Kodak proves ink doesn’t need to be expensive
Many computer users know all too well printers don’t cost much these days – even for those fancy all-in-one models – but where these companies get you is in the ink. Ah, the ‘ol razor-and-blade analogy in full force.
Many computer users know all too well printers don’t cost much these days – even for those fancy all-in-one models – but where these companies get you is in the ink. Ah, the ‘ol razor-and-blade analogy in full force.
But Kodak is bucking this trend with one of their new EasyShare multifunction printers, which start at $129.99, which is much easier on your wallet when it comes time to buy refill ink cartridges.
Black ink refills only cost $11.99, while a five-ink colour ink cartridge costs $17.99. This is about half of what other printer companies charge for ink refills.
And so we asked Kodak how they can sell ink so inexpensively.
"Two key factors allow Kodak to sell inexpensive ink — the first is that our print head is actually in the printer versus the ink cartridge, which helps us reduce the cost of the ink cartridge and pass those savings along to consumers" says Dan MacDonald, Vice President of Sales at Kodak Canada’s Consumer Digital Imaging Group.
"The second is that we, as a company, CHOOSE to sell ink inexpensively because the price of ink offered today by other manufacturers takes advantage of the Canadian consumer who is trapped having to purchase a particular expensive ink for their printer" adds MacDonald. "It is the number one reason why consumers don’t print as much as they would like; we believe inexpensive ink will give consumers the freedom to print what they want, when they want."
Do you agree with MacDonald’s last point? Would you print more if prices for ink cartridges were more reasonable? Do you think you pay too much now?
I think it's great if a major company like Kodak can lower their prices for ink. Hopefully, other companies follow suit.
I've owned Canon and HP printers, but never Kodak, but I would definitely consider them now. And yeah, I would print more photographs if the inks were cheaper.
same idea Canon has had for a long time, ink is a little less, they don't mention tank size, or ink quality for photos though. I'd need to see the results before I would look at it
purchased an ESP7 and have printed several pictures on premium photo paper and they are great quality, will no longer have to take pictures out to be printed, can do them at home.
I own an Epson, the print heads are in the printer as well. I find that the ink for the Epson is miles cheaper that say an HP (ie epson black about $23 and HP black about $70). I think that the manufactures should sell the ink separately to the consumer so that they have the choice of re-filling their cartridges or going to buy a brand new one. This would be a win win for everyone, 1st because this would reduce the number of cartridges ending up in land fills and 2nd it would reduce the cost of packaging new cartridges (ie sales of buld ink). I have tried using refill services such as "Island Inkjet" who claim that their ink is supplied by the same manufacturers that supply the printer companies, but in my experience the colors always come out different than an OEM cartridge. Needless to say I don't use my Espon photo printer very often, especially when Walmart offers 0.15 cent 4 x 6 prints every once in a while!
Well done Kodak!
I don't do alot of photo printing because you can get them done cheaply at various retail locations that sell camera and film supplies.
But It Really Pisses me off when the total cost of colour + black ink cartridges add up to 3/4 the original price of the printer…EG: I have a lexmark all in one scanner fax copier brand new on sale, taxes included, just over 100 bucks lets say even 110 or 120 for arguments sake
1 black ON SALE!!!!and 1 colour ink cartridge after taxes $80.94 CDN.
I actually know people who keep an eye out for sales on printers and when there ink level warning comes up they buy a whole new printer and either trash or try to give away the old 1 because you can often get free delivery with your purchase….. which means you never have to deal with salespeople or traffic weather etc you just order it and in a couple of days it arrives at your door.
when you think of all the PETRO CHEMICAL WASTE involved in the manufacturing,Packaging,shipping of both printers and cartridges that goes into landfills because of this INANE and IRRISPONSIBLE practice by the larger manufacturers you can readily see how much they give a damn about anything but making money at the expense of everyone from the poor chinese labourors with no health and safety, no employee rights etc, to the consumers who need printers for work, to the families that would like to print a picture now and then, who's nieghbour down the road is a landfill stuffed with all this crap…leaching into thier environment!!!!
I give Kodak a well done for showing some leadership on this front…thier probably doing it because they want to lower the cost of thier China made printers but still its a start.
I don't use ink-jet printer a lot because of the price of cartridge. Most of my printing is done on a laser printer which is a lot of cheaper to print. Also the ink-jet print head tends to clot or dry up easily. I have an Epson printer that I paid over $200 for but the ink in the head dried up and won't clear up even after many cleaning cycles. It is just another printer waiting for me to take to the waste collection. If the print head is in the printer and not in the cartridge, unless Kodak can keep the ink from drying in the print head, I would think you have to use the printer frequently or you will quickly find out that the printer just won't print all the colors and you will have to dump it.
