Avoid $50 Printers Using Low Volume Ink Cartridges

How much will a $50 dollar printer really cost you? If you factor in the cost of replacement ink cartridges, it could be a lot more.

Nowadays, when you stroll down the printer isle, you might notice a few printers selling for around $50. At first glance you might think it's a great price, but is at a fair assessment?

Lexmark was first manufacturer promoting $50 printers. The printer was a loss-leader and the sales of replacement cartridges subsidized the low initial cost. The cost of 1 set of replacement cartridges exceeded the value of the printer itself.

A lot of people who never owned a printer before, didn't realize what was going on. They never thought about the purchase of the new cartridges. Lexmark continued the same approach but then lowered the volume of ink in their cartridges.

Consider this:

One Lexmark 10N0016 OEM Black cartridge retails for about $30 and will yield 410 pages at 5% coverage

One Lexmark 10N0026 OEM Color cartridge retails for about $32.00 and will yield 275 pages at 5% coverage

It was commonplace to buy Lexmark printer for $50 just for the ink cartridges, and throw the printer in the garbage and just buy another one. Hewlett-Packard has now followed suit and is using the same strategy to takeover market share.

Several new machines will enter the market in July 2006. Many of which are cheap to buy (starting at around $25.00), but can be expensive to operate. Many of these new cheap printers do not come with printer cables or both ink cartridges which entices users by lowering the initial price.

Over the course of a few years however, the low cost of the machine will be overshadowed by the large amount spent on replacement inkjet cartridges

The inkjet cartridges that most of the new HP printers use contain only 5 Milliliters of ink. In comparison, about 4 years ago the most common HP black cartridges contained 42 milliliters of ink. That's nearly 8 times more printing at about 1/3rd the cost (per milliliter of ink).

Some of the people who owned older machines, feel they've been taken advantage of when they see how fast their new printer uses up the ink.

Almost nobody is aware of the true cost of operating these machines until the first or second time they need replacement cartridges.

HP is now attempting to squeeze out the competitors by dominating shelf space with a multitude of printer models. Most machines have the same general capabilities but the more they have on the shelf, the less room for competitors. Hewlett Packard hopes to attract people with their brand-name and low initial cost.

Once the consumer commits to their printer, HP will have a continuous stream of replacement cartridge business for the lifespan of the machine. It's in the supplies where they make their money.

So here's the point… It is critical that you investigate the price of replacement ink cartridges before you purchase a new printer. Comparison-shop both the printer and cartridges at the same time. A short list of printers to avoid are printers using the HP 21 and HP 22 ink cartridges. (these contain only 5 milliliters of ink)

PSC 1410 Series, Officejet 4315, Deskjet F340, F380, HP Fax 1250, HP Deskjet 3910, Deskjet 3940 Series, Deskjet 3915, Deskjet 3930 Series

Printers Using HP 92 and HP 93 ink cartridges (5 milliliters of ink)

PSC 1510 Series, PSC 1507, Officejet 6310, Deskjet 5440 Series, Photosmart 7850, Deskjet 5440 Series

The only people who should consider these particular new HP printers, are those who print infrequently (less than 3 cartridges per year).

HP makes quality machines, however we recommend simply seeking out a model that does not use the #21 and #22 or #92 and #93 cartridges. Many more of these new HP printers will be released this month.

Another option is to look for a different manufacturer such as Canon, Epson or Brother. Their inkjet printers often get as good or better reviews from users.

Again, check the cost of replacement cartridges, page yield or milliliters of ink contained in the cartridge to be sure you are getting a good value in comparison.

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