[sf-lug] printer consumables & printing costs (inkjet, laser, ...)

[Bobbie Sellers]

Thanks for your input Michael.
     I am rather busy lately since the
time I can work here is severely reduced.
     Waiting for my sunblock to dry so I can
go out for blood draw.

     Bobbie

On 1/24/19 10:26 PM, Michael Paoli wrote:
>> From: "Bobbie Sellers" <bliss-sf4ever at dslextreme.com>
>> Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2019 07:56:53 -0800
>
>>     I started pricing the smaller laser printers last night but
>> the consumable seem to be high priced but then you get
>> more pages out of the refills.
>
> I find, at least most certainly in the long-run,
> laser printer is *much* more economical.
> Sure, it's more up-front cost, but much less expensive over
> years (e.g. 3+, and especially 5+) of use.
>
> Let's look at my pre-laser cost scenario:
>
> Back in - I'm pretty sure it was 1989 - I purchased a
> HP DeskJet Plus (I believe that was only the 2nd inkjet HP made).
> Initial investment, for that resolution (I think it was 300DPI, if I
> recall correctly), and, oh, I don't remember precisely what it cost
> then, but almost certainly somewhere between $45.00 USD and $99.00 USD
> (I may have it in old system logs & receipts if I really wanted to
> go on an archeological expedition to determine much more precisely ...
> but that's likely all on paper, and, well, I don't feel motivated
> enough to reach 6+ ft. and look through old hardcopy systems log
> book, ... which probably has the equipment acquisition details,
> but may not have included the price ... though that would be on
> ye olde paper receipts, but that would be even more of an
> archeological expedition ... even if I think I know where I probably
> have that and/or photocopy thereof).
> So, I'll guestimate, and say I paid (way back then),
> $85.00 USD for the printer - and that it included one ink cartridge.
> And ... operating costs - at least for me (a bit atypicaly, but not
> necessarily highly so) ... I print dang little, ... well under
> 100 pages per year, probably mostly less than 25 pages per
> year (sure, could take USB flash to some place and print out,
> but the inconvenience to me and the value of my time to me makes
> that an unpleasant and costly (if i put a reasonable value on my
> time) alternative ... especially also since most of the printing is
> small amounts on a relatively ad hoc basis (e.g. 1 to 4 pages at a
> time typically).
>
> So, ... ink cartridges, ... use 'em or not they need to be replaced
> moderately frequently, ... sometimes refilling can be done, but that's
> less reliable and takes more time/hassle (also a "cost" to one's time),
> so ... at my modest printing levels, I'd typically need to buy a 
> replacement
> ink cartridge typically about once a year or so (it generally dried up /
> clogged, long before printing near the number of pages if I'd merely
> just started printing and continued to do so 'till the thing ran out of
> ink ... that would probably be like 500 to 600 pages for typical
> printing).
> So, ... replacement cartridge prices vary somewhat, but they also tend to
> go up somewhat over time (notably as the printer becomes a fair bit 
> older),
> so ... HP InkJet Plus, we're talking approximately:
> $85.00 initial investment approximately, plus about
> $45.00/yr. thereafter in replacement ink cartridges.
> (I could do cost/page or such, but for my slight bit of printing,
> cost/yr. is a more practical measure ... notably also 'cause being able
> to print at home is helluva lot more convenient than having to drag
> data to somewhere else (or myself to somewhere else to pick up) to
> print somewhere else (like some copy/print store/service).
>
> Eventually I got fed up with that comparatively high ongoing cost
> (with a slight diversion of using another InkJet printer for a
> slight while ... mostly 'cause the cost was right (I picked it up
> free, used, good condition, working, full color, including all working
> inks in it still ... and some while later (a few years) I made one
> attempt at trying to get it printing again with one new replacement
> ink cartridge ... that totally failed (clogged elsewhere apparently)
> and "gave up", saying I'm done with buying ink cartridges.
>
> So ... ink based: ~= $85.00 + $45.00/yr. thereafter - forever.
