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