Unfortunately in most circumstances Lexmark printers are one of the most expensive printers on the market when it comes to the cost of the replacement ink cartridges.
There are several reasons for this, including:
- Lexmark inkjet printers typically utilise just one black and one colour cartridge. This means that if just one of the colours within the colour cartridge runs out then you would have to change the entire cartridge. As an example, if you were printing a number of facial portraits then you would likely run out of the magenta way before the cyan or yellow.
- A number of Lexmark printers actually include just one cartridge. One example is the Lexmark X2350 which contains just one cartridge (Lexmark 18C0781, otherwise known as No. 1). This printer not only suffers from a similar problem to the two colour machines but as it doesn’t have a black cartridge it also has to mix all three colours together to create a slightly off black representation. This is not only an inefficient and expensive way of producing black but additionally if you run out of one colour or one section of the cartridge became blocked then the ‘black’ would be skewed in favour of the two remaining colours.
- Lexmark printers work on a process of counting pages in order to determine whether the cartridge is empty or not. This not only often results in cartridges reading as ‘empty’ if you refill them but additionally in the case of ‘Lexmark Return Program’ cartridges, once the cartridge has printed its designated quota it will cease to function even if there is ink remaining.
- Several Lexmark original cartridges are subject to dubious licensing agreements with specific retailers. As an example, at the time of writing the original Lexmark #4 and #5 cartridges are only available to companies within the DSG (PC World, Currys, Dixons). The offshoot of this is that not only are users of affected printers only able to buy from these sources but the lack of any competition means customers are unable to shop around for the best price.
There are a couple of ways to ensure that your printing cost is kept to a minimal when using a Lexmark printer. First and foremost always choose the highest capacity ink cartridge available for your machine; in many instances Lexmark ink cartridges are available in a choice of standard or high capacity with the former containing less ink than the latter. While it’s true that a high capacity inkjet cartridge is often more expensive than a standard capacity cartridge, the cost per page is usually lower.
Many customers choose not to buy a cartridge that is part of the Lexmark Return Program as it then gives them the option to continue to use the cartridge until it is completely empty then either have it refilled or return it to a retailer of their choice for recycling.
Many Lexmark ink cartridges are also available as a remanufactured cartridge. These are original Lexmark cartridges that have been fully used and then returned to a recycling facility. The cartridges are cleaned out and refilled before being tested and boxed up as a remanufactured product. These alternatives are not only cheaper, but additionally also often contain more ink than the originals with no sacrifice of print quality. There is also the obvious environmental savings made by purchasing a recycled printer cartridge.
Unfortunately Lexmark Laser Printers often also work out more expensive to run than many of the alternatives on the market as, although the toner cartridges are often relatively high capacity the purchase price is usually high enough to result in a poor cost per page. Users with these machines might also benefit from purchasing remanufactured laser toner cartridges for their printer in order to benefit from a lower purchase price without sacrificing print quality.
