Bubble jet mountain

[Stuart Noble]

Couldn't help noticing how many bubble jet printers there were at the tip yesterday. I was dumping 3, and it looked like everyone else was too. Pretty soon we'll have dedicated printer bins alongside the glass and paper. Is there any other area of manufacturing where obsolescence is so blatantly built in? I'm sure these things are programmed to show faults they don't really have after a certain time. Maybe that's the only way they can make money, but the environmental consequences must be considerable. I've given up on colour printing altogether. Kodak are better at it and cheaper by far. Rant over.

[Ian Stirling]

They make very little profit on the printers. Most of the profit comes out of ink.

[Tim S]

Yes it's bollocks.

I've had my Epson Stylus Photo 890 for about 6 years. I've stripped it twice and cleaned with isopropyl and it prints as good as the day I bought it.

Tim

[Weatherlawyer]

Scandalous is it not? There really aught to be a law about the cartels producing ink cartridges. When you think you can get 1nk3z c4rtr1dg3z for buttons at any car boot sale...

Reminds me of the good old days when a set of disk pads for a Jap bike cost a week's wages. Do they still, I wonder? And do the Japanese still scrap all their cars every 2 or 3 years because of the cost of keeping them up to the standards required by their laws?

[Andrew Gabriel]

One of the larger manufacturers at least makes a loss on the printers, using them only to get a lock-in on the ink supply. Also, it's become common to supply especially low volume ink cartridges with the printer, so they don't have to wait too long before you have to become an ink consumer and start generating a profit for them.

[Stuart Noble]

Lucky you, but Epson in particular have been heavily criticised for the "smart chip" in their cartridges.

[Tim S]

That would admittedly be a different problem. I find the cartridges last about 3-4 months and I don't do much printing.

I've had one of the cartridges apart - for it's relatively large size I don't think they actually put much ink in.

Tim

[Stuart Noble]

They used to until people switched to refills/recycled cartridges. Now they make their money by selling you new printers, you having just thrown last year's model against the wall.

[Stuart Noble]

Well again, lucky you! Most won't print mono without the colour cartridge

[Stuart Noble]

Sounds expensive.

Which is why they've been such easy prey for the refilling industry. I suspect they are now hard wiring obsolescence into their products to combat that aspect.

[Suz]

That's not true. Only the cheapest entry level machines make black out of colour. I used to sell them in my very first job a million years ago. Epson were always the best in terms on print quality. Why anybody would bother to have one is more than I know, it's so cheap and easy to upload and order photo prints online these days. Inkjet printing for business headers etc looks crap. Stick to mono laser for that.

[nightjar]

...

What cartels? China is full of factories producing replacement cartridges, just one of which boasts over 100,000 square feet of manufacturing plant.

Colin Bignell

[nightjar]

OK, I suppose, for people who would have been happy with putting their film into the chemists to be developed. Adobe Photoshop CS and something like my Epson Stylus Photo 2100 are the modern day equivalent of having your own darkroom.

Colour laser looks even better.

Colin Bignell

[mutley]

[snip]> > Is there any other area of manufacturing where obsolescence is so

[snip]>

I still have an Epson Stylus Color which still prints fine in monochrome, but I gave up using it for colour due to the cost of 3-colour tanks. Conversely my Canon S820 only lasted 4 years before jamming mechanically, and DIY repair does not seem possible. Only manufacturer response is to advise returning to service depot, which is going to cost more than a new cheap printer. That's the real 'con' as far as I'm concerned. They are like washing machines were about 15 years ago -- very clever but don't expect them to last. mutley

[Owain]

I'll have had my IBM laser for 12 years in June. The print is now getting a little blotchy despite agitating the toner (I'm on my second cartridge). It cost almost £1k which I think has turned out to be quite good value on a TCO basis. Hopefully (!) the replacement colour laser will be as good.

Owain

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If you don't use the printer much most of the ink is wasted in cleaning.

[DJC]

But the more recent ones, though having a black cartridge, will not print without a colour cartridge.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

But they're one of the easiest to re-fill. Costs about 1 quid per tank per re-fill.

I loved my old Stylus Color 600. But I managed to break the head while cleaning it. Anyone got a spare? I've got a 400 in the workshop, but it's not as good.

[Suz]

"nightjar .uk.com>"

My arse.

Well yes of course but they are still out of most people's personal budget. Cheap colour lasers don't colour match well. Professionally printed headed paper is the way to go if you have the budget.

[Suz]

It's still the same story as it always was. It varies from model to model. The fun with cartridges was the first thing I used to explain to people. It makes the apparently cheap model seem not so cheap in the long run.