So.

[zianuray]

Old printer was working, but starting to make noises and the ink was...I don't know if it was actually running out / getting used that fast, or if it was glopping up.  And it's a Dell, so carts are expensier than some and harder to fnd in a store.  Can always order online, of course

Comments

[jeffs_page]

Printer makers are pulling a "Sony" on this. Ink jet printers are now to the point where it is cheaper to just buy a new printer than to replace the ink catridges, but the majority of people are (a) too lazy to replace the whole printer, or (b) too reluctant to throw away a perfectly good and working printer if it's only out of ink. On any given weekend, you should be able to find someplace that has a decent printer on sale for under $50 (sometimes way under). It's hard to justify $50 worth of ink that way. If printer makers would let other companies make ink cartridges and then there would be some competition and prices on them would go down.

*Sony was one of the first companies that made things that forced you to buy Sony replacement parts and Sony products to use with their stuff. The old Betamax was much better than VHS, but Sony wouldn't license the ability to either make the machine, or even tapes. Panasonic licensed VHS and look which survived.

[zianuray]

I hate that everything is "disposable" now. I like pens you can refill and shoes that can be re-soled and pants that are sturdy enough to mend. I'm not going to claim that it was a "perfectly good printer" as it WAS starting to have issues, and would have taken more to fix than the new one cost (I've been cleaning it and checking connections as far as I could, and someone just getting inside it would have been a minimum of $40 labor) and it'd lasted me a good several years, probably longer than it was designed to.

Still, phooey.