Printer Market Evolution: From Ink to Tank Systems

Printers can still be useful if chosen wisely, balancing cost, quality, and maintenance needs.

### The Evolving Printer Market: From Ink to Laser and Beyond
* 🖨 Since 2008, the printer market has been shrinking, yet printers remain useful for **reducing screen time** and **creating physical documents** for various purposes.
* 💡 The introduction of refillable ink tanks, such as the Epson EcoTank ET 4850, offers a **cost-effective and environmentally friendly** alternative to traditional sealed ink cartridges, making printing **more accessible**.
* 💰 While the EcoTank may cost around $400, it significantly reduces the **cost per page to about a quarter of a cent**, making it a **smart choice for frequent users**.
* ⚠ However, liquid ink systems can dry up if not used regularly, leading to maintenance challenges that may require **manual cleaning or part replacements**, which can be **difficult to source**.
* 📄 On the other hand, budget options like the Pantum P2500W monochrome laser printer, found for as little as **$40**, provide quick printing capabilities with minimal upkeep, making them **ideal for infrequent users**.
* 🔍 Despite the Pantum's lower print quality, its **longevity and speed (22 pages per minute)** make it a valuable choice for those who print occasionally.
* 🛠 The Canon S200, while inexpensive, highlights the risks of buying used printers, as it may require **significant repairs and upkeep** to function properly.
* 📦 Ultimately, the choice between inkjet and laser printers depends on **individual needs, budget constraints, and the frequency of use**, with options available for **every type of user**.

my paper, it's due in 3 hours, and that's how he learned the hard way to never trust a fart and print. Wait a minute, it's present year. I don't even own a printer, and I'm not alone. Since 2008, the printer market has been steadily shrinking, but while we don't need them nearly as often as our ancestors did, they are still legitimately useful when they work properly. You can cut down on screen time and eye fatigue by printing out documents for markup. You can make notes and Q cards that work without a battery, and you can even use them for classic pranks. AMD is going to announce a new chip, and this chip, trust me, this chip is good. What? What the? What? What's that? What? But the question is, has the printer industry finally figured out how to be less terrible, or are they still treating ink like it's Chanel Number Five infused with scorpion venom? What about the units themselves? Do you need to spend $400 to get reasonable quality? What if you

bought something secondhand for $4 or $40. Could it still print out this segue to our sponsor, I fix it. While a shiny new iPhone may be tempting, you can just repair your old one. Learn more about how you can save 20% off their iPhone screen and battery parts at the end of this video. These days, sealed ink cartridges are out and refillable tanks are in, especially if you print a lot. And that's where something like the Epson EcoTank ET 4850 comes in. It's about $400 brand new, packed with features, and sips ink straight from the bottle, saving on both cost and on plastic waste. Now, this was my first time using a tank-style printer, so I wasn't really sure what to expect in terms of setup, but it ended up being very simple. Squeeze the ink into the tanks, plug it into whatever type of computer you've got, and print. As for refills, it seems like the industry has yielded somewhat to customer demands, and 20 bucks is going to get you a big old

bottle of genuine black Epson ink drop from drop. It is still roughly a tenth the price of Chanel Number 5, but that still puts the cost per sheet down to around a qu of a cent. We're going to have it linked down below, of course. You also don't need to buy this stuff. Unlike HP, who as recently as a couple of months ago was trying to force you to buy a subscription to print more than a few pages a month, Epson does no genuine ink checks. The print quality is crisp, vibrant, and reasonably quick. We averaged around seven pages per minute in our 600 DPI test run, and you can connect to it however you want, including asking Alexa to print off a sheet of graph paper. It even includes a scanner with fax functionality. So, at this point, you can build yourself a DIY continuous ink system, but if your budget allows, a system like this is pretty much endgame for most people's needs. As for the competition, Canon has some really nice options as well, even though we didn't

get them for this video and brother. They have their ink vestment tank line but seem to have lost the plot a little bit. It's kind of convoluted now. With that said, even a non-convoluted tank system is not for everyone. A big caveat here is that ink tanks are full of, well, liquid ink, and liquid has a tendency to dry up. So if you only print one document every few months, there's a solid chance that you'll go to use it only to find out that one or more of your colors won't print because Inky goo is gummed up the print head. If this happens and the printer self-cleaning cycle doesn't unstick everything, you're going to have to either do the dirty job of manually cleaning it or you'll have to replace the print head or ink dampers altogether. While Epson has made spare parts available, they only have four distributors throughout America with very limited stock, meaning once the thing hits end of life, it could be

