Spill the beans... on cheap printing

Steve_xx

cheerful wrote: »

Draft or economy mode can save a lot of ink. Often the difference from "normal quality" is hardly, if at all, noticeable.

If you need to print an email or web page don't just click the "Print" button as this will usually give you loads of unwanted extraneous stuff. Highlight the information you need and copy it to a word processing document then print that.

Yes you're right in what you say. I always drop the quality settings and I find it does save a lot of ink.
Also, I've noticed that my Brother DCP340CW likes to have little cleaning sessions where it wastes ink, a lot of it too. So the best thing to do is not to leave a printer in standby mode; switch it off and then it cannot periodically run its cleaning program.

potbelly

I agree with those who recommend a mono laser printer over any other type. My cost per page works out at 0.4p per page, (yes, £0.004) and that's including the cost of the printer and toner, since I purchased it five years ago.
To save on toner/ink use set the default to Draft mode.
To save on the amount of printing, only print a 'selection' of the document that you really need as hard copy, especially true of emails and web pages, where you can waste pages printing headers etc.
To save on paper, I save A4 junk mailings, and other printed documents that have only been printed on one side. Which leads on to my final suggestion, print on both sides of the paper and halve your paper costs.

pfv

I've had poor results with home refill and allegedly compatible inks in the past, so I go for the OEM inks from the cheapest source I can find.
For my Canon printer this used to be 7dayshop, but since the change in VAT on items bought from Guernsey I'm not sure that they still are.
When I needed some Brother inks for our Church printer I found variations of about 50% in the price from different online suppliers (and the cheapest I found was on about page 3 of the search results) so next time I need to buy for either printer I will do an internet search first. It takes time but saves a lot.

pandegee

Change your default font to Century Gothis. It uses less ink than any other font.

stutray

I'm an advocate of money-saving but there is a larger problem to all of this.

The reason Inks are expensive is because it's the only way the Printer manufacturers generate revenue. The Printers themselves (the R&D, production, shipping, promotion etc) cost a significant amout and most printers these days make a loss.

When 3rd parties produce the ink, that is all they do. No additional costs. Even worse is that most of the big brand Printer manufacturers produce Environmentally friendly ink (Especially Epson) whereas, in general, the 3rd parties is of low quality and not particularly good for the environment.

If we all keep going for the 3rd party option then Printer Manufacturers have to increase the ink price to compensate. It's a vicious circle.

Sorry but that's the bottom line.

Steve_xx

stutray wrote: »

I'm an advocate of money-saving but there is a larger problem to all of this.

The reason Inks are expensive is because it's the only way the Printer manufacturers generate revenue. The Printers themselves (the R&D, production, shipping, promotion etc) cost a significant amout and most printers these days make a loss.

When 3rd parties produce the ink, that is all they do. No additional costs. Even worse is that most of the big brand Printer manufacturers produce Environmentally friendly ink (Especially Epson) whereas, in general, the 3rd parties is of low quality and not particularly good for the environment.

If we all keep going for the 3rd party option then Printer Manufacturers have to increase the ink price to compensate. It's a vicious circle.

Sorry but that's the bottom line.

Printer manufacturers have only themselves to blame if they have entered into a cartel arrangement whereby they price their machines at less than cost base in the hope that they can derive their profits from ink sales.

stutray

Steve_xx wrote: »

Printer manufacturers have only themselves to blame if they have entered into a cartel arrangement whereby they price their machines at less than cost base in the hope that they can derive their profits from ink sales.

No, it's the only way they can make their profits. Lets not forget what a printer actually is. It's not just a box but contains electronics, mechanics and years of development.

Steve_xx

stutray wrote: »

No, it's the only way they can make their profits. Lets not forget what a printer actually is. It's not just a box but contains electronics, mechanics and years of development.

Yes, but the truth is that manufacturers have turned the market for their products on its head, ie they sell printers cheap and hope to recoup the cost via the sales of very expensive ink. The reason that they do it that way is because they have worked out that they can make more by selling expensive ink on a continual bases per machine, than they can by a one-off sale of the machine. In other words, they're greedy.

stutray

Steve_xx wrote: »

Yes, but the truth is that manufacturers have turned the market for their products on its head, ie they sell printers cheap and hope to recoup the cost via the sales of very expensive ink. The reason that they do it that way is because they have worked out that they can make more by selling expensive ink on a continual bases per machine, than they can by a one-off sale of the machine. In other words, they're greedy.

But.... over the years, consumers have looked for ever cheaper options and would not be inclined to purchase a printer for it's real value. The manufacturers aren't greedy. Consumers have become cheapskates.

I wonder how many of those people complaining about ink costs still spend more that £30/month on mobile bills, blow a good few quid at the pub, throw money at SKY TV etc.

Steve_xx

stutray wrote: »

But.... over the years, consumers have looked for ever cheaper options and would not be inclined to purchase a printer for it's real value. The manufacturers aren't greedy. Consumers have become cheapskates.

I wonder how many of those people complaining about ink costs still spend more that £30/month on mobile bills, blow a good few quid at the pub, throw money at SKY TV etc.

It has nowt to do with what consumers want. It's more to do with the fact that the manufacturers are in a cozy cartel arrangement where they realise that they can extract more per machine out of the consumer in the form of expensive inks over a longer timespan, than they could by selling the kit for its due worth in the first place.

If manufacturers ALL priced their kit in accordance with their cost base plus a charge for R&D, then the cost of the kit may be higher, but the ongoing costs for the consumer could be lower.

Sky TV and mobile phone call charges are not related to this.