buy an EPSON printer = daylight robbery?

[peterp]

Bought one of the newest models of printer available from Epson here
in Taiwan.
After only about 40 copies, about 80% of which was only in black, the
black ink cartridge was empty, while the software (driver?) showed
that the other color cartridges all three still contained ink.

Installed new black ink cartridge -- now the software displayed all
three remaining cartridges as empty, so the ink was not used since
changing the black cartridge!!!

Calculating the cost of Epson cartridges against 40 copies:
thus, cost is about USD 1.30 or Yen 132 per copy (mostly only text
without background)!!!!

If that is not robbery in broad daylight, then what is it?

Peter

 

[M.Stepelton]

Did you ever try printing 1 copy, then take it to a copy machine for the
other 39 if it's all B&W text?

 

[Don Phillipson]

Bought one of the newest models of printer available from Epson here
in Taiwan.
After only about 40 copies, about 80% of which was only in black, the
black ink cartridge was empty, while the software (driver?) showed
that the other color cartridges all three still contained ink.

Since the printer is still under warranty your
solution seems obvious.

 

[BILL bs.xxxxxxxxxx.corn]

Did you ever try printing 1 copy, then take it to a copy machine for the
other 39 if it's all B&W text?

You do not use a Ink Jet to print Black Text, go get a cheap Brother laser..

 

[BILL bs.xxxxxxxxxx.corn]

Since the printer is still under warranty your
solution seems obvious.

Just refit the ink tanks..

 

[peterp]

Since the printer is still under warranty your
solution seems obvious.

I wonder what options I would have? Materials for consumption like
paper and ink are not covered usually...

Peter

 

[peterp]

You do not use a Ink Jet to print Black Text, go get a cheap Brother laser..

Thanks. That is under consideration, although it appears that the
market here is monopolized by EPSON, Canon, HP and Lexmark. Never
heard of Brother printers, laser or other.

I must add that the old Epson with multi-color cartridge was not that
wasteful at all, but single color cartridges and quadrupled cartridge
cost seems to mean progress for EPSON...

Also, I guess total production cost of a single color cartridge,
including ink, is only about 30-40% maximum of the multi-color
cartridge of the old Epson printer, but one single color costs the
same as all together in the old one.

Having lived in Japan for many years, I think it is shameful and quite
untypical that a Japanese company like EPSON is becoming such a
money-grabber.
A set of cartridges of the new machine costs 25% of a new machine.

I now understand why refills and non-brand cartridges at a far lower
cost have become such big business.

Peter

 

[peterp]

Just refit the ink tanks..

Thanks for the suggestion. Will try.

Peter

 

[Kevin]

You should be able to purchase a basic laser printer for about $225. The
fact that ink jet printers cost $80 and a set of cartridges for them costs
$50 is old news. This has been going on for many years. With only a couple
of exceptions, everyone I know uses their ink jet printers for photos and a
laser printer for documents.

Epson is not the only company doing business in Japan that is a "money
grabber". The huge Matsushita conglomerate controls just about every aspect
of the technology market in Japan and beyond. With their incredibly complex
web of deals and arrangements with companies like Sony, Mitsubishi,
Panasonic, Hitachi and many others, they are on the verge of a global
monopoly in the tech industry.

 

[PJx]

I wonder what options I would have? Materials for consumption like
paper and ink are not covered usually...

Peter

Sounds like you were sold a used printer as new or a defective
printer that leaks ink badly.

 

[CWatters]

Sounds like you were sold a used printer as new or a defective
printer that leaks ink badly.

or perhaps that model comes with "light duty" carts that look similar to
regular carts but are actually lower capacity and a very bad buy in terms of
ink per $.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

This is not normal. Although the first set of cartridges will get a
slightly lower yield than the next, due to a much longer purge cycle to
flush the heads of the preservative in them, it doesn't make that great
a difference.

However, as I have tried to explain to those who think individual color
cartridges save ink, each time a cartridge is changed, all the other
cartridges are purged together with the new one, resulting in ink losses
to each cartridge. That doesn't equate nearly full cartridges going to
empty, so that implies something is wrong with your printer, but there
will be a loss of 8-10% of the full volume each time a cartridge is changed.

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

I don't think he was implying the "copies" were all the same. He was
likely using the term copy, in the sense of printouts. It still doesn't
matter, he should be getting more than 40 pages yield, even if they were
nearly 100% coverage.

Art

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Here in Canada, the cost of a set of replacement cartridges for most
printers runs about 75-90% the cost of the printer with fresh cartridges
included. It's a horrible business model creating major waste of
perfectly good inkjet printers going to the landfill, because it costs
very nearly the same to replace the ink set as to replace the whole
printer with another one, if you use OEM inks.

By the way, this is pretty much true of most of the brand name products,
not just Epson.

Art

 

[measekite]

From what I am reading about Epson printers, they are designed to screw
you out of ink that you could use for printing even though they have
some kind of a justification for it. I am glad I got a Canon printer.
I cannot understand why anyone would choose an Epson over a Canon. If
you need to, just reprint and you have longevity.

 

[measekite]

Are you saying that a printer like an IP4000 that has a list price of
$150 and usually sells for about $135 would cost about $100 to replace
the ink carts with OEM. If that is the case then I understand why
people take a chance with 3rd party inks.

 

[Brendan R. Wehrung]

I subscribe to this theouy but bought a cheap Samsung after being told by
more than one Office Max clerks that Brother machines don't hold up as
well.

Brendan

Thanks. That is under consideration, although it appears that the
market here is monopolized by EPSON, Canon, HP and Lexmark. Never
heard of Brother printers, laser or other.

I must add that the old Epson with multi-color cartridge was not that
wasteful at all, but single color cartridges and quadrupled cartridge
cost seems to mean progress for EPSON...

Also, I guess total production cost of a single color cartridge,
including ink, is only about 30-40% maximum of the multi-color
cartridge of the old Epson printer, but one single color costs the
same as all together in the old one.

Having lived in Japan for many years, I think it is shameful and quite
untypical that a Japanese company like EPSON is becoming such a
money-grabber.
A set of cartridges of the new machine costs 25% of a new machine.

I now understand why refills and non-brand cartridges at a far lower
cost have become such big business.

Peter

--

 

[Ototin]

This is not normal. Although the first set of cartridges will get a
slightly lower yield than the next, due to a much longer purge cycle to
flush the heads of the preservative in them, it doesn't make that great
a difference.

However, as I have tried to explain to those who think individual color
cartridges save ink, each time a cartridge is changed, all the other
cartridges are purged together with the new one, resulting in ink losses
to each cartridge. That doesn't equate nearly full cartridges going to
empty, so that implies something is wrong with your printer, but there
will be a loss of 8-10% of the full volume each time a cartridge is changed.

It is possible that there is nothing wrong with the printer. There is
no statement in the original post that the colour ink cartridges are
nearly full. It merely states that they contain ink.

 

[Hecate]

From what I am reading about Epson printers, they are designed to screw
you out of ink that you could use for printing even though they have
some kind of a justification for it. I am glad I got a Canon printer.
I cannot understand why anyone would choose an Epson over a Canon. If
you need to, just reprint and you have longevity.

Because Epson prints use pigment inks. They last. Canon don't. And
customers don't like prints that fade after a few months.

 

[measekite]

Mine are over 6 months old and just sitting on a desk. Pigmented inks
do not produce as vibrant a print. I can reprint when and if necessary
and I do not get *AS :-( *screwed :-( by the OEM.