Originally posted by: tcsenter
Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
And don't forget about printer ink and toner. Same principal applies. You can get a decent laser printer these days for about 100 bucks, even less. But the toner costs about 60.00 a pop WITHOUT the drum unit. And Inkjet printers are a dime a dozen these days, but a set of inkjet cartridges (black, Cyan, Yellow, Magenta) can cost almost as much as the printer, and they don't last very long!
Bad comparisons. There is a difference between the OEM and third-party inks, though much less so with laser toner. While third-party stuff is sufficient for casual printing where really dark grey is good enough for black, the difference is readily observable for high-quality graphics, text, line art, and photo printing on better paper stock.
Beyond the print results, I've had utter crap luck with third-party cartridges and refills developing nozzles that dry, clog, sputter, or just plain leak (I've bought them for Canon, Epson, and HP printers). Its a good thing they cost 1/3 as much because I go through twice as many. And I'm still not sure how much I should adjust the net savings of using them for having a leaky cartridge sling black ink all over the inside of my Epson Stylus. Twice.