I have an HP Photosmart B010 Printer. I install 4 new ink cartridges, barely print 4 or 6 documents and leave it aside for when I need it. After about 2 months or so, I try to print another document and the document comes out almost white or pale in color. I check the ink and it only has 10% This is the 3rd time this has happened so what I want to know, are all printers like this or do I have a bad printer? I bought it cheap for $100 USD about 2 years ago. If I invest in a laser printer, do they also have this problem where if you don't use it much the ink dries? or can I set it and forget it?
The entire business model around inkjet printers is very similar to razor blades. Get the customer hooked with a cheap-ass printer, bleed them forever on ink. The ink in these cartridges is liquid and will evaporate. Laser printers have a whole other set of problems, but evaporation of the ink (it's powder to begin with) is not one of them.
I hate ink cartridges me too. I doesn't matter if you print ten pages or 100 pages monthly, the ink evaporates and you waste ink and money. I would like to know just one common problem of laser printers. Just out curiosity...
Print some pages on a laser. Then put them in a binder or inside those clear plastic protectors. Come back in a year or two and find that the ink has stuck to the plastic.
Oh yes Myrrh, I've seen that!, that's too bad... I never thought it was a common problem with all laser printers. I always thought it was because the bad quality of some toners. Well, at least for printing just a few pages per month, having a ink printer is worst. I'm planning to buy a laser printer soon. So, now I know to never put the printings on plastic protectors. Thanks for the tip.