Keeping printer ink cartridges good

Gdetrailer wrote:

T18skyguy wrote:
I have Samsung M2020 B&W laser printer thats awesome, and I refill the toner myself(check on youtube). For color I bought an Epson Ecotank on sale $279.00 (Costco) with the big tanks of ink, and they also included an extra black tank of ink. Works real well, not as fast as a laser, but faster than I expected. The tanks are suppose to provide thousands of pages. We'll see. But as far as inkjet goes, I can see they will all go to the tank model idea. The per page cost is a small fraction of the cartridge types. I can't see people sticking with cartridges.

No real "advantage" to an "ink tank" type inkjet printer, they cost more upfront but yet still have the issue of the print heads clogging/drying up due to non use. Not to mention, most folks buy on PRINTER PRICE, not OVERALL per page price..

Can easily buy complete NEW inkjet printers for $30 which is considerably less than most replacement ink cartridges vs a ink tank printer costing $297 with cheaper bulk ink refills..

Guess which one most folks WILL gravitate to? Yeah, the $30 inkjet which takes $40 cartridges and when they run out of ink they throw away the entire printer and buy another new one with a new cartridge..

We live in a throwaway society and printers are essentially expendable throwaway items.

Toss on top of that many people are lining up for the "auto ink refill" services some inkjet manufacturers are offering now days.. Yeah, some folks just don't get it.

For low/infrequent use, laser printers really are the way to go, no worry of toners drying up or clogged print heads.. Yeah, the toner and drums can add up, but hey, bet a laser printer TONER WILL still work in 30 yrs if you can find drivers for it.. Not so much for any ink based printer.

There is no debate that lasers are faster and more quiet. I love mine. I personally have never experienced clogging heads on any of my ink jets, but it obviously happens. Buying 30 dollar printers with $40 dollar cartridges is a constant hassle, and you are quickly above the price of the tank models. Here's what the tank models will actually do "4000 pages of black ink, and 6500 pages of color" How much would you spend on a laser to get that? Plus Epson threw in another bottle of black in for a total of 8000 pages. So of course we have the issue of how long will the printer mechanically last, plus think of all the wasted time and gas going to buy cartridges. I was seriously considering a color laser, but for the limited amount of color I need I decided to give the tank a go. We'll see what happens and I'll give you an honest report on that.