"Printer Cartridges Supplant PCs as Leading Retail Sales Generator"
It’s no secret that the cost of consumables is much higher for inkjet printers than it is for laser printers -- and for the makers of those consumables, it's big business indeed. Last year, says Fortune, HP sold about $9 billion (US) of ink and supplies, or nearly as much as it took in from printers. But while printers carry gross profit margins of 15% to 20%, the margin on ink is 50%. Indeed, ink accounts for most of the company's net profits. But some ink-jet printers cost a lot more to operate than others.
The Lexmark Z32 printer is one of the most expensive units to operate, with costs around 42 cents (Cdn) per page (!) on average, assuming an approximately equal balance between plain text and colour image printing. This puts a bit of a damper on our enthusiasm for this $99 model, which, on first glance, seems like a reasonably priced printer.
By comparison, the Lexmark Z42 ($149) and Z52 ($219) models offer much better economy in the long run, with costs per page around 23 cents.
But other brands have even lower operating costs. The $377 Epson Stylus Color 980, for example, is a more expensive unit up front, but prints at the relatively meagre cost of less than 10 cents per page. The C$129 Epson Stylus Color 777, meanwhile, averages about 20 cents per page.
HP printers capable of supporting the company's #45 black ink cartridge are typically among the most economical units to operate. The $599 HP DeskJet 990Cse, one of our Editor’s Choices in 2001, works out to about 15 cents per page. Typically, it seems that printers that cost less up front, such as the C$145 HP DeskJet 648C, at about 17 cents per page, end up costing more after a year of use than most models with a higher initial purchase price, such as the $679 DeskJet 1220 (12.5 cents per page). This disparity becomes even more exaggerated after three years of moderate use, when the HP DeskJet 1220 has amounted to a total purchase and operating cost of less than half the accrued cost of the “bargain priced” Lexmark Z32.
Canon BubbleJet models -- especially those that do not use separate ink cartridges for each colour -- are among the most expensive to operate, with the BubbleJet S400 ($149) and S450 ($199) models coming in at 30 cents and 28 cents per page, respectively.
It is worth mentioning that prices on ink cartridges and printers are changing constantly. Using third-party ink cartridges or refill kits, you may be able to tame even the most unruly ink guzzler. Bear in mind, however, that some printers, including all new models from Epson, incorporate technologies specifically designed to inhibit cartridge refilling or third-party replacements. See our report on "Smart Chipped" Ink Cartridges for further details.
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