The printer usually comes with less ink per cartridge than the refills. So buying a new printer every time you run out of ink is not cheaper than buying the refills.
There used to be a time when the printer manufacturers did bundle full-sized cartridges with new printers. Back when I worked retail ~15 years ago, this was definitely the case with some Lexmark inkjets. We used to sell people a new printer, open up the box, give them the cartridge(s), and then offer to recycle/trash everything else. Eventually printer manufacturers caught on.
Several comments in the thread point that out, but he replied: "It seems the cartridges are all full size. So it's really cheaper to buy a new printer."
When my $50 laserjet runs out of ink (going on 3 years now; I don't print much), I may just leave it at the end of the driveway and get another $50 printer, even if the > $50 cartridge would last longer than the starter cartridge.
You should check check the prices first. I know I looked into Brother lasers, and the preinstalled cartridge is only rated for 600 pages. A high-yield black toner cartridge is only $47 and prints 2600 pages. And $50 doesn't get you much of a laser printer.
And the rating of 600 pages is low, it is determined in software on the starter toner. On my brother, there is a small hole on the cartridge that light is passed through to detect the toner level.
My printer is at 3200 pages on the starter toner because I put a piece of tape over the sensor which makes it believe it is always full of toner.
New printers from Brother which I bought the same model for my in-laws, have solved this hack. But you can buy a replacement gear online for a few bucks, it pops on, and then you have access to the same method I used to trick the printer.
Once the stater runs out, I will get a toner replacement and also tape the sensor. Even if it prints a little light, all it takes it taking the cartridge out and shaking it a little. This will buy you another month.
If you are on Mac OS X or Linux and access the printer through CUPS, ( not sure about Windows and how to access these settings ) and you can set the DPI to a lower rate and put it in toner saver mode. I can't tell a difference unless I have a side by side to compare. Plus, this is just black and white so invoices, driving directions, stuff like that. I don't care about the quality of a halftone image.
Should note that doing this can damage the printer. The toner particles that don't stick keep getting recycled back into the cartridge until eventually clumps of that crud are most of what's in it, and you're still trying to use more and more voltage to pull it out onto the paper... possibly getting it stuck somewhere else in the printer, damaging the drum, clogging a fan, or any number of risks.
If you're 5 times past the rated capacity of the cartridge and it's printing light, instead of shaking the crud around and putting it back in, just buy another cartridge... unless you WANT to destroy your in-laws' printer and burn their house down.
You can buy a decent Brother monochrome laser printer (auto duplex, wireless, and wired networking) for ~$60-80 on sale and the generic toner for $10-20 for 2,600 pages.
For most people this is a far better option than buying the Brother brand toner. Worst case, it ruins the printer and you buy another one for that $50! I have had great success with the generic toner so far, nothing ruined or leaky yet.
Comments
The printer usually comes with less ink per cartridge than the refills. So buying a new printer every time you run out of ink is not cheaper than buying the refills.
Nor practical.
You beat me to it.
There used to be a time when the printer manufacturers did bundle full-sized cartridges with new printers. Back when I worked retail ~15 years ago, this was definitely the case with some Lexmark inkjets. We used to sell people a new printer, open up the box, give them the cartridge(s), and then offer to recycle/trash everything else. Eventually printer manufacturers caught on.
Several comments in the thread point that out, but he replied: "It seems the cartridges are all full size. So it's really cheaper to buy a new printer."
Maybe cartridges are full size physically, but are not filled with the same amount of ink.
When my $50 laserjet runs out of ink (going on 3 years now; I don't print much), I may just leave it at the end of the driveway and get another $50 printer, even if the > $50 cartridge would last longer than the starter cartridge.
You should check check the prices first. I know I looked into Brother lasers, and the preinstalled cartridge is only rated for 600 pages. A high-yield black toner cartridge is only $47 and prints 2600 pages. And $50 doesn't get you much of a laser printer.
And the rating of 600 pages is low, it is determined in software on the starter toner. On my brother, there is a small hole on the cartridge that light is passed through to detect the toner level.
My printer is at 3200 pages on the starter toner because I put a piece of tape over the sensor which makes it believe it is always full of toner.
New printers from Brother which I bought the same model for my in-laws, have solved this hack. But you can buy a replacement gear online for a few bucks, it pops on, and then you have access to the same method I used to trick the printer.
Once the stater runs out, I will get a toner replacement and also tape the sensor. Even if it prints a little light, all it takes it taking the cartridge out and shaking it a little. This will buy you another month.
If you are on Mac OS X or Linux and access the printer through CUPS, ( not sure about Windows and how to access these settings ) and you can set the DPI to a lower rate and put it in toner saver mode. I can't tell a difference unless I have a side by side to compare. Plus, this is just black and white so invoices, driving directions, stuff like that. I don't care about the quality of a halftone image.
Should note that doing this can damage the printer. The toner particles that don't stick keep getting recycled back into the cartridge until eventually clumps of that crud are most of what's in it, and you're still trying to use more and more voltage to pull it out onto the paper... possibly getting it stuck somewhere else in the printer, damaging the drum, clogging a fan, or any number of risks.
If you're 5 times past the rated capacity of the cartridge and it's printing light, instead of shaking the crud around and putting it back in, just buy another cartridge... unless you WANT to destroy your in-laws' printer and burn their house down.
Citation needed. I have never heard of a house being burned down by this means.
I hadn't heard of the change with the newer models. I've helped someone do the tape hack with the starter cartridge in a 2170W -- worked just fine.
Can you elaborate a bit on this "gear" hack for the newer models, so that I know what I'm looking for? Thanks.
You can buy a decent Brother monochrome laser printer (auto duplex, wireless, and wired networking) for ~$60-80 on sale and the generic toner for $10-20 for 2,600 pages.
For most people this is a far better option than buying the Brother brand toner. Worst case, it ruins the printer and you buy another one for that $50! I have had great success with the generic toner so far, nothing ruined or leaky yet.
Every so often, Amazon drops the price of the 2270W to $79.99 -- the model that currently fits your description.
camelcamelcamel will email you when this happens.
http://camelcamelcamel.com/
I bought an HP LaserJet 2100 for $5 and it still going fine.
I wonder if in a few years a totally disposable colour laser scanner copier will appear. It's almost at that point now.
Let's say you can resell that printer for half the price, without cartridges, and buy a new one. How about then?