The New Ink Jet Marketplace

[Johnny]

Time Stamps, Chipped Cartridges and Hidden ID Systems. Who has the best tactics for getting the most money from you?
HP and Lexmark now have cartridges that are time stamped. In other words, these cartridge will fail at a certain date no matter what you do.
The first such example is the HP 2500 series of printers. The 2500 uses the HP #10 ink cartridges and separate print heads for Black, Cyan, Magenta & Yellow. The cartridge contain an internal chip that fails some 16 months after manufacture date. This is regardless of whether or not you have used the cartridge up or used it at all. HP claims the reason for this is to ensure high quality printing at all times.

Lexmarks latest ink cartridge is dubbed the '11J' which works with the J110 ink jet printer. A four separate ink tank printer (like HP2500 series), the Lexmark cartridge fails to work 13 months after installation. According to Lexmark this is to ensure high quality at all times.

In addition to the time stamps on these cartridges, both HP and Lexmark have been using ID numbers on their cartridges to identify whether new or refilled cartridges are being installed into the printer. It has been suggested for some time that HP does not allow a known "used" print cartridge to print properly. This has been "proven" by purging the printer memory of previous print cartridges. Once the purging has occurred the cartridges work as well as new cartridges. It has also been recently suggested that Lexmark is performing the same type of tactics as HP in regards to quality prints on known refilled cartridges

You may be thinking that HP & Lexmark have done this as a result of the refilling at home by individuals like yourself. Possibly the real reason is a little less known, but quite an understandable reason. It is very possible that both HP and Lexmark have done this as a way of preventing companies from refilling their cartridges and selling them as "compatible". As you may not be aware, there is no such thing as a generic HP cartridge with an integral print head, nor are there any for the Lexmark*. Cartridges that you may see dubbed 'compatible' are actually HP & Lexmark ink cartridges that have been cleaned, refilled & reboxed. Sold side by side with the OEM packaged cartridges, these present quite a problem for HP and Lexmark. Many more chain stores are beginning to carry these cartridge due to the high demand from customers.

Epson has taken a different approach to the refill & generic cartridge issues with the release of their chip series of cartridges. These chipped cartridges are expensive to purchase and do not contain any more ink than previous versions of Epson cartridges. Though there are now solutions to the chip problems, Epson has somewhat held back the refilling & generics for a time until solutions were found. Even the generics for these ink tanks are relatively expensive. The generics can cost as much as 75% of the OEM ink tank. This is beneficial to Epson in that many individuals will not keep extra ink tanks on hand. When an ink tank runs out and you need to print are you really going to order a cartridge via mail, wait 3-5 days and deal with shipping costs? Odds are, no. You are more apt to spend $5.00 more and get it at your local Wallmart, Kmart or Staples because you need it now.

These tactics have brought Epson, Lexmark & Hewlett Packard under fire of late. Many articles have been written by individuals and companies stating that the tactics are downright wrong. In some cases there are talks of class action lawsuits being filed to combat what is considered by many to be acts violating this country's most basic antitrust laws. Regardless of whatever comes of these discussions, lawsuits and constant distrust by consumers these companies have already caused themselves damage.

There are many owners of these new 'chip' and 'time stamp' printers that swear they will never but another printer manufactured by one of these companies again. And many of them probably will not.

Which now brings us to the smartest manufacture in the New Ink Jet Marketplace: Canon. The distinction goes to Canon for their silent, smart and somewhat hidden ability to keep their OEM market without greatly offending their customers the way HP, Lexmark and Epson have.

Canon has been manufacturing many printers of late that require multiple ink tanks that can not only be refilled, but can be made by 3rd parties. The simple Ink-in-a-piece-of-plastic tanks are what most people immediately look at when purchasing a printer. They may even check around to see if the tanks are refillable or whether generics can be purchased. Many consumers are satisfied to hear that usually both are available for just about all late model Canon printers.

So, if Canon is giving away money by allowing 3rd party companies to make generic versions of their ink tanks how can they be so smart? The brains and money lie in the print cartridges themselves. Canon uses a system where the print cartridge is replaceable as are the ink tanks. Unlike the ink tanks which can be make by 3rd parties, the print cartridges can not. You have to buy a Canon Brand Name Print Cartridge. Usually (not always) these print cartridges are bundled with ink tanks which increases the overall price (and profit). In all cases these print cartridges are expensive.

While the rest of the market is fighting over who is the biggest jerk (HP, Lexmark and Epson) for their anti-recycling tactics, Canon is reaping the rewards. Quite a few individuals that I have spoken with have claimed they moved over to a Canon solely for the fact that they do not want an Epson "chip" printer, nor do they want to be forced into buying HP or Lexmarks with built in print heads. They want to be able to find inexpensive solutions to their printing needs. In other words they purchased the Canon because of separate ink tanks and non-integral ink cartridges.

I'd say Canon has done very well situating themselves through what will end up being a very long uphill climb for many of these printer manufactures.




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*Ink jet cartridges with integral print heads are patented and can not be made by any other than the holder of the patent. Just as a side note, this does not apply all over the world. In China, for several years now you could easily purchase a generic version of these cartridges. China in this case does not recognize the US patent for these particular cartridges.

Below are two examples of "the new inkjet marketplace" that were new when this article was originally written. Though the printers below may no longer be the newest in their line the concepts of what these companies are doing continues.
Lexmark

At 899.00 retail the Lexmark J110 is very expensive to buy. With ink cartridges that fail thirdteen months after installation this printer is also hard to maintain

Black Ink Cartridge (single)
Part #:11J3020 $ 56.75 Cyan Ink Cartridge (single)
Part #:11J3021 $ 86.75 Magenta Ink Cartridge (single)
Part #:11J3022 $ 86.75 Yellow Ink Cartridge (single)
Part #:11J3023 $ 86.75 PerfectFinish Cartridge
Part #:11J3050 $ 28.50

Hewlett Packard

At 999.00 retail the HP 2500cxi is something you'll have to really think about.
The color cartridges run an average of 39.99 each (through HP) which may make it seems more appealing than the Lexmark above. Add in the amount of ink within these cartridges and the additional print heads and you may think differently


Both of the printers above have time stamped cartridges. This means that after a prescribed time frame the cartridges will cease to function. Is this type of tactic fair?
If this type of tactic fair when the cartridge in question has only been used to 1/2 of it capability?

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