I have an Epson stylus Photo 820 at work that I do all my CAD printing from. Was pretty cheap ($90 or so) and does a nice job. But the stupid things sucks ink cartridges like crazy. I do most of my printing in black and white, and it's set on economy most of the time. But the color cartridges get used just as fast as the black cartridge does. I've checked the settings ect, and everything says I should just be using the black ink. And once the color cartridge goes empty, it won't print anything. I have a nice Epson at home(don't remember the model) and it just uses what I tell it to.
Anybody know anything about these things? Is it just a way to make up for the cheap price of the printer? (A complete change of cartridge is something like $50)

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past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

I have heard that HP ink cartridges, which are protected by patent but still ripped of in China can be had for $2 in China as opposed to $50 here. Printer companies sell their printers cheap and all the profits are from the cartridges. On the upside, we find our HP cartridges last at least a year, so that's not too bad.

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Jason Priest
1999 E430
1995 E420 - retired
1986 420SEL - retired

I have a little program that resets the ink cartridge chips, just PM me for that, use that and get a refill kit from Costco, the Costco near me sells a 6 color refill kit for $16. You can get them from Target, but be prepared to pay $20 for either black or color. I used it, i noticed no difference in printing.