While printer prices drop, cartridge prices remain steep
While finding a
desktop printer for around $100 has become relatively easy, ink cartridges still
end up costing more in the first year than the printer itself–and prices are
rising. The UK Consumer Association reported that, in 2003, printer ink cost,
ounce per ounce, seven times as much as French champagne. The cost has since
risen.
There are ways to cut down on the amount of ink your printer uses to ensure
you get as much time as possible from each cartridge, including networking more
than one computer for each printer, minimizing the number of new ink cartridges
needed per year.
While steep discounting makes it possible to pick up a functional inkjet
printer for less than $100, replacing the ink cartridges, especially colour ones
for printing family photos, can easily set you back between one-third and
one-half of that amount.
Given that a typical printer cartridge can comfortably fit in the palm of
your hand, such prices seem more than a little steep to many buyers.
A study by the UK Consumers Association calculated that, millilitre for
millilitre, printer ink cost seven times as much as vintage French champagne.
‘Ink has to be exactly correct in terms of its colour composition and
purity,’ says Stuart Poignand, marketing manager for consumer imaging products
at Canon Australia.
Big-name manufacturers are willingly admit they have a policy of offering
low prices on hardware and taking their profits from consumables.
As an example, he points out that home printing of photos on specialised
paper costs about 55c a print, a similar charge to commercial photo outlets.
‘Unreliable, faulty cartridges result in more reprints, streaky and smeared
printouts, more wasted paper, and use up more cartridges,’ she says.
As well as expensive marketing campaigns designed to hammer home that
message, some companies use chip technology that makes it difficult for rivals
to produce cartridges for their machines.
A number of vendors are pushing combo packs featuring ink and photo paper in
discount bundles to attract price-conscious consumers.
Most of the complaints about quality levelled at inkjet printers are caused
not by the hardware, but by incorrect software settings.
There are two main printer technologies for home users: inkjet and dye
sublimation.
Laser is a third option, but is only suited to document printing, with
colour laser models still expensive.