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Have you ever had your printer's software tell you
that your cartridge was out of ink well before the
cartridge was actually empty? Have you experienced
your printer refusing to print until you've replaced
the non-empty cartridge with a new one?
You're not alone. Consider this report from Recharger
magazine, published in 2003;
A recent lawsuit filed in a Texas District Court
accuses Epson of shortchanging users of its
printers, alleging that some models of the company’s
inkjet cartridges prematurely show that they are
empty. This blocks Epson printers from functioning
even though a substantial amount of ink remains in
the cartridge.
Based on independent tests, the lawsuit alleges that “10-30 percent of ink remained in Epson inkjet cartridges despite the fact that the Intellidge chip was blocking the printer from functioning.” According to the suit, several common questions that will form the basis of the case include: whether or not Epson cartridges with the Intellidge chip prematurely indicate that they are “empty” on customers' computers while there is still substantial ink remaining in the cartridge; whether or not the cartridges prematurely block Epson printers from functioning while there is substantial ink remaining in the cartridge; and whether or not the Intellidge chip's false indication that the inkjet cartridge is “empty” forced the plaintiff class to purchase replacement Epson inkjet cartridges prematurely. Some background facts cited in the lawsuit allege that the price of inkjet cartridges remains “relatively high” despite competition from generic cartridge manufacturers and recyclers and, as a result, printer companies earn more revenue annually from the sale of replacement inkjet cartridges than from the sale of actual inkjet printers. In the complaint, Harnes Keller LLP also alleges that Epson “actively and consistently discourages” the use of any replacement cartridges other than those manufactured by Epson. And this, from an online newsgroup for Canon
customers;
However, the mechanism the (Canon) iP4000 uses to report the ink levels of its cartridges needs some improvement. I've seen new users of the iP4000 gleefully reporting that after having printed many photos their iP4000 indicates the print cartridges are still full. These users are in for an unpleasant surprise: While I haven't seen this noted in the printer's documentation, Canon has informed me that the iP4000 doesn't update its display of remaining ink until about 80% of a cartridge's ink has been consumed (this applies to both the automatic and the manual updating systems). A Hewlett-Packard support technician offers this
partial explanation;
The printer recognizes that the cartridges were used and has no way to know the proper ink levels. The ink levels are stored in the printer, they do are not stored in the cartridges. If you move a cartridge from one printer to another the printer will disable ink level messaging since it has no way of telling the proper ink levels. This, in plain English, is what's happening.
There are no floats or other mechanical means for a printer to determine how much ink is left in a cartridge. The manufacturer programs the printer to know how many pages, at 5% coverage-an industry standard, a new cartridge should produce. For example, an HP #57 color cartridge is rated at 450 pages. The electronics on the cartridge reset the counter every time a new cartridge is installed. When the counter reaches 450, it will tell you that it's out of ink. Depending on what type of printing you're doing, this may be fairly accurate or wildly inaccurate. If your ink cartridge reports that it's empty well
before you think it should be, we can help you find
out just how much ink you really have left. Bring
your cartridge into the store and we'll weigh it for
you. We know the empty and full weights of all the
cartridges we service. By its weight, we can tell
you more accurately than software can whether or not
your cartridge is empty. (We cannot tell you how
much of each color is left in a color cartridge, but
we can tell if the cartridge is empty, full or
in-between.)
So why do printer manufacturers want to mislead you
into replacing ink cartridges before they are really
out of ink? Billions of reasons.
Spending in U.S. retail stores on toner and ink jet cartridges is forecast to jump 43 percent by 2007, to $26.3 billion, according to Cap Ventures. |
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We get asked to recommend a printer by a large
number of our customers who are ready to purchase an
upgrade. Being our customers, one of their main
concerns is the cost of the printer's consumables.
Our advice is consistent; the printer you should buy is the one that will best accomplish your particular printing needs. If you're the average home user who prints emails,
photos and the occasional document, an inkjet
printer will most likely suit your needs the best.
It also has the least expensive consumables, but the
cost-per-page (# of pages ÷ cartridge cost) is high.
But we do advise our customers to keep a laserjet
printer in mind. Students who print only text
reports without images, businesses who need an
economical way to print invoices, letters and office
documents, the home user who hardly ever prints in
color; these folks will find their cost-per-page to
be far lower using a laserjet than an inkjet printer.
Even those who need a color printer should consider
using a laserjet. Hewlett-Packard is selling their
2550n color laserjet direct for only $299 currently.
It comes with a set of starter cartridges that,
when empty, can be refilled through us for around
$285 for all four cartridges (based on current
prices). That may seem excessive, but consider; an
HP #56 black ink cartridge is rated at 450 pages, an
HP Q3960A black toner cartridge for the 2500 series
is rated at 5000 pages.
The Dell color laser printer (3010cn) and the HP 2500 series printers both produce beautiful color images, as do most of the new color laserjets on the market. Our standard recommendation is to note what you use
your printer for during a month of usage then buy a
printer that excels at performing those tasks. Take
the printer you think you might like for a test
drive at a Best Buy or Fry's. Make sure you aren't
paying for features you don't need, like wireless
connectivity if you don't have a wireless network.
Give us a call if you'd like to know what replacing
the cartridges will cost you once your starter
cartridges run out of ink or toner.
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OK, maybe we can't support printers that old.
But if you're happy with your older printer and frustrated at trying to find cartridges for it, we can help. Do you have an Epson inkjet that needs a T008 and
T009 cartridge? Perhaps your office laser printer
uses the HP 92298A cartridge. These are becoming
harder to find, as office supply stores only have so
much display space and that space is needed to
feature the newer cartridges for the current printer
models. If only 10 people a year buy a 92298A, it's
not reasonable to keep them in stock.
But we can carry the inks and toners for these
easily, and we do. So if you are having trouble
finding new cartridges for your old printer, come
into Cartridge World San Diego. We'll give your old
cartridge a new life, and save you some money doing it.
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Whether you just got a new printer or have had your
printer for ages, chances are we can recycle your
cartridges to get you printing again for less than
you'd spend elsewhere. If you're thinking about
replacing your printer and need advice on which
model is right for you, give us a call and we'll
help as best we can.
Sincerely,
Sushma Rao
Cartridge World
email:
cwsandiego@cwsandiego.com
phone:
(858) 581-9191
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