Which printer do you suggest?
- Thread starter aimo3
- Start date
ok,
for the ink that comes with the printer, you just need to search hard:
That first laser jet has two toner sized, standard (2400) and XL (4400)
but if you look at "consumables included" in this page selling it. there is a cheeky third half standard size that the printer is included with.
*HP Laserjet Pro M476dw Colour Multi-Function Wireless Duplex Laser Printer - Ebuyer
It's a bit more difficult to make a spreadsheet for an as yet undefined amount of printing. - when I first made this sheet it was for a friend who wanted to self publish a music book, he had asked a local printing shot who were going to charge him an amount (that I can't recall) and when I first heard the total cost I said it'd be cheaper to print it yourself.
In the end he printed the book himself, (a small run of 20 books) and then managed to sell those books with enough money made on that first print run to pay for the paper, the ink, binding combs covers and pay himself at twice minimum wage for the few hours he spent binding the books...
you may find that it's useful to know what the price is per page, you might not...
as I said further up the thread for my inkjet was too expensive, in a lot of ways it wouldn't matter if inkjet was 1/10th the cost per cartridge, because MY habits of not printing very much leads to them drying up. meaning that whilst the stated capacity may be hundreds of pages, sometimes I won't even get 10. YOUR mileage may vary.
the entire premise of what I'm saying is that you have to count ALL the costs including the cost of the printer. - if you're given or inherit a printer then you could take off the capital cost. you could choose to do that if you're renting a printer, this will make price per page appear cheaper,
for that 1st printer you can see a table below with those number of sheets average into cost per page over increaingly large print runs, it appears to get cheaper because you're begining to negate the cost of the printer, (i.e if you spend £300 and print 1 page, that's a very expensive printout, if you print 2 pages, the average cost just halved
the L550 I can't find for sale from a reputable UK source (I'm in the UK) I can find it on Epsons page listed as "printers for Africa" I can see it on Indian Amazon... overall, if I was a "western" customer I'd expect printing supplies hard to find(and therefore not suitable for an office)
costs may be a little out as I found the Epson WorkForce ET-4550 for sale on US sites and converted to UK for consistency.
the inks are difficult to find on sale for the epson. weirdly people are complaining about the costs, but direct from epson a 70ml (6500 pages) bottle costs nineteen bucks, that's as cheap as you;ll ever get ink I think! the downside being that this is basically self fill ink, so if you've ever had an issue refilling your own cartridges, (like spilling them etc) you can quickly find a $19 bottle of ink turns into a $300 new table or $1000 new carpet!
out of interest I worked out how my Xerox compares, avg price per page it is cheaper than the xerox right up to 22,800 pages where the epson starts to become a tenth of a penny cheaper per page...
for the ink that comes with the printer, you just need to search hard:
That first laser jet has two toner sized, standard (2400) and XL (4400)
but if you look at "consumables included" in this page selling it. there is a cheeky third half standard size that the printer is included with.
*HP Laserjet Pro M476dw Colour Multi-Function Wireless Duplex Laser Printer - Ebuyer
It's a bit more difficult to make a spreadsheet for an as yet undefined amount of printing. - when I first made this sheet it was for a friend who wanted to self publish a music book, he had asked a local printing shot who were going to charge him an amount (that I can't recall) and when I first heard the total cost I said it'd be cheaper to print it yourself.
In the end he printed the book himself, (a small run of 20 books) and then managed to sell those books with enough money made on that first print run to pay for the paper, the ink, binding combs covers and pay himself at twice minimum wage for the few hours he spent binding the books...
you may find that it's useful to know what the price is per page, you might not...
as I said further up the thread for my inkjet was too expensive, in a lot of ways it wouldn't matter if inkjet was 1/10th the cost per cartridge, because MY habits of not printing very much leads to them drying up. meaning that whilst the stated capacity may be hundreds of pages, sometimes I won't even get 10. YOUR mileage may vary.
the entire premise of what I'm saying is that you have to count ALL the costs including the cost of the printer. - if you're given or inherit a printer then you could take off the capital cost. you could choose to do that if you're renting a printer, this will make price per page appear cheaper,
for that 1st printer you can see a table below with those number of sheets average into cost per page over increaingly large print runs, it appears to get cheaper because you're begining to negate the cost of the printer, (i.e if you spend £300 and print 1 page, that's a very expensive printout, if you print 2 pages, the average cost just halved
the L550 I can't find for sale from a reputable UK source (I'm in the UK) I can find it on Epsons page listed as "printers for Africa" I can see it on Indian Amazon... overall, if I was a "western" customer I'd expect printing supplies hard to find(and therefore not suitable for an office)
costs may be a little out as I found the Epson WorkForce ET-4550 for sale on US sites and converted to UK for consistency.
the inks are difficult to find on sale for the epson. weirdly people are complaining about the costs, but direct from epson a 70ml (6500 pages) bottle costs nineteen bucks, that's as cheap as you;ll ever get ink I think! the downside being that this is basically self fill ink, so if you've ever had an issue refilling your own cartridges, (like spilling them etc) you can quickly find a $19 bottle of ink turns into a $300 new table or $1000 new carpet!
out of interest I worked out how my Xerox compares, avg price per page it is cheaper than the xerox right up to 22,800 pages where the epson starts to become a tenth of a penny cheaper per page...
Joe C
Golden Master
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Probably the most economical way... and I am serious...
