21 Nov,2019
Like toasters and TVs, the humble household printer has been a staple feature of Australian households for decades.
However, as times change and technology advances the choice of printers on the market has made identifying the best model for your needs no small challenge. So today, we're going to explore one type of printer that ticks all of the boxes from a modern consumer point of view - refillable ink tank printers.
Sometimes referred to as continuous ink tank printers, these devices provide the perfect combination of between economy, ease of use and environmental sustainability. Let's take a look at what they are, and how they can benefit your household.
There's no doubt that the biggest traditional bugbear when it comes to printers is ink cartridges. Do those two words send a shiver down your spine? We don't blame you.
For most, the idea of changing ink cartridges in a conventional printer means two things - expense and wasted time. Older printers especially were very badly designed by modern standards, making the seemingly simple task of installing new ink cartridges a struggle in its own right.
Refillable ink tank printers, such as those in Epson's EcoTank range, eliminate this problem entirely, and radically reduce the associated costs too. Instead of using ink cartridges, refillable ink tank printers, as their name suggests, contain an ink-holding tank that users can fill directly from ink bottles.
This means that replenishing your ink supplies is as easy up-ending a bottle. But that's not the only reason why you should look at investing in a refillable ink tank printer - there are plenty of other benefits:
It's no great secret that the costs of ink cartridges can soon add up, especially if you use your printer for home office purposes as well as domestic printing. Therefore, by removing these pesky components, you'll end up saving a substantial amount on the ongoing costs of your printer.
In the case of Epson's EcoTank printers, this is significantly helped by the fact each device comes with two years' worth of ink out of the box (depending on your use habits). This is the equivalent of 284 standard ink cartridges, which would cost about $4,900.
Once this is used up (you can expect to get 14,000 black pages or 11,200 colour pages from this initial ink injection), replacement ink bottles cost only $24.99. Each bottle will provide around 6,000 high quality printed pages - which works out at less than half a cent per page. This is a considerable saving when compared to other standard inkjet printers, where the cost per black page is between seven to eight cents, according to PC World.
Even if you take cost per page out of the equation, and just compare the upfront costs of a black Epson ink bottle with a black ink cartridge from other leading printer providers, the refillable ink printer comes out more economical. At Officeworks, a single black ink cartridge from another big name printer manufacturer costs $29.98 - and has an estimated yield of only 190 pages. This is far below what you'd expect to get from an Epson EcoTank replacement ink bottle, which costs $5 less at the outset.
It's also worth noting that the tanks on refillable printers like the EcoTank are permanent, so there's no need to factor the cost of a replacement into your budget!
As we've mentioned, topping up a refillable ink tank printer couldn't be more straight forward. And, with EcoTank, we've taken a few steps to ensure that users have a stress free experience, every time:
1. Reducing mess
An obvious concern when transferring ink from our refillable bottles to the tank is that it could be messy. Fear not - our bottles are developed to counter this risk. Every Epson bottle has a drip free nozzle and resealable cap that radically reduce the risks of spills or leaks during refill or even storage. The ink bottles also feature a pressure mechanism so the bottle automatically stops exerting ink once the ink tank is full.
Refilling the tank on an Epson EcoTank takes 30 seconds!
While all of this should make dispensing ink quick, easy and mess-free, we'd still advice users to wear gloves and slip some paper under the tank as they transfer the ink. All printer ink is hard to clean off skin and surfaces - and accidents do happen!
2. No more guessing
Rather than waiting for your printer to start churning out faded documents, or relying entirely on printer warnings, you can see for yourself if you're running low. This takes the guesswork out of things, and means you never have to run out of ink again!
3. Clear instructions
To help prevent users from accidentally pouring the wrong colour into the wrong receptacle, each Epson refillable ink bottle is uniquely colour keyed to correspond to the same demarcation on the device itself.
