Jun 01, 2011 10:20 AM
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(Updated Jun 01, 2011 10:49 AM)
People buy printers in great hopes. As for me, I wanted to avoid the long wait at the Xerox shop which also did printing.
When a web site offered Canon's range of low cost printers, I felt the decision was made:buy one. No need of haggling with salesmen who try to sell you things that you don't want.
I did a thorough search on the net on the economics of printing, that is, the cost per page. Surprisingly, there were no forthright answers to this question. Or were those pages being masked?
The printer arrived very quickly. It was the Canon MP 276 color Inkjet all-in-one model. It can do printing, photocopying, and scanning. It cost Rs.5595/-.
It ran very smoothly. Everything was fine, till the ink ran out.
I needed to get a new cartridge or get a refill. When I checked online for the price, it came to Rs.950/- for the black cartridge and Rs.1260/- for the color cartridge.
I did some math: by the time I bought 6 black cartridges, it'd cost me more than the printer, that is 950 x 6= 5700/- ! Forget about the color cartridges!
I had kept a record of the number of printouts taken, before the cartridge ran out. It came to 90 black and white printouts. The cost per page worked out to 950/90= Rs.10.50.
The Xerox shop gave me printouts at Rs.2/- a page, 1/5 the cost as the Canon MP 276 prints.
I was shattered, but did not give up hope. I searched for cartridge refilling outlets. The same Xerox shop refilled my cartridges for Rs.130/- . But the printer refuses to acknowledge they are filled- it prints blank sheets with ink blotches:Canon has installed chips in the cartridges to ensure that this source of income is not lost for them.
I am in a dilemma. Now what to do with this printer, a veritable white elephant?
