Running out of ink can be frustrating – especially if you’ve forgotten to buy a replacement cartridge. Fading images and streaky documents aren’t a good look.
With 56% of parents facing ‘printer panic’ over their home printer running out of ink, it’s reassuring to know that there are now different ways to print. We look at three alternatives to standard ink cartridges.
1. Ink subscription services
Ideal for you if… you regularly carry out colour-intensive jobs such as printing photos, flyers and presentations.
If you have a compatible printer, you can sign up for a monthly subscription service like HP Instant Ink. Ink refills are automatically ordered and delivered to your door before you run out. So remembering to buy replacement cartridges is one less thing to worry about.
The monthly fee is based on the number of pages you print, not how much ink you use. This means the more colour printing you do the more you can potentially save. According to HP, you can save up to 50% on printing costs.
The HP Envy 5020 Wireless All in One Printer comes with a 3-month free trial of HP Instant Ink based on a 100-page monthly plan. This gives you the chance to see whether a subscription service would be cost-effective for your household.
2. Refillable ink tanks
Ideal for you if… you do a high volume of everyday printing – homework projects, essays, holiday photos, business reports, tickets, household rotas, etc.
Some printers such as Canon’s Pixma G-Series and Epson EcoTanks come with large ink tanks that can be easily refilled to provide a continuous supply of ink – simply top up the tanks with ink bottles and carry on printing. Once the bottles are empty, you can buy replacements.
Families or anyone who prints off a lot of documents and photos can save money with this type of printing, with the added bonus that you don’t have to change cartridges very often.
The Epson ET2650 comes with up to 2 years’ worth of ink included, providing you with enough ink to print up to 4,500 pages in black and up to 7,500 pages in colour.
3. All-in-box laser printer and toner bundles
Ideal for you if… you mostly print text and want to print out a high volume of pages quickly.
Get everything you need to print high-quality documents in one package, whether you’re a home office worker or student printing out essays and dissertations.
Brother offers all-in-box solutions where you buy a wireless laser printer and toners bundled together to help you keep running costs down.
The Brother HL-1212 All-in-Box comes with five toner cartridges that provide enough toner for up to 2 years’ worth of printing. It has a print speed of 20 pages per minute (3), and you can print remotely from any of your smart devices.