The ink game is just another rip off of consumers in what has become aggressive capitalism. The business model has changed form cultivating an increasing number of customers to cultivating the most income from fewer customers. When customers no longer buy, shift the operation to another country with cheaper labour. I doubt Corporations even think to sell more by increasing their customer base and lowering prices. They would rather grab what they can, shut down and reopen to start the game over again.
Yes it would good to have less expensive cartridges, as long as they work as good and are available for all types of printers.
eddie is right – my Canon black cartridge is $10 and colour is $25 and the multi-pack for both is $32. This is why I bought the printer I did. Size does matter though…they are smaller, but I don't mind the trade-off of paying less a little more often.
You should try pricing the print heads. They cost as much as the new printer to buy. They either dry out and clog or just stop working. I'd rather get a fresh clean print head with every cartridge.
Mark
Colour laser printers are now almost as inexpensive as inkjets. The quality is better, the colour does not smear, and you don't have to worry about the ink drying out or clogging your print head.
Toner is expensive but you get many more pages per cartridge. And there is always the photo booth at the local pharmacy when you need pot quality prints.
Dave 2007
I bought a Lexmark Z603 at WalMart for a blowout price ($25.00) and it costs over $80 to buy new ink for the &%$# thing. As for re-filling your cartridges, I've been doing it for years and the main things I have found are that YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR,the print heads are only good for 3 or 4 refills, and that a clogged print head can be unclogged with rubbing alcohol. I use 99% rather than the more common 70% because there is less water in it and it evaporates better and cleaner.
The HP Photo Value Pack #02, costs around $43 for all six catridges and includes 150 sheets of 4"x6" photo paper. According to HP there is enough ink to print at least 150 pictures.I actually get more prints. The cartridges are new, not refills. I would rather have the print head on each new cartridge,getting high quality prints every time, rather than degraded pictures over time(print heads wear out). Most manufactures print cartridges have highly compressed foam in the bottom. Every time that you turn a printer on, ink is wasted "charging the cartridge". Certain HP printers using the initial cartridges, actually recycle the ink so that less ink is wasted. Recently, the HP photosmart D7160 printer has been on sale under $90.
Price isn't everything, but nevertheless
important. I would need to know the dependability of the printer, ease of use, serviceability, quality of the ink,
ease of locating it in my area,and if the cartridges are refillable.
Everytime I need to purchase new ink cartrides for my Canon printer, they have increased in price by another few dollars. Where will it end? I also hate the way they are packaged in plastic so that I have to use a knife to open them. When I complained, Canon told me that's the way the stores wanted them for display purposes. More landfill! And I couldn't care less about "free" photo paper that I can't use to print 4X6 photos. Until the price comes down, I will take my memory cards to places that can produce photos much more cheaply. What can we do to stop this ongoing ripoff?
Everytime I need to purchase new ink cartrides for my Canon printer, they have increased in price by another few dollars. Where will it end? I also hate the way they are packaged in plastic so that I have to use a knife to open them. When I complained, Canon told me that's the way the stores wanted them for display purposes. More landfill! And I couldn't care less about "free" photo paper that I can't use to print 4X6 photos. Until the price comes down, I will take my memory cards to places that can produce photos much more cheaply. What can we do to stop this ongoing ripoff?
Perhaps it might be good to try to limit the amount we print regardless of price. More wasted paper, more garbage in our already polluted world. Why must we always look for ways to have MORE?
I've been buying inkjet clones on the internet for the last few years; they are inexpensive and work fine on my Epson printer. Just ordered 11 cartridges from Four Inkjets for a grand total of U.S. $50.38 shipping included to Pt. Roberts. Can't beat that !!!
Brilliant marketing strategy by Kodak, who are trying to come into the market. I would buy one most definitely, and be far less frugal with my color prints. The margins on ink cartridges would make Warren Buffet smile!
Ive been a printer for years. Ink is nothing but a pigment added to oil (just the quality differs) This stuff made for pennies, I havent replaced an ink cartridge since I got my printer and seem to do just fine, on a personal basis. If printing pictures just get prints made at any photo shop and have a disc come with it.
Stop the highway robbery!!!!
Your in canada its the same thing with everything ripoff the consumer look at cars and gas and so on and so on.