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+--- Thread: FYI: Some HP printers will run off the tri color cartridge only (/showthread.php?tid=75814)
FYI: Some HP printers will run off the tri color cartridge only - C(-)ris - 04-06-2009
The black cartridge has finally run dry on my newish HP All in one F2240. This was a clearance deal at the local Target for $25. Went and priced out the cartridges and they are $32 a piece. Didn't seem worth while, so I went home to try and find a generic. While searching I ran across a post that said that if you pull the black cartridge out it will print normally, including black, using just the one cartridge. Low and behold, it works! Should get me another 4 or 5 months out of this printer, and plenty of time to score another clearance deal on a new one at Target. I really do think think that small inkjet printers are disposable these days and not worth buying a cartridge for.
Now the Epson 4800 series I have, that is a little different story, but that still costs around $600 for a full set of ink. But the printer was $2k to begin with so....
Re: FYI: Some HP printers will run off the tri color cartridge only - space-time - 04-06-2009
get a laser and don't worry about ink. toner comes out much cheaper (1 cent per page?) and you don't fill the landfill with disposable printers. I paid $25 for a genuine toner shipped, and I believe a cartridge last about 2500 pages, so yes, $0.01/page is the real cost (excluding the paper, electricity and drum). If you include the drum, maybe $0.02/page total cost.
Re: FYI: Some HP printers will run off the tri color cartridge only - Mactel - 04-06-2009
Hmmm. I'll try it on my HP. My black cartridge dried up so I've had to change all my text to dark blue to get it to print. (This was a free after rebate printer I got last year when I bought my last Mac.) I am not buying ink for this printer...
Re: FYI: Some HP printers will run off the tri color cartridge only - C(-)ris - 04-06-2009
space-time wrote:
get a laser and don't worry about ink. toner comes out much cheaper (1 cent per page?) and you don't fill the landfill with disposable printers. I paid $25 for a genuine toner shipped, and I believe a cartridge last about 2500 pages, so yes, $0.01/page is the real cost (excluding the paper, electricity and drum). If you include the drum, maybe $0.02/page total cost.
Attach a kill-a-watt to that laserjet. I think you would be surprised how much power those suck, especially for occasional on and off printing. Also, when you factor in the purchase price of a laserjet the costs go up as well. I'm working out to about .02ยข a print total ownership costs on the inkjet. It uses a negligible amount of power while printing and nothing while off.
Re: FYI: Some HP printers will run off the tri color cartridge only - space-time - 04-06-2009
yes, I have a kill-a-watt, that's how I know it uses 6W while on stand-by.
So far in about 2 months it used ~5kWh, like I said I turn it off when I know I am done printing for that day and sometimes it stays off for several days until the next printing job.