Maybe I should just use pencils

Posted on April 19, 2006 by Gene

Can I just pause here to mention how much I detest Epson?
I have a little Epson printer, which I use for 90% of my printing. I chose it because it also prints on CDs, and this is very useful when you’re in the design and indie film business.
Anyway, it uses a whopping six cartridges, which at regular price adds up to about $70 every time it needs new ones. And that seems to be more and more often. I just put new ink in the thing in February, and now it is jonesing for more! And of course, I’m suspicious because of the little chips in the cartridges, which I can only assume are enforcing some kind of limit to how much I can print, whether the cartridge is truly empty or not.
About 4 years ago, at my old office, we got an Oce copier/printer. They mistakenly delivered it to the wrong office, and caused some headaches; by way of apology they gave us a complimentary color laser printer. It uses four toner cartridges, which are of course very expensive. But it shipped with “sample” toner, about half the amount of a regular cartridge. Four years later, I was only just running out. Now that is what I call value for money.
Costco has pre-packaged sets of ink for my printer at about $10 cheaper than buying them separately at Staples. Still, at $60 a pop every few months, my business account will dwindle to nothing just for printing.