challenging to find those parts again. The other issue with these systems is the upfront price of $400. So, without further ado, may I introduce my $40 model, haha, the Pantum P2500W. We found this monochrome laser printer on Craigslist, but we could have picked up a similar open-box model for a pretty similar price from our local reliable supplier, Facebook Marketplace, or wherever the case may be. In terms of features, it's a printer, no scan, no fax, manual duplexing only, and it will not listen when you talk to it. It does have Wi-Fi, but only using 2.4 GHz, and at the back, you'll find power, USB type B, and a little cutout suggesting that they were thinking of adding networking but never did. Initial setup was a little tougher this time. Windows 11 recognized it but could only print out a garbled page. But then, when we tried it on Linux, it worked fine. And then after that, we plugged it into our Windows 11 machine, and it suddenly worked. Why? We're not quite sure.

but it works now, and while the print quality isn't perfect, it's a little streaky for text documents. It is perfectly serviceable, and it still shines when it comes to the big advantages of laser-like shelf stability. Because toner is a dry powder, there's no urgency to keep the ink flowing. It can sit idly for months, sometimes even years, without degrading to the point of becoming unusable. And when you do eventually decide to use your printer, you will almost certainly appreciate the speed. In spite of being on the uh older side, it advertises 22 pages per minute and hit that number almost dead on during our longer print run. This thing is so fast, it practically smokes by the 10th page. Wait, wait, that actually does look like smoke. But as it turns out, it steamed. Laser printers work through heat, and paper usually contains small amounts of moisture. And well, heat plus moisture makes steam. Add in a bit of toner or dust, and it can look a bit like

smoke, but don't worry about it now. This is far from the only option. As I alluded to before, there are plenty of budget secondhand Laser Printers out there from the likes of Samsung SLP or from Brother. And as long as you verify that there's driver support for your operating system, they tend to be extremely long-lasting machines. I think my old Samsung unit has been in service for over 10 years and still works like the day we got it. The reason we chose to highlight a pantom model, though, was because we thought it was a little more interesting than those other brands. Despite this printer being released over a decade ago, most North Americans probably wouldn't recognize the brand, but their history is extremely interesting. Phantom's parent company, Ninestar, originally specialized in making bootleg lockout chips for third-party ink and toner refills. In 2010, they launched the first pantom product, China's first domestic laser printer, followed by a global rollout over the next months. Then, in 2016, they bought Lexmark, and in 2023, they were

added to the banned imports list by the US government on accusations of using forced labor, but that ban is on paper only, no pun intended, because pantom printers go by many, many different names that don't seem to be on the banned list. There's pantom, Lex Mark, G&G, image, Xerox, Great Wall, Fujifilm, and mustache. The only real difference between most of these printers, though, is the chip used for toner or ink validation, or, well, rather they're the same chips, but they have different data written to them in order to prevent you from brand swapping. After all, you can't just toss Lex Mark ink in a Xerox printer; that would be illegal, and I'm sure pantam would never dream of suggesting that anybody refill their printer with third-party ink. We would, though. At $50, the official toner refills would cost us more than the printer did. Third-party, on the other hand, can be had for around $18. That puts this printer at about 3 cents and 1 cent per page, respectively. Now that might

sound more expensive than Epson's Quar Cent pages, and it is, but the cost of ownership doesn't even out until you've printed 7,000 sheets on that tank system. So, if you've got 60 bucks to your name and you absolutely need to print some documents, this is going to get the job done. But wait, what if you don't have $60? Enter the Canon S200, listed on Craigslist for 10 Canadian Shillings. We talked them down to the maple leaf equivalent of four Freedom bucks. It wasn't our first pick, but buying a used printer comes with some risks, and having your time wasted is definitely one of them. We had dozens of other listings either ghost us, sell the printer from under us, or otherwise just refuse to sell us their printer. But hey, Canon released this bubble jet printer in February of 2002, and apparently they didn't have much love for this particular model because 2 months later they released the PowerShot S200 digital camera. And I know I've said a lot about other brands' naming schemes.

