inkjet printers efficient use of ink

I have had both Brother and HP printers. The Brother is an all in one fax machine and as soon as it packs it in, it will be going to the dump very quickly. It cleans itself often, using ink each time it does so. The cartridges only last about three months even when it is not used and like many other printers once one cardridge is empty it will not print, even in black. This is to protect the printer heads as it uses the tank method.
The HP on the other hand is used almost every day and the ink last upwards of six months. As HP contains the print heads in each cartrige including colours there is no need for constant cleaning. Also if one colour runs out HP will still print in black or in colour with one colour missing in picture. People say HP inks are too expensive but I have run tests and the cost of all inks (4) for Brother is the same as for the HP inks. The difference is I get three to four times the printing from HP than the Brother. The other advantage with HP is the quality of the Print and pictures, and the big plus is each time you buy and replace a cartridge you replace the print heads.
Note- The Brother MFC packed a sad after two years and had to have the heads replaced at a cost of $260. Just as well it was still under warenty. I have three HP printers, one over eight years old and not one has missed a beat.

Have had great success using aftermarket ink cartridges for all our Epson printers and most of our HP printers. Have tried aftermarket for Canon, but one has to take the chip from the original Canon cartridge and clip it to the aftermarket cartridge and even though it works, the ink level part of the program disassociates. However, for the Epson, color cartridges have cost as little as $4 or $5 and have worked very well.

This series of printer uses tanks instead of cartridges... and replacement tanks are $6-15... Brother tanks also allow you to refill at home (about $15 for 4 refills of all 4 cart's @ Staples, using their universal refill kit or $10 for about 8 black refills).

Epson, Canon and Lexmark printers ALL use excessive ink to clean the heads multiple times per day EVEN WHEN POWERED OFF or NOT IN USE!!! Often, as much as 1/2 to 3/4 of the ink you pay for ends up in the cleaning collection pads within the printer!!!

"Tanks" and cartridges from these makers usually have electronics which prevent the cartridge from fully emptying and prevent @ home refilliing. They have been sued more than once over this but continue the practice.

This is why I no longer buy printers from these companies... I got tired of essentially paying $80 for print cartridges and getting a half dozen pages per cartridge set. (I print less than 100 sheets per year... reduce, reuse, recycle!!!)

Oh - and as a bonus, the 420 series has built-in digital media slots that read as drives on your computer, built-in networking and wi-fi... which also gives other family members access to it's built-in sheet-fed/bed scanner, fax and media... it also does copies, fax and answerng machine/voice mail even with the PC off...

Hope this helps!

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