topic Re: black ink only printers? in Tech Help - Software/Hardware etc

black ink only printers?

Gus — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 00:34:30 GMT

Finally hit the hidden pay wall of my Epson SX130 all in one that I didn't know about. If one colour ink cartridge runs out you can no longer print at all. So they want me to pay £27 for three colour cartridges I will rarely use, hell no its for the bin
So I have been having a look for a cheap replacement[less than £30], but could not find a single black only printer, every single one has colour. So any cheap no frills printers out there just for letter printing? But if they are colour, that they do not require the colour cartridges in to print

Re: black ink only printers?

Midnight_Caller — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 01:24:09 GMT

If you only want black-and-white prints, a mono laser printer is the way to go.

Re: black ink only printers?

ReedRichards — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 06:15:17 GMT

The starting price for a mono laser printer is around £50.

Re: black ink only printers?

picbits — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 07:05:00 GMT

Laser printer all the way.
Ever time you start up your inkjet printer, it wastes a shedload of ink priming and cleaning the nozzles. Lasers just sit there all day until they are asked to print, use only what is necessary to print a page of text or graphics then go back to sleep again.
Unless you want high quality glossy black and white photo prints, I'd avoid inkjet printers like the plague nowadays. I run two network b&w laser printers and one colour laser printer (which rarely gets used). I have an inkjet printer for PCB / transparencies work but only use that a couple of times a year.

Re: black ink only printers?

w23 — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 07:23:49 GMT

Quote from: ReedRichards
The starting price for a mono laser printer is around £50.

Unless you source a used one.

Re: black ink only printers?

Alex — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 09:33:28 GMT

I have to agree with a laser - trust me you won't be disappointed.
In the past I've had 2 inkjets, both of which were shit.
Inkjets cost a fortune in consumables, take ages to start up, need cleaning cycles all the time and manage to use ink when you don't even print anything.
That was 10 years ago, so maybe they've improved since then. But after my second one broke I decided never to touch them with a bargepole.

Re: black ink only printers?

Oldjim — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 09:39:22 GMT

My Canon IP4500 inkjet is excellent and doesn't waste ink as the surplus gets sucked back into the bottle apparently when it shuts down
It also uses cheap third part ink very successfully (it is on it's second head as the first one failed after several years and the latest Canon printer isn't as good in my opinion)
However if or perhaps when it finally gives up the ghost I will have to seriously consider moving to laser
Note that the reason for going down the new head option was that I had a stack of print cartridges left
Just did a quick check and the IP 7250 is now available with cheap third party inks (note that the black and colour cartridges are individually replaceable)

Re: black ink only printers?

Gus — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 10:20:26 GMT

Ok thanks for replies, time for the ebay lottery for a laser printer

Re: black ink only printers?

TORPC — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 11:24:27 GMT

Have you an Asda local(ish) try http://direct.asda.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-ASDA-Site/default/Search-Show?q=epson%20ink&srule=price_asc&fix&showHits
It may also be worth checking your local PC repair shops, as sometimes you can get a bargain on epson inks

Re: black ink only printers?

Gus — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 11:31:51 GMT

Three of them are empty, so to print it requires each to have ink, even with adsa pricing that is £28 so cheaper from Epson direct. So I'm giving up on inkjets.

Re: black ink only printers?

shutter — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 13:36:31 GMT

Not sure if it would work.. or do any damage.... but... how about filling up the empty colour carts with plain water.... the printer "might" recognise them as full units and still print the black..
If you are going to bin it anyway... might be worth a try... and report back on here ! ! !...

Re: black ink only printers?

IanSn — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 15:38:22 GMT

Don't actually know - need to check this out myself - but I wonder if a refill shop might be happy to top-up the black in cartridge? There are loads of them about. I'm going to pop into the local one shortly and ask.

Re: black ink only printers?

shutter — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 15:50:32 GMT

Topping up the colour cartridges with black, would ( possibly) be a waste of money... as they could not be used in the "black" position... you might just as well top up with the correct colours and then they are there if you ever needed them.....
Not sure if you use the colour cartridges when printing black only....
On the other hand.........http://www.prink.co.uk/epson-t1295-compatible-multipack-ink-cartridges-3-sets-plus-4-black.php?cat=3412
£18.00 for 16 cartridges..... use them in my Epson SX445W no problems....
not sure if these are the same cartridge number for your machine... but could be worth a search and see what they come up with .....

Re: black ink only printers?

Alex — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 12:54:40 GMT

Quote from: Oldjim
However if or perhaps when it finally gives up the ghost I will have to seriously consider moving to laser
Note that the reason for going down the new head option was that I had a stack of print cartridges left

Sounds like you're due for an upgrade Jim when those cartridges run out
Does sound like inkjets have improved since I owned one (over 10 years ago). When I was a student (this was circa 1997) I paid £250 for a Canon. Bear in mind that's how much they cost then, and £250 was a lot of money for a student then, let alone now.
Took ages to print in a decent quality, used up loads of ink. Used to clog loads and always require cleaning cycles. Eventually it stopped printing at all. The head was a removable unit. So I rang Canon to see if I could get another one. They wanted £100 as they considered it a 'spare part' not a 'consumable', so that got binned. Had loads of spare cartridges for that too.
Mind you my colour laser is pretty shafted now, though it is about 8 years old. Paper always jams and it doesn't print. It is a beast, so not looking forward to moving that out the house.
So I'll be looking for a new colour laser (with Ethernet) soon.

Re: black ink only printers?

Oldjim — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 12:57:25 GMT

Quote from: Alex
Sounds like you're due for an upgrade Jim when those cartridges run out

Not really as it works fine now and does everything I want

Re: black ink only printers?

HairyMcbiker — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 13:22:02 GMT

I just got an IP4500 of freecycle, to replace my IP4200. Luckily they use the same ink
But yes you get ~2000-3000 pages from each toner cartridge on a mono laser, and they can usually be refilled. I freecycled a HP LJ6 a few years ago, still have my monster of an LJIII and an LJ4 that haven't been powered for many years. Parallel only, I do have a usb->parallel cable somewhere but don't know where.

Re: black ink only printers?

Scribe — Sun, 08 Jun 2014 16:43:24 GMT

My HP 3050A definitely works with only the black ink cartridge installed - it's a few years old though so might not be available now. However the HP 2540 (2542 from Argos) also works with only the black. Price is around the £40 mark I think.