Does anyone know a good printer that does NOT use ink cartridges with embedded chips?

May 23, 2008 11:21 PM

Does anyone know a good multi-function printer (print/copy/scan) that does NOT use ink cartridges with embedded chips?

Most printers today use ink cartridges that have embedded chips so that you have to buy the expensive OEM cartridges.

I am tired of paying $60 a set for my Canon MP530 cartridges. I know that you can buy non-OEM ones and then transplant the chips. But it's messy and my printer fails to recognize the non-OEM cartridges frequently.

posted by m94402 to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Have you considered laser? The upfront is higher, but it's a significantly lower total operating cost, and it should last pretty much forever (in computer terms). I'm liking Brother's offerings right now. I've been using a DCP-9040CN pretty heavily for the past 9 months, and haven't had to change the ink yet.
posted by mr_roboto at 11:38 PM on May 23, 2008

My new HP M2727nf printer/copier/scanner/fax has changed my life. It is the best thing ever.
posted by ikkyu2 at 12:19 AM on May 24, 2008

The xerox solid ink models not only don't have chips, they don't even have a cartridge as such, just hard wax like blocks of ink that are 100% consumed by the printer (minus a packaging wrapper). The 8560 is fax, scan, print, copy and starts at $1500.
posted by Mitheral at 12:54 AM on May 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

If you budget roughly what printers used to cost, rather than what they cost today, you will probably easily find one that doesn't stiff you on ink. The only reason low-end printers are so cheap these days is that the manufacturers are all using them as loss leaders; what they're actually making their money on is selling Ink. Blame Lexmark - they started it.

That said, even a top-end inkjet is going to cost you far more to run than a color laser.
posted by flabdablet at 3:08 AM on May 24, 2008

I don't know if they have chips or not. But Kodak printers don't seem to be using the razor blade model any more. Their replacement cartridges are priced very sanely, ~$10 for a black cartridge. I imagine the printers are priced a little bit more to make up - but with so many models I can't really tell.
posted by schwa at 5:44 AM on May 24, 2008

Best answer: My experience is that almost all printers have some kind of chip in their cartridges these days. Canon's site shows that the carts are available separately, so you are already ahead of the game on that front.

One thing that I've noticed is that the "professional" or quasi-professional lines of printers cost a bit more in the beginning, but are much saner on ink prices.

Break it down to per-page costs to see if it's really worth it to change to a different machine.
posted by gjc at 7:58 AM on May 24, 2008

I have an HP F4180 and, while the cartridge has an embedded chip you can apparently still inject ink into the cartridge itself with a medical syringe and bottle of black ink. I've been doing this for the past 6 months with no leaks, and no problems aside from the software Ink meter reporting incorrect levels.
posted by tybeet at 12:59 PM on May 24, 2008