Buy 4 or 5 of the same identical printers for $35. -$40., when the ink runs out toss it and use the next printer. Where else can you get OEM black and color carts for $40?
Buy 4 or 5 of the same identical printers for $35. -$40., when the ink runs out toss it and use the next printer. Where else can you get OEM black and color carts for $40?
The OEM ink in those are much smaller than the replacement you buy, so that wouldn't save you any money.
Joe C
Golden Master
- Messages
- 5,004
- Location
- Great Lakes State
I think HP uses the same size for the new printers as the replacement carts
Please read this:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/184974/new_printer_replacement_ink.html
saves $$$ but very bad for the ecology...LOL
Please read this:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/184974/new_printer_replacement_ink.html
saves $$$ but very bad for the ecology...LOL
Last edited:
the cheapest way to run a printer has (for years) been to buy epson inkjet.
the reason is that their inkjets are actually bubblejet, and the head tech on those is "reasonably" indestructible, (but expensive) so the ink cart replacements have been ink buckets for well over a decade and the print head stays with the printer.
that printer linked above sounds all new and great with the buy bottles of ink and fill up the buckets, but it is what most guys have been doing for ages, (drill a hole in the top of a standard epson cart and syringe ink into it, the seal with a rubber bung.) (that's about £10 for the full colour and black kit, that does about 3 refills of a standard small cartridge.)
epson don't (never as far as I know) have a "useage" chip in the cart like HP have (which effectively stopped HP refills), couple that with the fact that HP put the print head literally "on" the cartridge and they are meant to be disposable (and are not made for ultra long term use) and you start to see why those HP carts are more expensive...
now that came across as a huge epson advert. but here is the downside.
the ultra long lasting epson print head isn't really that long lasting if it isn't used regularly, if the ink dries up in the print head of an HP printer you can go to a store and $20 later you have new in, and crucially a brand new print head.
if the ink dries up in an Epson matrix head, you can get as much new ink as you like, but the same crusty clogged print head still exists.
(that's what killed my last epson printer, (I had it through university and printed hundreds of prints, all with refill in kits (i.e bottles that I was pouring into the buckets!) but after a year of not printing anything the thing was dead, and there was no economical way to revive it so it went in the bin.
-which of course comes back to the toner doesn't dry up point... whilst ink does dry up.
meaning your super cheap epson. if you don't use it regularly may have ink dried up in such a way that you must throw away a $400 printer.
The HP printer with it's XL cartiridges might print 9000 pages in a cart, but that's only if the print heads stay not clogged. if the ink dries in the head after you printed page ten, then didn't print anything for a year, you're actually back in that same position that the whole cart is wasted...
given what I've said above about the fixed to the printer, never replaced head VS brand new print head with every small tub of ink. you can see that over time an epson printer can wear out, skip lines, and reduce quality as it wears and/or gets clogged. with the HP you're replacing print heads every time so you get a brand new print head and continued quality printing.
This thread is about printer buying advice, what I'm saying is inkjet is now at a cost per page parity with laser, (for high end expensive printers) and that is cool.
but whether you actually see the rated page count will depend on what you're printing style is like. - so in the end, you have to read, understand any see if advice applies to you.
the reason is that their inkjets are actually bubblejet, and the head tech on those is "reasonably" indestructible, (but expensive) so the ink cart replacements have been ink buckets for well over a decade and the print head stays with the printer.
that printer linked above sounds all new and great with the buy bottles of ink and fill up the buckets, but it is what most guys have been doing for ages, (drill a hole in the top of a standard epson cart and syringe ink into it, the seal with a rubber bung.) (that's about £10 for the full colour and black kit, that does about 3 refills of a standard small cartridge.)
epson don't (never as far as I know) have a "useage" chip in the cart like HP have (which effectively stopped HP refills), couple that with the fact that HP put the print head literally "on" the cartridge and they are meant to be disposable (and are not made for ultra long term use) and you start to see why those HP carts are more expensive...
now that came across as a huge epson advert. but here is the downside.
the ultra long lasting epson print head isn't really that long lasting if it isn't used regularly, if the ink dries up in the print head of an HP printer you can go to a store and $20 later you have new in, and crucially a brand new print head.
if the ink dries up in an Epson matrix head, you can get as much new ink as you like, but the same crusty clogged print head still exists.
(that's what killed my last epson printer, (I had it through university and printed hundreds of prints, all with refill in kits (i.e bottles that I was pouring into the buckets!) but after a year of not printing anything the thing was dead, and there was no economical way to revive it so it went in the bin.
-which of course comes back to the toner doesn't dry up point... whilst ink does dry up.
meaning your super cheap epson. if you don't use it regularly may have ink dried up in such a way that you must throw away a $400 printer.
The HP printer with it's XL cartiridges might print 9000 pages in a cart, but that's only if the print heads stay not clogged. if the ink dries in the head after you printed page ten, then didn't print anything for a year, you're actually back in that same position that the whole cart is wasted...
given what I've said above about the fixed to the printer, never replaced head VS brand new print head with every small tub of ink. you can see that over time an epson printer can wear out, skip lines, and reduce quality as it wears and/or gets clogged. with the HP you're replacing print heads every time so you get a brand new print head and continued quality printing.
This thread is about printer buying advice, what I'm saying is inkjet is now at a cost per page parity with laser, (for high end expensive printers) and that is cool.
but whether you actually see the rated page count will depend on what you're printing style is like. - so in the end, you have to read, understand any see if advice applies to you.
