Ink levels in Epson cartridges

[Brian Sheridan]

Is there any truth to the rumor that ink catridges that come with new Epson printers are not 100% full, but that new catridges purchased from a retailer are?

I find this hard to believe!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Brian

[104456]

I beleive from recent posts that those supplied with some printers may contain a different volume of ink than that in the retail after sales cartridges which can also be of two differeing volumes.

[fink]

The printer/scanner market is so competitive these days that they don't make a profit when they sell them... that's why they're so cheap now... They make their money off of ink cartridge sales after you've bought the printer so it behooves them to intitially give it to you with less ink so you'll soon buy more. That's also why they are really trying to clamp down on companies that sell ink to refill the cartridges by both legal means and by making cartridges that are much harder to refill. Some companies are also making cartridges that have a finite life time regardless of whether there's ink left or not.

[jerryctx]

The original toner cartridge in the Samsung 1710 laser printer contains about one third less toner than replacement cartridges. The same is true of Oki 5100 and 5300 color lasers. I believe another color laser manufacturer does the same but I'm not sure so wont name names (Its not HP). Since these cartridges cost $80 and up and there are four of them in the color printers, the shortage is significant.

I'm not aware of any ink jet maker currently short changing on ink though some have in the past. In every case I've seen, the shortage was mentioned somewhere in the fine print. To do otherwise would be asking for a class action lawsuit.

I second everything Fink said, although the limited life span may just be a fact of chemistry rather than the vendor's attempt to sell more ink.

[Welshjim]

Maybe I am only repeating what has been said, but often the printer comes with a cartridge that is pretty small, whereas replacement cartridges will be much larger.
http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article...,114728,00.asp

[jerryctx]

Jim -
I can't find anything in that article about short ink cartridges. Or were you referring to the paragraph re laser toner?

The reference to HP not including a cartridge is very unfair in my opinion. They sell conventional 4 ink printers which can be converted to 6 ink photo printers IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO SO by replacing one of the cartridges (or vice versa; they sell printers with 6 inks that can be changed to 4 inks). They are to be complimented, not criticised, for this feature. I don't think any other manufacturer lets you switch between pigmented black for the best text and dye black for the best photos.

Their new photo printers go even further with an optional cartridge with black and two shades of gray for the best quality black and white photos.

[Welshjim]

jerryctx--Thanks for pointing that out. You are correct that link mentions "incredibly shrunken starter cartridges" only in reference to laser cartridges, but I am pretty sure I read elsewhere that some inkjet printer manufacturers do the same thing--perhaps for low-end printers.
I also remember reading a recent article (probably PCWorld or PCMag) that many printer cartridges no longer work even when a substantial amount of ink remains. That article discloses ways to get these cartridges working again. Unfortunately, I did not keep a reference to the article.

[jerryctx]

I don't mean to be argumentative but AFAIK, no ink jet manufacturer currently uses "partial" initial cartridges. If anyone knows of an exception I would like to know make and model.

I have no love for the manufacturers, all of whom, in my opinion, grossly overcharge for ink. (Have you ever figured out what a gallon would cost?).

But I want this forum to be a dependable source of truth. There are enough urban legends around. Lets not add to them.

Regarding cartridges that cease to work when ink remains, Epson is (was?) being sued by the European Union for that very problem. I haven't heard the current status.

Epson puts a chip on each cartridge and counts number of prints produced to determine when the ink is low. Its not 100% accurate and their algorithm may be conservative to avoid wasting paper and possibly damaging the printer. Or maybe they're just evil

I also found today that Samsung's new color laser comes with cartridges that are about one third the size of replacements... the worst I've seen.

[Welshjim]

jerryctx--Hard to tell if you are agreeing or disagreeing with me. Maybe it is just something for purchasers of new inkjet (and definitely laser) printers to be looking out for.

[jerryctx]

I'm sure your references to things you've read are accurate so I'm not disagreeing with you. I am disagreeing with the articles which claim manufacturers are including partial cartridges in their ink jet printers (which is the topic of this thread).