The new generation of Epson inkjet printers are trying to inject fresh impetus into the printing industry. To single-handedly revive a sagging popularity because of the not so practical use of the technology.
Will the new epson inkjet printers with refillable ink tanks live up to its hype, or just another scam to wring consumers of their precious dollars? However, even early on the figures are already encouraging. Imagine, cost per page (CPP) of this innovation is pegged at .15 compared to over a dollar per page on other printer technology. If epson succeeds, it will revolutionize the entire printing industry.
Why Epson vie to adapt refillable ink tanks? Veering away from ink cartridges is a practical way to reduce substantially the cost of printing. In the US, Americans buy over 50 million ink cartridges annually and it contains only about 3ml of ink. With almost all printers using four cartridges the total cost hovers to over $75 on each replacement. And with print coverage only about 100 pages, the cost to replace is really high. Printer manufacturers are cashing in on the exorbitant cost of cartridges to the disadvantage of consumers.
Epson wants to revise the setup and instead keep the consumers happy by giving them a solution worth the while. A refillable ink tank can print 4,000 pages in black and 6,000 pages in color. It will nominally take 2 years for a consumer to print this much volume, when just doing intermittent printing runs. And to top it all, a user will need to invest only $50 to refill the ink tanks. The only downside to this, is the printers are a little bit expensive, with the current models now available at $375.
The manufacturer insists that even with the pricey printer, the total cost of ownership (TCO) is terminally low. In fact for the first year alone, users will save over $150 compared to regular inkjet printers. For the entire lifetime of the printer, savings could reach over a thousand dollars. Probably, what will deter users from switching right away to Epson inkjet printers refillable ink tanks will be the upfront cost of the machine.
The addition of refillable ink tanks into the Epson inkjet printer could be considered a move in the right direction. Gone will be days of inkjet cartridges that only brings a lot of hassles to the user, in terms of replacement and cost.