>
> So, ... I shopped around, ... laser much more economical for the
> long-run, ... color, not *needed* ... but - at least for me, a
> very "nice to have" - at least if my per yr. cost isn't much
> higher on that.  And ... "all-in-one' ... sure, nice to have at least
> some of those features, and done well in a combined unit, ... so
> that's basically what I got ... does most all I could wish for at a
> (to me) reasonable price.  The only bit it doesn't do is any automatic
> duplexing ... but that additional cost wasn't worth it to me - my
> print volumes are so low it's not much hassle for me to do manual
> duplexing.  It also had some features I wasn't so interested in,
> but were "nice to have", e.g. sheet feeder (for scanning or copying)
> FAX receive (don't really care, but if I ever want it), FAX send (which
> is unimportant to me - as I could always do that easily enough with
> other hardware), USB --> print/FAX, scan --> USB ... not at all
> important to me, but does at least occasionally turn out to be
> fairly handy.  And quite importantly,
> works darn solidly with CUPS!  - I did my research/homework, and with
> bit of coordination and cooperation with the retailer, I brought in
> my Linux laptop, with my favorite distro, with the relevant CUPS bits
> installed and configured ... connected the all-in-one printer to
> my laptop, and tested I could print fine with CUPS ... that was
> my last check before sealing the deal and purchasing the
> (all-in-one) printer, and taking it home.
> So, how much? ... (yes, have it in the softcopy hardware logs),
> excerpted bits thereof:
> 2013-02-08
> Hewlett-Packard (hp) LaserJet Pro 200 color MFP M276nw
> Product No. CF145A
> $299.99 (before tax) (egad, price/cost not in my softcopy hardware log,
> but I have, and had also captured and saved image of the receipt,
> the latter of which was easy to find by my description index of
> images, and also by date).
> So, some (minor) pluses and minuses to note,
> yes, sure, the laser toner replacement ain't cheap, but each is good for
> I think roughly 2,400 pages or so.  Also, that printer comes with
> lower capacity "starter" cartridges ... only good for about 600 pages
> pages each (they do reasonably clearly tell you that, so it's not like 
> some
> unexpected rip-off ... more like kind'a somewhere between printer comes
> with no cartridges, jump to buying those 2,400 page each full ones for
> a big bump in initial expense, vs. full 2,400 page ones, which
> if supplied with the new printer would of course increase its initial cost
> at least some fair bit.  And, so, ... 2019-01 ... almost 6 years - let's
> round and call it 6 years, ... in those initial 600 page capacity of
> the "starter" cartridges ... I don't think I'm even up to 300 total 
> printed
> pages yet.
> So ... and replacement toner cartridges, ... let's say they're
> $80.00 each (I'm guestimating) x 4 for BCMY ... okay, peek on-line to 
> refine cost ... $72.99 Black, $169.99 CMY 3-pack - and those are what 
> appear
> to be HP MSRP prices (probably lower prices and/or lesser quality to 
> be had,
> if one wishes / shops around).  So, ... cost per year?
> Well, at <~-300/6 ... ~50 pages/yr.  Let's round up a bit and say
> 60 pages per year.  At 2,400 pages per toner cartridge ... 40 years, ...
> but let's be reasonable, let's presume toner cartridges aren't good after
> 10 years (as far as I can tell the still work perfectly fine after ~6 
> yrs.).
> So that then leaves:
> $299.99 printer,
> ~first 10 yrs. covered (600 pages @ 60/yr.)
> thereafter ~$72.99+$169.99=~$242.98/10 yr ~= $24.30/yr.,
> (and I could still go as high as 240p./yr. without exceeding that cost).
> So, compared to ink, that's a savings of about $25.00/yr.
> Looking at initial cost differences between the printers
> ($299.99-~$85.00=~$215.00) and difference per year (~25.00/yr)
> ROI of about 8.6 years ...
> but that fails to take into account the ~600 page "starter"
> toner cartridges, ... that drops the first 10 years down to initial +
> $0.00/yr, so, within the first decade ...
> initial difference of ~$215.00,
> yearly first decade difference of ~$45.00/yr.,
> so that's ROI of <~= 4.7 years ... but I was using pretty conservative
> rounded numbers, ... so my printer more likely already paid for
> itself in savings within about 2.5 to 3 years,
> and thereafter continues to save me about ~$45.00/yr. for the
> remainder of its first decade,
> and ~$25.00/yr. thereafter.
