So-called "Smart Chip" ink cartridges are designed to prevent refilling
Introduction
A growing number of inkjet printers on the market incorporate a so-called "smart chip" in their ink cartridges. Unfortunately, the primary function of this impressive-sounding technology is to make it difficult or impossible to refill that cartridge. As some consumers prefer to save money by using ink refills (or simply just want to keep their options open, should the primary manufacturer stop producing the cartridges!), a growing number of people are interested in exploring ways to defeat this system. This article will explore the options available.
A little History
According to John Mills of WeInk.com, the DeskJet 2000c was the first small desktop printer to use smart chip technology. However, he says, ColorSpan and Encad were using smart chip cartridges and tanks on their wide format printers for a few years before the DeskJet 2000c hit the market. Now, PC Buyer's Guide has learned that, moving forward, all Epson printer models will be "smart chipped" as well.
Indeed, of the Epson printers available at retail at this writing, only the older C40U model does not include this disabling technology. These crippled cartridges have been in all of its printers since the release of the 870 and 1270. Specifically, this list includes (but is not necessarily limited to):
Color Stylus 870, 875 DC (similar to the 870 but with a built-in flash card reader), 777, 790, 870, 875, 890;
Black Only 1270, 1275, 1280, 1290 and 2000P. Models newer than those listed here are all "chipped," as well.
The Technology
It is difficult, but not impossible, to defeat this refill-protection technology. Around Sept. 2001, companies began advertising "reprogramming" services and, in some cases, "new" replacement Epson chipped cartridges; we have subsequently seen public discussion of how the refilling can be done at www.netwares.com and elsewhere, as well as interesting efforts to work around the problem.
Image Control, of Toronto ON (416-694-7509) is a remanufacturer of toner cartridges and inkjet cartridges. It charges $6 to reset Epson chipped cartridges. (Read more...)
Complicating the issue is the fact that manufacturers may use different smart chips in each cartridge. A similar scenario affects would-be refillers of toner cartridges for laser printers based on the Xerox N32 Engine. There are at least 10 different smart chips on the market for the various brand permutations of this cartridge. And consider that the market incentive to reverse-engineer a solution for ink cartridges that sell for $20 - $35 is much lower than for a laser printer, where the consumables cost $200 - $300. Notably, it has been about four years since the DeskJet 2000c hit the market and there are, to my knowledge, still no third party chips or effective workarounds. It is also notable that HP has not produced other products with this system since -- we can only hope that the market failure of "anti-refill" systems will lead Epson and other manufacturers to give up on this consumer-unfriendly effort.
A further twist in the story occurred in Dec. 2002, when the European Parliament banned the use of chips in ink cartridges designed to restrict consumers' abilities to use cheaper brands of ink or recycled cartridges. Applelinks has details.
Refill-friendly Alternatives
There are a large number of printers on the market that can easily be refilled. A few particularly notable models: The Epson 750 features a CIS continuous bottle fill system (PC Buyer's Guide has had enough bad experiences with Epsons, however, that they're officially off our recommended products lists); the Canon 8200 has easy-to-refill individual tanks, and in recent tests, Canon i-series printers (including the C$99 i320) boast some of the lowest consumables costs of any of the major brands.
Virtually all Lexmark and HP printers have the print head incorporated into the print cartridge, helping to reduce the troublesome potential for ink clogs permanently fouling up the printer. Beware, however, of HP's "sucker deal" printers that require expensive #15 cartridges. See our article elsewhere in this section for details.
Related Technologies
Lexmark, which uses smart chips in some of its laser printer toner cartridges, in Jan. 2003 took a small company called Static Control Components to court, claiming that SCC had violated the DMCA by circumventing its technological copy protection device. SCC agreed to voluntarily stop selling its replacement cartridges using the contested chips.
In March 2003, Dell released a new line of printers, manufactured by Lexmark. The news is not that they're priced aggressively -- that's to be expected from Dell. No, the newsworthy aspect of this announcement is the fact that the units contain a chip that disables the cartridge if it is refilled and replaced. Reportedly, the cartridges are different sizes than cartridges from other printer vendors, including Lexmark -- and replacement cartridges are currently available only from Dell. This, say analysts, should limit the amount of knockoff cartridges available -- at least until someone figures out how to reverse engineer Dell’s cartridges, as has already happened with Lexmark, Epson, and just about any other type of "smart-chipped" cartridge ever developed. Our Printer News page for Mar. 2003 has additional details.
- Graeme Bennett, Editor
For further reading:
Post new comment