Hacker News Reader

Comment by Errsher | Hacker News Reader

I had an Epson inkjet and I only used it maybe once a month, and I had to change the ink cartridges every other time I used it, despite attempts at maintenance. I've now a laser printer for a couple years and am now only just running low on toner. Don't buy inkjet.

View on HN

It depends on the model.

At the time I was buying mine, Epson marketed the WorkForce Series as the ones which didn't rip you off on ink, and WorkForce Pro, I believe, was even better.

Read reviews for printing costs, and adjust for the cost of generic ink. That's even true for lasers now; it's rare, but I've seen models designed to rip you off on toner too.

I just got the EcoTank one and it doesn’t use cartridges AND I can see the ink level. For my use cases it ticks all the boxes.

The EcoTank draws a lot of power constantly, and can not be left off for long times or that ink will ruin everything.

It has the problem the GP was talking about, increased to complete new levels.

Not in my experience. Have had one for several years, switch it on when I need and turn off for weeks at a time. Runs perfectly and total cost of ownership is already lower than the mid-range pro HP printer I had before.

Also laser printers draw a lot of power constantly, you may be confused here. The toner needs to be kept warm.

The problem for GP and for me too is inkjets needs a couples of cleaning and test prints after a drop of IPA on K, C, LC, LM and M ink drawing port each time I'd use it. That won't happen with lasers at all.

Having both color laser and inkjet, color laser printers can dry out parts inside that can make the operation not work well.

Scheduling a print via RIP service on port 9100 is a way to keep printheads working

Reply on news.ycombinator.com