Return-Path: <nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov>
Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id g6H1CQX15547; Tue, 16 Jul 2002 21:12:26 -0400 (EDT)
Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 21:12:26 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <3D34C36B.6010100@theworld.com>
Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov
Reply-To: nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov
Originator: nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov
Sender: nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov
Precedence: bulk
From: "David J. Rosen" <DJRosen@theworld.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov>
Subject: [NIFL-TECHNOLOGY:2584] Re: Cost of printer ink
X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
Status: O
Content-Length: 2277
Lines: 56
Steve, and others,
For three years, I have been buying cheap black and color inkjet
cartridges by mail for my Cannon printer from:
http://acsmsupplies.com/tourbus.html
So far no problem, and even if they do eventually destroy the printer,
as you point out, printers are cheap.
I subscribe to the Internet Tourbus, where I first learned about this
inkjet vendor. The Tourbus is a free, weekly (more or less)
e-newsletter by Patrick Douglas Crispen and Bob Rankin. Great tips for
the general Internet user in plain English (well, plain Southern
English, I guess, since one of the newsletter's features is Crispen's
Southern Word of the Week .) To sign up for the Tourbus, go to
http://www.tourbus.com/
Do others on the NIFL Technology list buy cartridges by mail?
David J. Rosen
DJRosen@theworld.com
Steve Linberg wrote:
> Those of you who have had to hit up Staples or some such after emptying a
> print cartridge in one of those amazingly cheap inkjet printers you can
> get these days have probably felt a growing awareness that DANG, these
> things are expensive! My Stylus 740 color costs about $40 to refill.
>
> Well, Hewlett-Packard has just crossed a line that I think hadn't been
> crossed until very recently. With their new Deskjet 656C, it is actually
> cheaper to THROW THE PRINTER IN THE GARBAGE AND BUY A NEW ONE than to
> replace the ink. I wish I was making this up.
>
> The printer retails on HP's own site for $49.99.
>
> One black cartridge is $29.99, and one color cartridge (the printer needs
> both) is $31.99. Total cost for an ink refill: $61.98. Again, cost of
> the printer: $49.99.
>
> It's the old give-them-the-razor, sell-them-the-blades philosophy.
>
> I wish I had advice for inkjet printer users other than "use your printer
> sparingly," or "make sure you have a big budget for ink." Third-party
> refill kits can sometimes be had for less than new cartridges, but you're
> rolling the dice on color matches and it almost always involves getting
> really dirty (at least in my experience). Also, some manufacturers are
> now "booby-trapping" ink cartridges so that once the ink level drops below
> a certain level, they disable themselves so that they can't be refilled.
>
> Buyer beware, I suppose.
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Jan 17 2003 - 14:44:47 EST