Ink tank printers: pros and cons
The ink tank printers are becoming more and more common in all brands: HP, Canon, Epson.... Through these models, the largest manufacturers promise that you can save enormously on ink cartridges. Bruneau lists all the advantages and disadvantages especially for you.
Ink tank printers: how does it work?
The printers with an ink reservoir are printers with all the usual functionalities: multifunctional, color or monochrome, recto/verso,... depending of course on the model itself!But unlike the traditional models
, ink tank printers don't work with ink cartridges. You refill them with large-capacity bottles of ink. And that's their biggest advantage.
No electronic components are required in the production of the bottles, as with traditional ink cartridges. They can be made simpler, and are therefore less expensive (and more profitable) to purchase. They also offer much greater autonomy.
Now that we have outlined the framework, we can concretely look at the advantages and disadvantages of these models.
Ink tank printers: the advantages
Goodbye cartridges, welcome bottles!
This is THE strength of the printers with an ink reservoir: you can save up to 70% on consumables (compared to the average cost of the most sold cartridges between January and December 2017). While a classic ink cartridge allows you to make an average of 1000 prints, an ink bottle for an ink tank printer offers an autonomy of more than 10000 prints (depending on the model)! Ideal to save money and time at the same time. After all, you no longer have to replace your fillings every few days :)
Easy and clean refill
No more ink stains on hands or clothes when replacing the cartridges!
The ink bottles for printers with a reservoir are designed to make things easier for you:
- an insert cap to avoid errors: only the yellow ink bottle can be emptied into the yellow reservoir;
- a pressurized system: do not push the bottle to fill the reservoir. Simply click the bottle into place and the ink is neatly poured over in the blink of an eye.
Visible ink levels
There are no surprises with the ink tank printers: the ink levels are always visible on the front of the printer. You can see at a glance whether you will soon run out of black, yellow, blue or red ink!
Ink tank printers: the disadvantages
A significantly higher purchase price
You will certainly save a lot of money for the refills, but an ink tank printer itself has a higher purchase price than a traditional printer.
Good to know
It is worth noting that all HP, Canon or Epson ink tank printers come with a set of fully filled ink bottles with the purchase, so that you can work in peace for at least 3 years (estimated based on 250 prints per month)!So the most important question to ask yourself is how often you use your printer. If you only print a dozen pages per month, a classic model is obviously the best option. But if you print large quantities every day, the investment in an ink tank printer can pay off!