Posted on 06/21/2007 1:05:59 PM PDT by TChris
A new study says that on average, more than half of the ink from inkjet cartridges is wasted when users toss them in the garbage. Why is that interesting? According to the study, users are tossing the cartridges when their printers are telling them they're out of ink, not when they necessarily are out of ink.
The study by TÜV Rheinland looked at inkjet efficiency across multiple brands, including Epson (who commissioned the study), Lexmark, Canon, HP, Kodak, and Brother. They studied the efficiency of both single and multi-ink cartridges. Espon's printers were among the highest rated, at more than 80 percent efficiency using single-ink cartridges. Kodak's EasyShare 5300 was panned as the worst printer tested, wasting 64 percent of its ink in tests. TÜV Rheinland measured cartridge weights before and after use, stopping use when printers reported that they were out of ink.
That's the first problem. Printers routinely report that they are low on ink even when they aren't, and in some cases there are still hundreds of pages worth of ink left.
(Excerpt) Read more at arstechnica.com ...
I just keep printing until the print quality starts getting lousy.
We’re currently including the Epson 9900 with our systems. They print great.
(No, I'm not being paid by Epson to say that.)
I have a brother color printer when one color needs replacement it stops working. The yellow was low (per the computer) and the black was full, the printer shuts down.
Also, on inkjet printers, set the default to fastdraft for longer life.
I use Canon Printers. They use transparent ink containers. You can look at them without having to realign the print heads.
They do start warning you a bit early, and that is annoying, but when they say they are out, you will not get more than a few more good pages.
That, and you can replace each color separately.
I feel your pain.
We had a Brother all-in-one for a few years, and it was absolutely worthless. When we bought its HP replacement, my wife and I took turns firing my .40 cal. pistol at the Brother before taking it to the dump.
As would any sane person.
The underlying technical issue here is the rather simple to describe, and difficult to solve: that of accurately sensing the amount of ink left in the cartridge.
I am so glad that I switched to a laserjet at home years ago.
Some people need LOTS of lead time in order to have another cartridge on hand when the current one runs out.
Fine with me. I just run them until they don't print anymore.
If some people think "LOW" means "EMPTY" that's their problem.
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Same here. I just keep on printing until a blank page comes out, then I change it.
We have a Xerox solid ink printer here at work, and the photo printing leaves a LOT to be desired. It works pretty well otherwise, though the final print has a glossy, waxy look to it.
I refill, it isn’t hard to do. I can usually get 4 refills before the ink heads go bad. www.easyinkjetrefill.com is the best I’ve found for my HP printer.
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http://photobucket.com/albums/v244/tsiya/
We have one of those in my department - it’s a Xerox Tektronix. The ink is like big hunks of crayon wax.
Went to lazer years ago, inkjet just isn’t worth the hassle, or cost of cartriges.
Ditto inkjet printers.
Lots of us used to buy new printers with that in mind.
But now, with few if any exceptions, new printers come with "special" cartridges containing much less ink than the replacements. Check the contents listed on the printer box. You'll find the cartridge part numbers are different.
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