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from the somewhere,-the-penny-has-dropped dept.
There can't be many printer owners who haven't had an apoplectic fit about the outrageous cost of inks for their machines, and now Epson is trying to change that business model and lower the cost of printing.
Traditionally printer manufacturers have sold their hardware at a loss and made the money back over the lifecycle of the product in consumables. Ink can cost more than expensive perfume or good single-malt Scotch, and in some cases it's cheaper to buy a new printer for $50 rather than replace all the damn cartridges. Now Epson is introducing Americans to its EcoTank printers that can hold two-year supplies of ink. A bottle of the replacement ink will cost around $13 per color, so the cost per page is drastically lower than for conventional printers.
"The introduction of EcoTank marks a fundamental shift in the way we think about using color in business and in the home," said Keith Kratzberg, VP of Epson America.
"Epson EcoTank sets a new standard for color printing, convenience, and value. We believe that our new EcoTank printers are well-positioned to take a large bite out of the small business printer market."
Epson still has to make money, of course, and will do so with a much higher upfront purchase price. The cheapest printer in the range, the Expression ET-2500 EcoTank, will set you back $379 plus tax, and the most expensive model, the WorkForce Pro WF-R4640, costs $1,200 – minus a buck.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2015, @05:34AM
The worst thing about inkjet printers is that if you let them go unused for a few weeks the ink dries up and clogs the nozzles. Many times you have to replace the entire cartridge. If these printers have the same problem, but you can't even replace the nozzles, that would suuuuuck. Or blow, or clog, or something like that.
(Score: 4, Funny) by davester666 on Friday August 07 2015, @06:38AM
No. Epson would not intentionally ship a printer that you either had to constantly use or throw out the entire printer because one of the nozzles got plugged.
That would be wrong.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2015, @06:44AM
If the printer is left on 24/7 it wil flush the heads with ink to prevent this. If you replace the ink cartridge with an external kit you won't feel to bad about the waste.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 07 2015, @08:34AM
Been there, done that. I'm not real sure that it still applies, but some years ago, the wife brought home a cheap printer from - you guessed it, Walmart - and hooked it up. She just HAD TO print something, so she bought the cheapest thing Wally had. Days later, she caught the boys wasting paper and ink on stupid shit, so she put that printer off-limits to anyone who considers printing "fun". Her printer sat there, and sat there, and sat there - until she needed to print something again. And, of course it was dry. She looked into buying ink, and decided that it was cheaper to just get another printer.
Me? When I need to print something, I just do it at work. Or, did. Today, the new bosses have the computers and printers locked down pretty well. I may have to learn how to operate the cheap things here at the house. Those huge commercial grade printers are so much easier to operate, with instructions clearly printed large enough for a half blind man to read.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2015, @10:53AM
I just bought a relatively inexpensive laser printer. It can sit for months and still be ready to print whenever I need it.
Granted, mine does have the problem of not printing in color - but who really needs that? That's what Kinkos is for.
(Score: 1) by rcamera on Friday August 07 2015, @12:44PM
same here, but i went with a color, duplex, network type. for the 10 times per year we need to print something, it just works. the thing cost about $500 in 2008, and the black toner's down to about 1/2; color toner has even lower usage than that.
the alternative was that we continue hitting staples for $60 in ink each time we needed to print. or just have staples print it for us...
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(Score: 2) by Jiro on Friday August 07 2015, @03:20PM
I got a Samsung CLP-315. It is not only color, but it works under Linux (although Mageia lacks some fixes and so it only works with the proprietary drivers). It never clogs, of course.
(Score: 2) by theluggage on Friday August 07 2015, @11:41AM
The worst thing about inkjet printers is that if you let them go unused for a few weeks the ink dries up and clogs the nozzles.
AFAIK Epson cartridges have always been "ink tanks" rather than cartridge/head assemblies.
Its a while since I've had an Epson inkjet, but when I did, they used permanent piezo-electric heads built in to the printer rather than the disposable HP/Canon thermal 'bubblejet' heads that were part of the cartridge.
So this isn't such a big technological change for Epson (there are/were unofficial kits to add external ink tanks to Epson printers).
(Score: 2) by gidds on Friday August 07 2015, @12:51PM
They're not all like that. My Lexmark, for example, spontaneously goes through a quick cleaning cycle every few days to keep its head clear and ready — even if it's turned off (but still connected to power).
You might think this would waste ink, but I haven't noticed any significant ink loss; cartridges last me a year or two. (I don't print very much.)
The benefit is that it's always ready to print, with no manual cleaning needed or print quality problems. As compared with my previous printer (an old Epson, which needed manual cleaning cycles almost every time I used it), it's a price I'm very happy to pay.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2015, @02:45AM
An older Lexmark PrinTrio inkjet printer-scanner works fine as a scanner...hasn't had ink in it for many years now. I think it was $49 new.
I ran into an HP inkjet multifunction including a 35mm slide scanner. It locked up as soon as it ran out of any color of ink. Was maddening to try and get the scanner to work (eventually gave it away to someone that wanted to print with it).
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Friday August 07 2015, @03:40PM
My exact problem. At the university I actually dug out my parent's old dot matrix printer. They never go bad (still used in high dust environments). Although the drivers were a little tricky; not to mention I tried making a banner, which used to be a standard feature of dot matrix printers but software these days just assume your pages are separated!
These days I use the cheapest Brother MFC laser printer supporting duplex printing. The toner is not cheap, but it does last until the toner is depleted, not dried out. For me that is a few years of service.
(Score: 2) by snick on Friday August 07 2015, @04:40PM
This.
My last inkjet (and I do mean *last*) never ran out of ink. The heads would be hopelessly clogged long before the ink went dry. I spent a few dollars more for a color laserjet and never looked back. It is cheaper in the long run, as I no longer have to replace at least 1 cartridge due to a clogged head EVERY FLIPPING TIME IT TRY TO PRINT IN COLOR!!