> So, in net, printer break even point in about 2.5 to 3 years,
> and saving ~$45.00 (within fist decade) to ~$25.00/yr. indefinitely
> beyond ROI break-even point.
>
> Additional comparative bonuses on making that switch:
> I can tell quite accurately remaining toner capacity (I get estimated
> remaining pages on each cartridge) - as opposed to ink failing
> relatively unpredictably - mostly when I (semi-)rarely needed it,
> and I couldn't print 'till I got yet another cartridge (and since for
> my low printing use, buying ink well ahead of time would be pointless,
> as those cartridges would be dead/failed, or nearly so, before the
> prior died and I installed the newer).
> Toner has *long* shelf life (I'm estimating >>10 yrs.), so I can 
> reasonably
> well stock up as I approach rather low, and lose little (if any?) 
> remaining
> life on purchasing toner cartridges moderately before I run out.
> higher resolution printing
> color
> scanner (color or B/W) + sheet feeder
> copier (optionally full color - just press different button)
> FAX send/receive
> scan --> USB flash
> USB flash --> print
> teensy downsides:
> more up-front cost
> larger
> heavier(!)
> higher power consumption (but only when on, and especially
> printing - my printer spends the vast majority of its time
> powered down - so the power cost/page in either case is
> compared to other costs, highly negligible).
>
> Now, my (low!) printing rates are probably rather to quite
> atypical, so ROI, etc. for others may be quite different.
> But, just for an example comparison, let's say one prints enough
> that the printer consumables are consumed before they fail due
> to age.
> So ... ink, that would be >= 600 pages/yr.
> laser, conservatively, >= 240 pages/yr.
>
> And, cost per page - ongoing costs, with and comparing either of
> those?
> ink ~$45.00/600p --> ~$0.08/p
> toner ~$72.99+$169.99=~$242.98/2,400p --> ~$0.10/p
> So ... bit to my surprise, but that back-of-the-envelope rough
> calculation shows slightly higher per-page cost for (4-color) laser,
> but also that's with >=600 pages/yr. (which I'm nowhere close to),
> But probably fair bit cheaper with printing black only (and maybe
> some more shopping around on supplies),
> And that also quickly flips as the pages/yr. drops.
> As the ink cartridges fail within about a year, use 'em or not ...
> I find that at or below ~444 pages/yr. my per-page cost of laser
> goes below that of ink ... and that I typically print well below
> that (at or well under 60 pages per year), my laser costs continue
> indefinitely to be lower.
>
> I'm sure your "mileage" will vary ... different printers, supplies,
> lifetime (or end-of-life) (non-)availability of supplies,
> cost of supplies over time, printing (and non-printing) patterns,
> equipment durability/lifetime - how long/usable and supported as
> needed (CUPS?) ... those will all factor in, and different scenarios
> will come up with different higher/lower costs and comparative
> costs, and also ROI points for break-even / savings.
>
> Folks may also want/"need" - and/or care about various features,
> which may have intangible costs/benefits, and may or may not be
> easily translatable into an effective cost/savings comparative
> basis or portion thereof.
>
> And yes, I've been quite happy with my
> Hewlett-Packard (hp) LaserJet Pro 200 color MFP M276nw
> ... certainly at least for *my* usage scenario.
>
> Your mileage may, and likely will vary.
> (I also did quite like the price I got it at - don't think I ever
> found it dropped to/below that price for new - at least so long
> as HP was still making that model ... though I think I
> sometimes saw it drop/come moderately close, e.g. ~$350.00, perhaps
> sometimes $3x9.99 where 2 <= x <=4).
>
> Also, I didn't calculate paper costs.  I figure mine are quite low :->
> at least for some fair while to come.  A Black Friday special, some
> modest number of years back (and after getting that printer), I got
> 4 or 5 reams of paper, at $0.01 each (with rebate), ... at <~=
> 60 pages/yr. that should hold me quite a while ... maybe even a lifetime
> supply (or nearly so?).  The rebate might've also cost me one postage 
> stamp
> (or maybe not, if it was all electronic / on-line) ... in any case that
> paper cost/page (at least so long as it lasts me) is also pretty dang low.
>
>
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