Epson overcharging customers issue

[Ken Fong]

(I imported this from the general topics area since I figured there are probably more Epson users in here.)

Does anyone have any insights on this issue over whether Epson is overcharging customers for unused ink in its cartridges?

See article:

"Dutch consumer group strikes back at pricey Epson ink cartridges"

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/6306498.htm

I tend to side with Epson's position that you would not want the cartridge to run out of ink prematurely...kinda like you would never want to run your car to the point where there is no gasoline left in the tank...this can cause damage (besides embarassment). But these are just my impressions.

I'm also curious about which printers they are referring to. I have a 2200 which has individual color cartridges, so at least you don't have to replace the entire set when one 'runs out'.

[robertwgross]

I print mostly with the Epson 1270. Sure, when the ink cartridge gets low, a warning comes up on the screen. Fine. Click that and continue. Then several pages later, the warning comes up on the screen. Fine. Click. Continue. Then it will get to where the warning comes up each time and returns when clicked. Fine. Click. Continue.

Finally, several pages later, it says that the ink is dead. OK. Pull it and stick in a new one. Continue. Life is too short to argue about some picoliters of ink that is thrown out.

---Bob Gross---

[Motorsports Photo]

My first experience with finding out there ws a LOT more ink in the cartridge was when I went to print out a 13x19 on my 2000P. The color ink cartridge light started flashing just after the job started. I let it go and the print finished just fine. Now that I know it will go that far, I do not change the cartridges right away. I did have one job stop in the middle because I tried to get just a little too much out of that one cart. I changed to a new one and the print came out justf fine. I do realize that it might not have if the colors were a bit off from the previous cart.

-PS

[robertwgross]

Often, I print large like 13x19 inches. Most of the time, I am printing on 8.5x11 inches. If we use that as a standard, then I normally see the first low ink warning, and then I can print several more pages past that before it finally craps out on me. As a rule, once I have gone a few pages past the warning, I will not attempt to print anything large. I will stick to small or cheap paper, since I know there will be an increasing risk of the ink running out.

---Bob Gross---

[Ken Fong]

I'm starting to think that the article is referring to newer consumer inkjets because the chip was actually preventing customers from printing once the low ink indication came on...I don't think I've experienced that.

The article said that researchers were able to print 38% more good quality pages after overriding the chip. Europe tends to emphasize issues of recyclability/waste management more than the U.S. (they're pretty good at it I must say)...not sure if the boycotting genetically modified food thing is just to protect themselves from imports however...that's for some other forum :)