Spill the beans... on cheap printing

debbie_w

I am wondering if any of you lovely poeple can help me with my HP 4500 office jet printer- I hardly ever print in colour and after a few months I get a message saying ' colour print cartridge problem, refer to device documentation document to troubleshoot'. I know the cartridge is not empty, yet when i replace the cartridge it all works ok again for a few months and then the same thing happens. Is this due to lack of use? does it dry up or something/? is there a way round this?
I cna take the cartridge out and just print in black and white but there must be another way?

thanks alot, Debbie

SurreyNix

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.

I do exactly the same when printing and have passed this tip onto a friend who was doing a degree. She was spending a fortune in ink and always running out. Yet with just a little click of a button I saved her a fortune. She was thanking me for weeks! Draft quality is all that is required for most home printing. :T

lordra

Get a laster. Higher upfront costs, but lower long term running costs. I can vouch for the Samsung CLP 320 laser printer.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-CLP-320-Colour-Laser-Printer/dp/B003LVIHFA

It sometimes drops to £50, so that's a good deal. It has a wireless version as well. Prints fast, has options for saving toner. I've printed 4 dissertation copies of about 10,000 words each, plus everyday office use and I have a low toner warning for the last 2 months! Its brilliant! :T

Double side paper printing ALWAYS, and max toner saving in the settings. Hardly makes a difference. I don't print pictures as that just adds to junk around the house. What do we have 2TB hard drives at £80 for?

lordra

debbie_w wrote: »

' colour print cartridge problem, refer to device documentation document to troubleshoot'. I know the cartridge is not empty, yet when i replace the cartridge it all works ok again for a few months and then the same thing happens. Is this due to lack of use? does it dry up or something/? is there a way round this?
I cna take the cartridge out and just print in black and white but there must be another way?

The ink dries up! Simple! All the fluid has a shelf life, kinda like milk, and after a while it goes bad. So you HAVE TO USE it in about 3-4 months time or else it just dries up! That problem will not happen with a laser, as the ink is like milk powder - its just that - POWDER! That powder ink prints onto paper, so it lasts ages! My toner in my laser has lasted over 1.5 years and has printed over 1300 pages so far. Check my amazon link ^^

stutray

Steve_xx wrote: »

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.

...And neither is a so called "cozy cartel arrangement". If manufacturers were to do as you suggest, consumers would complain that the printers cost too much.

You are still missing the point in the fact that 3rd party ink producers are eroding the whole business model.

(I was using the SKY TV / mobile example as a reference point to the fact that a lot of people spend too much on goods,services,leisure etc but are the first to wave the naughty finger at subjects such as this)

Steve_xx

stutray wrote: »

...
You are still missing the point in the fact that 3rd party ink producers are eroding the whole business model.

No, no, it's you who is missing the point. Third party ink suppliers are not eroding the business model; what they're doing is providing the ripped-off consumer with some respite. Of course the original manufacturers don't much like that idea, so they spend even more on R&D in order to develop chips on printer cartridges in order to protect their greed.

stutray

Steve_xx wrote: »

No, no, it's you who is missing the point. Third party ink suppliers are not eroding the business model; what they're doing is providing the ripped-off consumer with some respite. Of course the original manufacturers don't much like that idea, so they spend even more on R&D in order to develop chips on printer cartridges in order to protect their greed.

No, no, no. The 3rd parties are the greedy ones. Generating revenue from someone elses product without the overheads.

Steve_xx

stutray wrote: »

No, no, no. The 3rd parties are the greedy ones. Generating revenue from someone elses product without the overheads.

I disagree. If the price of original manufacturer consumables wasn't so extortionate, then there'd be no room for third party suppliers. The perception of the general public is that we are being heartily ripped-off.

stutray

Steve_xx wrote: »

I disagree. If the price of original manufacturer consumables wasn't so extortionate, then there'd be no room for third party suppliers. The perception of the general public is that we are being heartily ripped-off.

The problem is exactly that; perception.
If we actually looked at what we got for our money then we would't be so quick to jump on the bandwagon. How many ink cartridges does a normal user buy every year?

Steve_xx

stutray wrote: »

The problem is exactly that; perception.
If we actually looked at what we got for our money then we would't be so quick to jump on the bandwagon. How many ink cartridges does a normal user buy every year?

We don't get much for our money if we buy OEM consumables, that's clear. That's why we're on here, trying to advise eachother of the best way to keep our expenditure on these items in check.

I've no idea how many cartridges a "normal" user buys in a year. I don't know that there is a suitable definition for "normal", in this instance.