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I changed out my ink cartrages one month and then not even 2 months later it said I was out of 'yellow'....although I have not printed anything in color.
I changed it as you know printers now block access unless it's replaced...even though you don't need that color.
Then I moved and when I hooked it back up it said the other ones were low/empty.
After researching this phenomena I discovered some printers, like my Brother Mutli function machine doesn't care wether you are out of ink or not...they say you are out when you have plenty left just to force the consumer to keep spending money.
A solution was to place black tape over a mirror or something inside so that it won't register....the guy said he printed for a year on it and could see his printouts get lighter and lighter.
Wish I could offer a solution VegasGrace, but my HP doesn't prevent me from using my printer when the ink is low -- it gives me annoying messages, but it continues to work until nothing but faint print comes out and I decide to change the cartridge.
My printer tracks how long the cart has been in the printer. When a limit is reached you get the error. It also has a battery (size of a quarter, you know the ones) that keeps the chip holding the info powered so it doesn't lose the data when you turn off the printer.
I removed the battery for 30 seconds and put it back in.
It doesn't appear that you need color, so a laser would be a much more economical solution. You can get one for around $70 - depending on the model of inkjet you have, that could be the equivalent of buying as few as 2 ink cartridges.
It doesn't appear that you need color, so a laser would be a much more economical solution. You can get one for around $70 - depending on the model of inkjet you have, that could be the equivalent of buying as few as 2 ink cartridges.
It doesn't appear that you need color, so a laser would be a much more economical solution. You can get one for around $70 - depending on the model of inkjet you have, that could be the equivalent of buying as few as 2 ink cartridges.
I went the laser route several years ago, and am now on my second laser printer. The first was a Samsung B&W printer, and after a while, it started having trouble feeding paper properly. By the time that happened, though, I already had my mind made up to replace it with a Color laser printer if it ever quit working. I did that, and ended up getting another Samsung (CLP 510). Other than its size, I am very pleased with it. The original toner cartridges lasted me well over a year, and they were the so-called "starter" cartridges. Those were only rated for something like 1,500 pages for color and 2,000 pages for black. When I replaced them, I used the high capacity cartridges, which are good for something like 5,000 pages for color and 7,000 pages for the black cartridge. The cost of the new cartridges was about $400, which was well over what I paid for the printer ($250). At the rate that the original cartridges lasted, I expect the replacements to last for four to five years! I am very pleased with this printer, including print speed and output quality. The inkjet printers I had prior to this had nice output quality, but they were extremely slow by comparison. The only complaint I have about my color laser printer is the huge size of it.
Tigerdirect has the toner for that printer for $80. Ink cartridges are ~$20+ for 500 pages.
$80 / 3000 = .0267/pg
$20 / 500 = .04/pg
Toner cartridges aren't cheap, but lasers are still far more economical than inkjets. They also don't get clogged up like inkjets do. I can't tell you how many ink cartridges I've had to toss simply because they got clogged up with dust and couldn't be cleared.
Unless you need color, a laser printer is much more economical (and faster, and not prone to smearing, etc) than an inkjet.
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