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Why must printer manufacturers ream us in the butt on replacement ink/toner?

NFS4

NFS4

No Lifer
Found a great deal over at FatWallet on an HP 3600n Color Laser Printer (networkable) at Office Depot. $699 - $140 instant discount - $100 MIR - $150 MIR - $150 MIR (Trade in old laser printer) = $160.

I have a LaserJet 4000tn that has been by my side for a few years. Works just great and replacement toner carts are just $12 - $16 a piece on eBay.

Now I have this new HP 3600n sitting in my garage. $100+ a pop for the toners (black/cyan/magenta/yellow). $400 to replace all four. WTF is wrong with this picture????

I almost EXPECT this from inkjet printers, but I thought that lasers were supposed to be a bit more economical?

Meh, probably just gonna hawk it on eBay 🙁.
 
The ink for the laser "should" last you years before needing replacing.

DId you decide to print all the digital photos you have, or did you get stuck with the starting toners that are only partially full.
 
yeah i have laserjet 5si. have had it a few years and hav enot had to replace the cartidge yet. but my smaller Samsung i had to get a new one after 2k pages and it was $85 sheesh
 
Originally posted by: Kelvrick
The ink for the laser "should" last you years before needing replacing.

DId you decide to print all the digital photos you have, or did you get stuck with the starting toners that are only partially full.
Click to expand...

If you're printing out photos on a color laserjet, then you're going over the "5% cover toner yield" that cart's are rated for.
 
pss... just craiglist the printer and profit. all those rebates and stuff was too rich for my blood.

but these new HP printers are crazy. sure the toner is expensive, but it's extremely easy to swap...
 
Because printer manufacturers have always operated on the razorblade model for their consumer products.

Give the razor (printer) away for next to nothing - ream you out on the blades (toner).

Thus why I'm waffling on buying a new laser vs. getting the refill kits for the old inkjet. 😛

- M4H
 
You'll likely get 10,000 prints of (6,000 B&W, 4000 Color) from that printer. For most people, that'll last a decade. Not bad for a measly few hundred dollars. The same cost for an inkjet will be minimum of $1,000 at $0.10 per page. A full color page on an inkjet costs ~$1, so that could rise up to $10,000 in ink cartridges. Sure makes that $400 for toner seem cheap, doesn't it?

You are "reamed up the butt" because that is the printer business plan. Sell you a $1,000 printer for $160 and hope they make up the money in toner. For businesses, who are the biggest customer of color laser, that is true. Same goes for inkjets. Sell you a $300 inkjet printer for $50 and know that in a year, you'll buy at least $300 of ink.

The cheap upfront cost brings in customers better than anything else. Until we smarten up and look at lifetime costs, that won't change.

I'm surprized car manufacturers haven't yet caught on. Sell you the car for $100 and then sell you gasoline at an added $0.75/mile. Of course, that will require the car companies to run the gas stations, but theoretically it is possible.
 
i bought my laser for $100 and just had to buy my first replacement cartridge for $50 (1/2 the price). but $50 was pretty good (i thought) for an OEM replacement (ebay). saved about $40 buying off ebay.

but still. 50% of purchase price kinda sux.

i say, get a deal on a laser, cartridge will last about 2-3 years. if you need to print color or pictures, go to kinko's or print online.
avoid inkjets at all cost
 
Originally posted by: dullard
You'll likely get 10,000 prints of (6,000 B&W, 4000 Color) from that printer. For most people, that'll last a decade. Not bad for a measly few hundred dollars. The same cost for an inkjet will be minimum of $1,000 at $0.10 per page. A full color page on an inkjet costs ~$1, so that could rise up to $10,000 in ink cartridges. Sure makes that $400 for toner seem cheap, doesn't it?

You are "reamed up the butt" because that is the printer business plan. Sell you a $1,000 printer for $160 and hope they make up the money in toner. For businesses, who are the biggest customer of color laser, that is true. Same goes for inkjets. Sell you a $300 inkjet printer for $50 and know that in a year, you'll buy at least $300 of ink.

The cheap upfront cost brings in customers better than anything else. Until we smarten up and look at lifetime costs, that won't change.

I'm surprized car manufacturers haven't yet caught on. Sell you the car for $100 and then sell you gasoline at an added $0.75/mile. Of course, that will require the car companies to run the gas stations, but theoretically it is possible.
Click to expand...

I easily go through 10,000 or more pages in a year (eBay invoices + packing slips + shipping labels + envelopes + rebate forms, etc).

Page count on my 4000tn is 152,000. My dad gave it to me as it used to be a work printer and they were getting rid of 'em. I don't recall how many pages were on it when I got it.
 
Originally posted by: NFS4
Found a great deal over at FatWallet on an HP 3600n Color Laser Printer (networkable) at Office Depot. $699 - $140 instant discount - $100 MIR - $150 MIR - $150 MIR (Trade in old laser printer) = $160.

I have a LaserJet 4000tn that has been by my side for a few years. Works just great and replacement toner carts are just $12 - $16 a piece on eBay.

Now I have this new HP 3600n sitting in my garage. $100+ a pop for the toners (black/cyan/magenta/yellow). $400 to replace all four. WTF is wrong with this picture????

I almost EXPECT this from inkjet printers, but I thought that lasers were supposed to be a bit more economical?

Meh, probably just gonna hawk it on eBay 🙁.
Click to expand...

123inkjets.com FTW? (fatcash + coupon if you're a standard Ferrengi)
 
Originally posted by: JEDI
123inkjets.com FTW? (fatcash + coupon if you're a standard Ferrengi)
Click to expand...

Don't have the 3600n listed, and even the color toners that are listed are still $90 a piece
 
I haven't paid anything for the last 6 printers I've bought because of rebates, and haven't bought any ink for them either. When the ink runs out I open another free after rebate printer.

 
Originally posted by: Jadow
cost per page is what's important, not cost for a tonor cartridge.
Click to expand...

Which is STILL a big jump considering that my 4000tn toners cost $12 vs $100 for the 3600n. What exactly has changed in 10 years that makes a black toner 8 times more expensive? 😀

I was just trying to justify the price differential, but it just doesn't compute.
 
It not only sucks for us (the consumer) who want to keep a good printer, it's downright irresponsible of the manufacturers. Outdated computers are becoming a rather large waste problem because of their short life span, and the printer mfg's certainly aren't helping things.
 
My sister got a new HP ink jet printer and the damn thing only comes with a color cartridge. Talk about a rip off.

Ink is such a rip off. They sell it at a 5000% markup, not 150% like everything else. I have moved to a lazer printer because the ink while still expensive, lasts a hellava lot longer than an ink jet.

I take lots of digital pictures but I can never understand these guys who buy photoprinters. I'd rather have pictures printed at Walgreens for 28 cents rather than the $2 or more it would cost me in ink/paper.

And I just read that you print over 10k pages a year. I don't know how much you sell on Ebay but that sounds wasteful because I doubt you sell 10+ items a day.
 
Originally posted by: NFS4
Which is STILL a big jump considering that my 4000tn toners cost $12 vs $100 for the 3600n. What exactly has changed in 10 years that makes a black toner 8 times more expensive? 😀

I was just trying to justify the price differential, but it just doesn't compute.
Click to expand...
What doesn't compute is the $12 for toner. All laser printers that I've ever seen are near $100/toner cartridge. Sure, you can get the refills or non-manufacturer brands for ~$60, usually. But I've never seen toner anywhere near $12 for the 5 different laser printers I've bought toner for. The $100 toner is typical, the $12 toner is not.

 
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