Advice needed?

Question

which is the most cost effective printer for home use.in my previous 2 printers ink depletes quickly, and then cartridge could not be refilled so had to buy new printer. bubble jet and dot matrix is ok for me. but which company. I s a printer with scanner and fax cost effective

Answer 1

Cheap printers are a way to sell expensive ink to the public. The answer depends on how much paper that you use.

For example, I use a box of paper (10 reams per box, 500 sheets per ream) every 6 to 8 months. If I get 250 sheets printed on a single ink cartridge, then I'm amazed. At $30 per cartridge, I would use 20 cartridges for a box of paper. That's $600 worth of ink. Most color printers print black as a combination of yellow, cyan, magenta rather than use the black cartridge, unless you specify in the software that you are printing just black and white. The default is to use all of the colors to make black. So, the first thing to do, is to buy a laser printer to handle your black and white printing needs. Here's a good one for $100 (http://www.officemax.com/max/solutions/product/prodBlock.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&prodBlockOID=1611575426&expansionOID=-536907398)
The Brother toner cartridges cost about $65 for each 3000 sheets that you want to print. Compare that to the $30 for each 250 (or less) sheets for the typical ink jet printer.

Color laser printers are still pretty much cost prohibitive for home users, although the prices are coming down.
http://www.officemax.com/max/solutions/product/prodBlock.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&prodBlockOID=1611592951&expansionOID=-536907398

So, for now, once you've moved your typical black and white printing to a laser printer, buy a color ink-jet or bubble-jet printer that has separate cartridges for each color. This way, when yellow, for example, runs out, you only replace yellow, not the whole color cartridge. Canon and Epson both have models that have separate ink cartridges for each color....although be careful, because both manufacturers also have printers with all the colors in one.

Answer 2

Haven't you heard of the continuous ink supply system (CISS)? Check it out in the web to give you an idea. It can save you more than 90% in your ink costs.

A printer with scanner and fax can be cost effective depending on how much you need and use each function. They come in cheaper now to attract buyers even those who would seldomly use the scanner and fax.

Answer 3

Laser printers are the most cost effective, that is why businesses use them. You will pay more up front but the cpp is a lot cheaper and you can ROI it in a short ammount of time.

Answer 4

Multipurpose units are more "effective" in that they take up less desk real estate (which for most people is very much at a premium), and cost less than buying each seperately.

Dedicated units also tend to be "better" than multi-purpose units, as they only do one job.

Outside that, ink prices vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. You'll have to do some research as to which unit is best for your needs.