| How much will a $50 dollar printer really cost you? | | | | about 1/3rd the cost (per milliliter of ink). |
| If you factor in the cost of replacement ink | | | | Some of the people who owned older printers, |
| cartridges, it could be a lot more. | | | | feel they've been taken advantage of when they |
| If you walk down the printer isle these days, you'll | | | | see how fast their new printer uses up the ink. |
| probably see a few printers selling for about $50. | | | | Almost nobody realizes the true cost of operating |
| You might see yourself , "Hey, what a great deal" | | | | these printers until the first or second time they |
| -- but is it really? | | | | need replacement cartridges. |
| Lexmark was first manufacturer marketing $50 | | | | HP is now attempting to squeeze out the |
| printers. The printer was a loss-leader and the | | | | competitors by dominating shelf space with a |
| sales of replacement cartridges subsidized the low | | | | multitude of printer models. Most machines have |
| initial cost. The cost of 1 set of replacement | | | | the same general qualities but the more they |
| cartridges exceeded the value of the machine | | | | have on the shelf, the less room for competitors. |
| itself. | | | | Hewlett Packard hopes to captivate people with |
| Many people who never owned a printer before | | | | their brand-name and low initial cost. |
| didn't realize Lexmark's strategy. They were so | | | | Once the consumer commits to their printer, HP |
| happy with the printer price that they never | | | | will have a continuous stream of replacement |
| thought about the purchase of the printer | | | | cartridge business for the lifespan of the machine. |
| cartridges themselves. As time went on Lexmark | | | | It's in the supplies where they make their money. |
| continued their tactics and also began to reduce | | | | So the lesson here is this… It is critical that |
| the size of their ink cartridges. Their cartridges | | | | you investigate the price of replacement ink |
| got smaller and smaller and required more | | | | cartridges before you purchase a new printer. |
| frequent replacing. | | | | Comparison-shop both the printer and cartridges |
| Consider this: | | | | at the same time. |
| One Lexmark 10N0016 OEM Black cartridge retails | | | | A short list of printers to avoid are printers using |
| for about $30 and will yield 410 pages at 5% | | | | the HP 21 and HP 22 ink cartridges. (these contain |
| coverage | | | | only 5 milliliters of ink) |
| One Lexmark 10N0026 OEM Color cartridge retails | | | | PSC 1410 Series, Officejet 4315, Deskjet F340, |
| for about $32.00 and will yield 275 pages at 5% | | | | F380, HP Fax 1250, HP Deskjet 3910, Deskjet |
| coverage | | | | 3940 Series, Deskjet 3915, Deskjet 3930 Series |
| It became common practice to buy Lexmark | | | | Printers Using HP 92 and HP 93 ink cartridges (5 |
| printer for $49 to get the 2 starter cartridges | | | | milliliters of ink) |
| that come with it. After ink had been used up, sell | | | | PSC 1510 Series, PSC 1507, Officejet 6310, |
| the printer on eBay, or throw it away and buy | | | | Deskjet 5440 Series, Photosmart 7850, Deskjet |
| another one. What a waste… HP is now | | | | 5440 Series |
| following suit with the same strategy and is trying | | | | The only people that should buy these particular |
| to flood the market at the same time. | | | | new HP printers, are those who print infrequently |
| Several new printers will enter the market in July | | | | (less than 3 cartridges per year). |
| 2006. Many of which are cheap to buy (starting | | | | HP makes quality printers, however we |
| at around $25.00), but can be expensive to | | | | recommend simply seeking out a model that does |
| operate. Many of these new cheap printers do | | | | not use the #21 and #22 or #92 and #93 |
| not come with printer cables or both ink | | | | cartridges. Many more of these new HP printers |
| cartridges which entices users by lowering the | | | | will be released this month. |
| initial price. | | | | Another option is to look for a different |
| Over the course of a few years however, the | | | | manufacturer such as Canon, Epson or Brother. |
| low cost of the machine will be overshadowed by | | | | Their inkjet printers often get as good or better |
| the large amount spent on replacement inkjet | | | | reviews from users. |
| cartridges | | | | Again, check the cost of replacement cartridges, |
| The inkjet cartridges that most of the new HP | | | | page yield or milliliters of ink contained in the |
| printers use contain only 5 Milliliters of ink. In | | | | cartridge to be sure you are getting a good value |
| comparison, about 4 years ago the most | | | | in comparison. |
| common HP black cartridges contained 42 milliliters | | | | ASAP Inkjets offers ink cartridges & laser toner |
| of ink. That's almost 8 times more printing at | | | | at up to 80% below retail store prices. |