All of this means the end of grappling around inside your printer trying to remove fiddley ink cartridges and replace them with new ones, likely getting yourself covered in ink in the process. According to Phys.Org, reflling the tank on the Epson EcoTank from start to finish takes only 30 seconds!
Because the ink in refillable ink tank printers is custom designed for use in those devices only, you'll see great results from these devices. This is especially true for ink intensive print jobs, such as high quality colour photographs.
This is especially true in Epson EcoTanks, where the use of our PrecisionCore technology ensures fantastic results time and time again. PrecisionCore is a high-density print chip that is capable of producing as many as 40 million precise dots per second with amazing ink positioning accuracy and fewer imperfections and distortions in the finished product.
As the global environmental crisis continues to worsen, it's up to each of us to make a contribution to reducing our carbon footprint and household waste levels. While your printer may not be the first thing that springs to mind when brainstorming how to minimise your family's impact on the planet, you'd be surprised by how much wastage a standard printer can produce.
The Epson EcoTank helps to combat the sustainability problem in two key ways:
1. Reducing energy consumption by using Heat-Free Technology
The monochrome series in particular is highly thrifty when it comes to its contribution to your energy bill. Its award-winning Micro Piezo print head using Heat-Free Technology require very little electricty to operate, meaning the device can print large volumes without burning through heaps of electricity.
2. Reusable bottles
Because you will get many more pages out of one ink bottle than you would from a standard ink cartridge, refillable ink tank printers require far fewer consumables, and therefore spell less ongoing wastage associated with your household printing.
We've all been there - waiting for that ticket to print at snail's when you're already running late for an event. Therefore, another key factor to consider when shopping for a new household printer is how quickly it will produce your documents.
Here, again, the EcoTank comes out on top when compared to similar models currently on the market. In fact, regardless of how much ink a given document requires, your will EcoTank deliver a single-page print time that's quicker than any of the nearest competitor models.*
You don't want your printer to take up lots of space in your house, especially if it's one among many devices in your home office.
Thankfully, most refillable ink tank printers are compact in size, thanks to the small ink reserves usually situated to one side of the main device. Take the ET-M1120, for example. This printer is 375mm (W) x 267mm (D) x 161mm (H), and weighs only 3.5 kg.
This means your refillable ink printer can fit easily into your existing setup, and with WiFi connectivity, linking up with other devices is no problem at all.
The Epson EcoTank is backed by a year's return to base warranty, which can be easily extended to two years by simply registering your new device with us. This means that should your new printer not meet the high standards you expect, you won't be out of pocket.
Epson has a range of 14 EcoTank printers for you to choose from, meaning we have something for everyone.
Crucially, each model comes with two years ink out of the box, meaning you can set up and print straight away. Among the additional features that some models include are:
Hopefully, by now, you're beginning to get a picture of how refiilable ink tank printers are revolutionising the home printer market thanks to the broad range of advantages they bring to the table. By cutting costs, time wasted and energy consumption while retaining an unbeatable end result, these devices are the answer to many Australian's printer problems. To find out more about Epson's range of EcoTank printers, and which would be best suited to your needs, get in touch with our friendly team of experts today.
* Based on Comparative performance testing, Epson L3150/L4160 vs HP Ink Tank Wireless 415 and Canon G3010 Single-page productivity tests, Keypoint Intelligence – Buyers Lab (BLI), August/May 2018. Fastest single-page print time compared to tested competing A4 Wi-Fi inkjet 3-in-1 OEM ink tank systems. For full results and details of test conditions please read the Buyer Lab reports found here: Buyers lab report - Epson L3150.pdf, Buyers lab report - Epson L4160.pdf. Epson is a registered trademark, EXCEED YOUR VISION and logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of Seiko Epson Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners and used for identification purposes only.
To learn more about the EcoTank range or if you want to find the best ink cartridges for your printing needs. Browse our range online today, or find your nearest Genuine Epson supplier http://www.wheretobuy.epson.com.au/
