Re: [gentoo-user] Scanners, sane and driver support question

[Mick]

On Monday, 12 November 2018 10:52:58 GMT Neil Bothwick wrote:
> On Mon, 12 Nov 2018 10:08:09 +0000, Wols Lists wrote:
> > > I bought an HP_Color (their spelling, not mine!) LaserJet MFP M476dw a
> > > few years ago. It does duplex printing and scanning and just works. A
> > > full set of toner cartridges isn't cheap, but they last well.
> >
> > Looking at the front of mine, it's a Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn.
> >
> > Nice beast, but a full set of cartridges costs more than the printer
> > did! I went for that over its cheaper brother because when I factored in
> > the extra life of the starter cartridges, that seemed to cover the extra
> > cost.
>
> I paid abut £130 for a set of 5 cartridges (2 black) but that's the first
> set of colour cartridges I've needed. In fact, I think I've only replaced
> the yellow one so far (plus a couple of blacks). Most of my printing is
> black text with the occasional colour illustration, rather than full
> photo-style output.

For black & white plus the occasional colour print a laserjet printer is much 
more economical than an inkjet.  However, colour prints are not of the quality 
of an inkjet.  The problem I've had with inkjet is that the ink dries out 
unless used daily, the print heads clog up and as others have mentioned 
replacing them costs more than the printer.  With laserjet the cartidges last 
much longer and do not suffer from all the inkjet problems.

The whole inkjet business model relies on frequent replacement of OEM approved 
ink cartridges.  Dending on the make/model the calibration cycle (every time 
you power on the printer) wastes up to 75% of the ink in it.  There are 
cheaper ink cartridge replacements, but they do not always perform as well.  
You can also buy ink in a bottle and refill the cartridges, but the spray head 
wears out and the quality of the print soon deteriorates.
-- 
Regards,
Mick