6 ink vs. 2 ink - and the cost question

[Ruud]

I own a HP PSC 1110. It's an all-in-one. Only recently have I started to print out photos and I love it. I'm hooked....

I don't print a lot of photos now and don't plan to in the future. Mostly 4x6 to give to a visiting friend, for family, or for an album. A photo a day or so. Some larger for the odd change of a photo frame. Some "projects" like a calendar, greeting cards, etc. The usual father-at-home hobby activities, I guess.

Now my PSC 1110 using semi-gloss HP photo paper looks absolutely stunning to me. I love the colors, find the photos rich, and at least for me and mine they're good enough to compete with what we're used to from a 1 hour service.

Now that my 2nd color cartridge since buying the printer is empty I'm starting to wonder. I read here that HP is notorious for its cost per page.

Considering that, is a 6 ink printer really better, really more economical? I plan to buy an Epson R200. Including tax it'll cost me Cad. $180. A color cartridge for the HP is about Cad. $50. I wonder if I really would "earn" my money back buying the Epson R200 "tomorrow" instead of getting another HP color cartridge.

Ruud

[robertwgross]

I think you will find that the vast majority of users here have an Epson or Canon inkjet as their "photo" printer.

You will also find that it is foolhardy to select one printer over another based on the initial purchase cost. You really want to estimate your usage, then estimate the ink cartridge cost and paper cost over a printer lifetime. Then add in the intangible factors, like print lifetime before fading, availability of consumables, and convenience.

---Bob Gross---

[Ruud]

I hear you. On photo-forum (http://www.photo-forums.com/WebX?50@44.CCJTbtlFj98.5@.ee97424/0) I read a post where someone, a printer sales person, said "most of the time the colors run out at the same approximate time but if you print predominently one or two colors". This made me wonder if 6 cartrdiges produces less waste than 3-in-1.

I think I'm looking for a more general recommendation and more general information than the level of detail which no doubt is involved with seriously considering the life-span cost of a specific printer.

Ruud

[Roger_Cavanagh]

I hear you. On photo-forum (http://www.photo-forums.com/WebX?50@44.CCJTbtlFj98.5@.ee97424/0) I read a post where someone, a printer sales person, said "most of the time the colors run out at the same approximate time but if you print predominently one or two colors". This made me wonder if 6 cartrdiges produces less waste than 3-in-1.

I think I'm looking for a more general recommendation and more general information than the level of detail which no doubt is involved with seriously considering the life-span cost of a specific printer.

Ruud

I think your salesman is talking horse-feathers. I have an Epson 2000P, which has a single colour cartridge, and an Epson R800, which has individual colour cartridges. The Epson print utilities indicate ink levels and there's no question in my mind that colours are used at different rates. I have to throw away ink with the 2000P because one colour has run out before the others.

With the R800 it is quite noticeable that the different colours are used at very different rates.

I am quite sure that Epson or HP or Canon will charge you for the amount of ink in the cart when it is new without regard for the fact that some percentage will be wasted. :)

Regards,

[robertwgross]

My Epson printer uses the 5-color cartridge, plus a black cartridge. I use up about 20 color cartridges per year, and about 4 black cartridges. On the color cartridge, in just about every case, the light blue cyan runs out before any other color, maybe because I have so much beautiful sky in my landscapes.

---Bob Gross---

[Cadenza]

I run an Epson RX500 and a trusty old 1280
side by side with 3rd party inks.

At $6 per cartridge for the 1280, it takes $12
to tank up the 1280 (one blk, one 5-color), and
about $50-$60 for a full set of six colors on the
RX500. Nice paper is expensive, but all I know
is that, in my case, the per print costs of ink
were almost a non issue for me when I used
solely the 1280. (I got the RX500 bc I wanted
the 3 in 1 functionality -- I'm not ready for the
cost of Epson 2200 and its consumables).

I use about 2 black cartridges for every 3
color ones on the 1280. The newer RX500
uses separate tanks, and even using 3rd
party inks it is still a considerable cost. Plus
annoyance of changing one cartridge only
to have a low-ink warning come up for
another color, 2 prints later. The quality of
the RX500 prints are marginally better than
1280, but it doesn't print big 13x 19s.

I still believe that the costs of the actual
ink liquid is negligible, what we're really
paying for is the containers and so-called
smart chipping (plus massive extortionate
profiteering). They figured, why sell one
cartridge with five colors, when we can
sell five cartridges with one color each?