Kodak ink - Oh am I fumin?!

scooby75

I bought a Kodak Hero 5.1 all in one printer a couple of months back on the basis of it providing the cheapest prints. My trusty old Deskjet 5600 had finally packed in, so I needed a new one. after researching reviews, cartridge prices etc, it did indeed seem that Kodak are the cheapest for ink.

I am now on my 4th (genuine, non-refilled) ink cartridge after printing just under 30 pages of A4 on draft setting. On the box of the printer cartridge, it says 390 pages (in lab conditions). Now I am perfectly aware that lab tests bare little relation to reality much in the same was as car MPGs do. But by their reckoning, I should have had just over 1500 pages, but I don't even get 30?

Needless to say I am somewhat miffed. Far from being the cheapest, these are by far the most expensive cartridges I have ever bought. My first contact with their service centre has resulted in a "sorry about that" (not half as much as they will be) and an escalation to the next level up.

This may be long, if not funny after a few pints. I'll keep posting on how I get on (btw, I don't need advice on rights - I'm pretty hot on that aspect).

flashg67

Be interesting what Kodak say - I have the same printer and the first cartridges didn't seem to last long. I didn't count the pages but it was more than 30, but definitely less than 390!

I'm using the 'XL' cartridges now - not much more expensive than the standard ones if you search around online. they are lasting much longer (but then they should!)

I'll never know my page count because the kids are forever printing when I'm not there - mini rant here - why should I pay for them to print stuff for school - what happened to the old spirit duplicators and their lovely smelling copies?

Fosterdog

The first set of cartridges are rarely full from any manufacturer, they are usually half filled or less test cartridges so just enough to get the printer up and running.

Any replacement ones should be lasting longer than 30 pages though, have you had a good look inside the printer to see if the ink is leaking and pooling somewhere?

It may be worth taking the printer back to where you bought it and ask them to test it.

pimento

I suspect it would be cheaper to buy and run a laser printer. The toner last much longer than ink and toner doesn't dry up if it's not used quickly like inkjet ink does.

sillygoose

Are you powering the printer on and off or just letting it go to standby? many printers do priming and head cleaning when powered up and can use ridiculous amounts of ink doing so. I have managed to empty an Epson cartridge trying to get the head clean without ever printing a page!

Handsome90

It seems your printer or printer head is faulty. I've a Kodak printer and I can print over 100 pages (I've never counted the amount of pages I printed).

Also have a look at this webpage that explains how you can make your ink go longer http://support.en.kodak.co.uk/app/answers/detail/a_id/38366/kw/more%20prints/selected/true

scooby75

I've done all the self help bits - there is no ink leakage, I'm not leaving it on and I'm not doing head cleaning or anything like that.

I'm thinking of taking it back and getting a colour laser printer now they are coming down in price - someone at work has one, prints loads but has only had o replace it once after 16 months!

missile

scooby75 wrote: »

..... I'm not leaving it on and I'm not doing head cleaning or anything like that. !

The point was you ought to leave it on standby ...

sillygoose

missile wrote: »

The point was you ought to leave it on standby ...

Yes it was, well spotted. Turning it off and back on again can waste a lot of ink, inkjet printers should be left powered on.

If the op is switching the printer off inbetween use then that could well explain where all the ink is going.

hellokittygal

Kodak printers are rubbish.
We had one and it ate ink like anything.

Sheldon_Cooper

sillygoose wrote: »

Yes it was, well spotted. Turning it off and back on again can waste a lot of ink, inkjet printers should be left powered on.

If the op is switching the printer off inbetween use then that could well explain where all the ink is going.

This is not good advice. In the first place it wastes energy and in the second, the cleaning cycle is there for a purpose. The best solution is to batch up your printing so that you do many sheets in one go and increase the ratio of printing to cleaning.