Archive for the ‘ink’ tag
Rant: How Is It That New Ink Cartridges Cost As Much As The Printer Itself?
The Canon Pixma MX310 will set you back about $75 initially. The replacement ink though, is another (expensive) story.
You know what’s great? We live in a throw-away society. Think about it: Forty years ago, what did you do if your TV exploded? You called a repair man. The same applied to nearly any appliance back then, from blenders to vacuums to lawn mowers. What about now? We just throw the old crap away and buy something new. When you repair your old junk, you’re taking food off the tables of sweatshop workers everywhere. Be a good citizen and just buy something new.
Nowhere is this fact more apparent than in the home printer market. Head on over to any Staples, Best Buy, or Wal-Mart, and you’ll find cheap printers for $75 or under. Cheap is good, right? Right. Now, you’re obviously going to need a few replacement ink cartridges. There’s lots of important printing to be done, and those color cartridges run out fast. Be prepared though: Once you make it over to the ink aisle, you’ll be facing the hideous monster of $20-$40 per ounce of ink. Wait, what?
Let’s review: A brand new color printer (which comes with ink cartridges) will set you back $75. New ink cartridges will cost at least half of that, probably more. How does this make any sense? It doesn’t. The only logical explanation is that all of the big printer manufacturers ordered way too many printers from the factories, and now they are retardedly overstocked. Way to go guys.
So where does that leave you, the consumer? You’re stuck with the choice of either buying two ink cartridges, or buying a brand new printer. Admit it, you’d choose the new printer: Not only is your old one dusty, but the new model has the letter X in it! It’s obvious that the Printer X5000 is better than that lame old Printer 4950.
Of course, there are…other options. For starters, you can order refilled or discount cartridges online, which usually cost a fraction of the original price. You can also refill your own cartridges by ordering a refill kit, but c’mon, that hurts the big businesses. Those guys need to charge $40 per ounce to feed their families. You wouldn’t want to take away those executive’s dinners, right? Not supporting big business means you’re against capitalism, and that makes you a communist. You don’t want your neighbors to know you’re a communist, right Ivan? Right. Now bend over and get out your check book.
Quick Tips To Maximize The Lifespan Of Your Toner Or Inkjet Cartridge
In addition to seeking out the various replacements for your printer ink refills, there are a number of methods to help maximize the life span of your ink cartridge.
Extend the life of your ink cartridges by following these fundamental printer tips.
Tweak Printer Settings To Ensure Printing Efficiency
Firstly, pay attention to the settings on your printer – most printers allow you to have various levels of print quality from draft to normal to best. Make sure to print internal documents in draft mode whenever possible. Draft mode produces legible documents that allow you to easily read or view documents without using the same ink level. Further, make sure to take advantage of print preview to save ink on possible re-prints, so that you are able to review the document on-screen and make any necessary changes before printing it out.
Taking this idea a step further, it is often possible to maintain the document in electronic format by creating a PDF, which allows you to distribute an electronic copy without using any ink.
Save Money By Using Third-Party Printing Solutions
Since not all documents are created equal, make sure to be careful when printing high-color images or photos, which require high levels of ink. Instead, you can order from discount digital photo printing labs online at a lower cost than you could print photos yourself. While it may be tempting to produce business materials solely on your printer, you can also often save money at the margin by utilizing business card, envelope and post specialists rather than using your home or office printer.
Save Ink By Adjusting Your Printer's Settings
When you do print on your own machine, you can adjust the print settings to reduce the ink volume setting. This will enable you to increase the life of your cartridge while having a small impact upon print quality. To get the most from your cartridge, you can buy a high capacity refill rather than a standard cartridge, which will provide a more dense ink refill that extends your print cycle. There are a number of ways to get your ink to last longer, and, over time, this can produce quite a bit of printer savings.
Basic Guidelines And Tips To Follow When Refilling Inkjet Cartridges
Refilling ink can be a tricky process the first time.
Refilling ink cartridges can be an economical alternative to buying new cartridges. It does take some practice, but once mastered is generally cheaper than brand-name OEM and remanufactured/compatible cartridges.
Here are some basic tips to get you refilling cartridges like a pro as soon as possible.
The Main Goal Of Refilling
Most ink cartridges are relatively simple in design, more or less a bag of ink encased inside a plastic box. The refill must be performed at such a speed that leaking is not caused (refill speed too fast) or that ink fails to permeate throughout the cartridge (refill speed too slow). Basically, we've seeking the happy medium in between.
Preparing For The Refill
- Work over a sink or drain if possible. Avoid working at a desk or near anything of value.
- Wear old or spare clothing to minimize damages incurred by ink stains.
- Check to see if your ink cartridge has an opening that connects to the ink. Otherwise, you may have to drill a hole yourself, which can get complicated depending on your ink cartridge model.
Make The Most Of Your Ink Cartridges With These Simple Tips
When using printer cartridges there are many ways in which you can help your printer run more smoothly, allowing yourself the best value possible out of your printer cartridges. Learning a few simple tips and tricks can help save you a lot of effort and money.
Your printer software may not be reporting accurate ink levels.
Is Your Printer Software Telling The Truth About Ink Levels?
Often, there will be software bundled with your printer installation that can send false messages as to the status of your ink cartridges. For example, certain printers may state a cartridge as empty just because it has been in the printer for a certain period of time. There may be perfectly good ink left in the cartridge that your printer is not allowing you to make use of, so there are a number of hacks you can try to prevent this waste. You can do a simple search online with your specific printer make and model to find hacks that users have provided. Alternatively, you might want to check that there is no unwanted software causing these restrictions and uninstall them.