Australia's Price of Oem Hp Ink Just Stinks

[Anonymous]

<p><font size=”5″><strong>Australia’s Price of Oem Hp Ink Just Stinks </strong></font></p>
<p><strong><font size=”4″>Price of ink just stinks – Chanel No.5 is cheaper than printer ink </font></strong><br />
<font size=”4″>YOU can buy a printer for about $150 but the ink costs more than Chanel No.5 or champagne, prompting consumer advocates Choice to call for a government investigation.<br />
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A 3.5ml cartridge of yellow HP ink costs $10.50 through the Good Guys, meaning consumers will pay $3/ml – or $3000 per litre.<br />
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That’s one-third more than Chanel No.5 perfume. A 100ml bottle of Chanel No.5 costs $224.77 from online retailer The Iconic. That’s $2.25/ml or $2250 per litre.<br />
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Choice spokeswoman Ingrid Just said the price of printer inks was “notoriously high” and on a per-litre basis it is “one of the most expensive liquids on the planet”.<br />
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An 18ml cartridge of black ink costs $35.32 or $1960 per litre. While less expensive than Chanel No.5 it still pales in comparison to a bottle of Moet which at $75 for 750ml costs $100 per litre – barely 1/20 the price.<br />
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A 2010 Choice study found that Australians could expect to pay more than $2000 over three years for printers, toner and ink.<br />
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Yet consumers have no way of telling from the specifications on the packaging how much their printer will cost to run.<br />
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Manufacturers do not offer standardised sizing for ink cartridges and the ink yield is calculated differently by each brand, based on their own test page files.And only HP lists cartridge volume information on its website, Choice said.<br />
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“The yield and therefore cost-effectiveness of printers can vary greatly between brands and models, even if they use similar print engines,” Ms Just said.<br />
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“A government investigation of this area would potentially have great benefits for the average consumer.”<br />
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Still, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission told The Daily Telegraph that “high prices alone are unlikely to raise consumer concerns under the Australian consumer law”. <br />
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There are ways to lower the running cost of a printer. Consumers can save up to 50 per cent by using “third party” cartridges. However these savings do not take into account performance and quality, which can be uneven and printer heads often require more regular cleaning to ensure printouts were of an acceptable standard.<br />
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A spokesperson for HP told The Daily Telegraph a number of factors beyond the direct cost of purchase equipment and supplies – such as quality, reliability, efficiency and productivity – should also be considered when determining the total cost of ownership.</font></p>
<div class=”image-frame image-650w366h”><font size=”4″><img width=”650″ height=”366″ alt=”cartridge” src=”http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2011/10/17/1226168/786461-ink-cartridge.jpg&#8221; /></font></div>
<p class=”caption”><font size=”4″><span class=”caption-text”>Printer ink costs more than Chanel No.5 or champagne. </span> <span class=”image-source”><em>Source:</em> News Limited</span></font></p>

[Author]

December 18, 2012 at 8:34 AM