buying new ones all the time.

[Hal343]

I haven't used anything but black laser printers for several years now, and I'm quite satisfied with printing costs. Maybe, once the cost of color lasers comes down a bit more, I may try one, but right now the little bit of color printing I do, I just get done by big box stores.

[elija]

It should be noted that ink cartridges are not cheep to manufacture. The process is quite sophisticated, and the technology to ensure that each cartridge performs the same is quite elaborate.

I watched a segment of a discovery channel program that covered the process of one of HP's facilities and I think once you see it, it may give you a whole new outlook. I think what the industry really needs is a shift in the methods of reproducing images and documents, as the inkjet and laser printer while tried and true, may not be the most efficient methods.

If one could find a cheaper method, you stand to make a fortune. Just don't be surprised if you don't get support from the current industries. The financiers who have loads invested in current technology are not likely to lend a financial helping hand either.

There is a difference between a legitimate profit which in fairness is what the companies make on the inks for their expensive printers and the rip off of the inks for the really cheap printers.

Honestly, those things print so few pages per cartridge it must make their sales people either blush or have an evilgasm!

[cousinlucky]

Thanks Elija, the toon is great!!

[fguy64]

Where I live, Future Shop is the big chain store for computer and electronics equipment. Their ploy is, the flyers offer great deals on printers, but it's only when you get to the store do they bother to tell you that you will also need a cable, that'll be another $30.

[hazel]

I have an old hp 5150 printer that uses HP 56 Black ink. I do not bother with the color ink because it costs too much and i do not print pictures.

I found that using black only didn't give me very good results. Maybe it's OK for print, but like I said, I need to print out music, and my stave lines and note stems are only one pixel wide. With black only they barely came out at all and I often had to ink them in. With a colour cartridge added, that's not necessary.

[minthaka]

This is basically the case with all new printers. You get a cartridge with 30%, and after 600 pages you're asking why was you so fool to buy that printer (which was very cheap). Fortunately, the cartridges are refillable so you can solve the problem. I bought me a Samsung ML-1640 last summer, and I solved my problem of costs with hacking the printer and building-in an override chip, so it shows now always full cartridge. This is not a problem, since I can visually detect when the toner is out. That way I can refill it for around 12$ instead of buying me a new one for 50$.

This is due to the dirty damn capitalism! They would sell their own mothers for very fairy prices!