but at least they mostly bother to use different letters and numbers for their different products. Despite the slight from Canon, though, they did make several other printers that used the same form factor, software, and even ink, so finding compatible cartridges all these years later is still pretty easy from our local reliable supplier. A third-party combo pack of black and color ink was actually less than the price we paid for this printer even today. Unfortunately, bubble jets were notorious for clogging, and as far as we can tell, this printer may have been sitting on used since as early as 2004. Even after buying new ink and making a quick attempt to clean the printer, it still just printed blank pages. Something we got in common, buddy. There may be hope, though. It just so happened that when we were starting this project a few months ago, LGR posted a half-hour-long saga trying to get a compatible printer working properly. How'd that go, Clint? Never buy an old inkjet printer. This is all a complete waste of time and everything is stupid. Oh well, too late, so we ordered a

replacement print head and oh wait is this the one y oh the script says it didn't arrive yet cuz it hadn't when we reviewed this but I guess it has now are we just going to try it now let's do it the trou are just never going to work hey this this could be the first time how long have you been doing this give feedback on the TR to to crash ah ah it Dam it all right we'll have to film the conclusion tomorrow hey you got it yep wow and all it took was installing the new print head spending several hours trying to force some truly ancient drivers on WIS 11 and Mac OS showing up late for the company softball game getting in a solid 6 hours of sleep and then first thing in the morning putting together a Linux test bench adding the guten print drivers connecting the printer tracking down a random printer test page website he voila not bad actually I mean not great but not bad taking some of the joy out of this is the fact that we are now

at $34, including that new print head, plus the new ink that we bought earlier, plus paying people to do the troubleshooting and whatever the test bench hardware cost. But I have this now. In fact, compared to our Epson, the colors are more vibrant, and our text is more legible. There are a few additional drawbacks, though. It leaves big streaks in the print occasionally. The yellow seems to pick up lots of tiny specs of cyan and magenta for some reason. And the ink cartridges, while costing mere pocket change, only hold enough ink for up to 170 pages of text. So be prepared to swap them out frequently. Also, it's slow. The manual claims that in a text-only best-case scenario, it can do five pages per minute. And for full color, you could be looking at several minutes per page. So if you're printing off a high-quality photo, make sure to bring some reading materials with you to pass the time. Uh, what you could also do to pass the time is check out this message from our sponsor, iFixit. Okay, let's see some

hands. Who's going to get the new iPhone this year? Okay, but hold on a second. Have you thought about repairing your old one instead? You, yeah, you, I see you, and so does iFixit. It may seem daunting at first, but with iFixit repair guides, you'll have step-by-step walkthroughs of how to disassemble and patch up your old iPhone, no matter which one you're currently using. That's right, even the beloved iPhone 4S has over 20 guides. And until September 30th, you can get 20% off of iFixit iPhone screen and battery replacement parts. So make the affordable and perhaps more importantly, sustainable choice. Instead of handing over a wad of cash just for the latest and greatest, head to iFixit using our link in the description and breathe some new life into your current iPhone. If you guys like this video, maybe you'll also enjoy the time we looked at a $95 3D printer. How bad was it? Well, thought you just watch it.

I HATE the price of ink. $4 vs $400 printer

Linus Tech Tips is a passionate team of "professionally curious" experts in consumer technology and video production who aim to educate and entertain.


Linus Tech Tips

The printer market has been shrinking since 2008, but printers are still useful for reducing screen time and providing battery-free notes.

The Epson EcoTank ET 4850 offers a modern solution with refillable tanks, saving on cost and plastic waste.

The printer's setup is simple, and it provides genuine ink at a lower cost, while also offering features like Alexa integration and fax functionality.

Ink tank systems can be problematic due to liquid ink drying up, leading to print head clogs and the need for manual cleaning or part replacement.

Epson's limited spare parts distribution in America makes it challenging to find replacements after the printer's end of life.

In contrast, a monochrome laser printer like the Pantum P2500W offers shelf stability with dry toner, eliminating the urgency to print regularly, and provides fast printing speeds.

Budget-Friendly Laser Printers and Their Interesting History

Budget secondhand laser printers from brands like Samsung and Brother are long-lasting and reliable.

The lesser-known brand, Pantum, has an intriguing history, from bootleg lockout chips to a global printer rollout and a controversial acquisition of Lexmark.

Pantum printers operate under various names, making it difficult to trace, and offer significant savings with third-party toner refills.

The printer in question has a history of using the same form factor and ink as other models, making it easy to find compatible cartridges.

Despite efforts to clean and replace the ink, the printer continued to produce blank pages.

After a series of troubleshooting steps and installing a new print head, the printer eventually showed some improvement in its performance.

The new printer, despite its low cost, has vibrant colors and legible text but leaves streaks and has a slow printing speed.

The ink cartridges are inexpensive but have a low capacity, requiring frequent swaps.

The printer's manual claims it can do five pages per minute for text, but full-color prints can take several minutes per page.