Epson is exiting the laser printer market in a couple of years, inkjets from there on out

[thewayne]

They claim that this move is "better for the environment" and that the inkjets have fewer moving parts. While the latter is slightly true, the former is an utter crock of shit. The issue is pure profit. A laser printer will last for literal years, an inkjet will not.

Now, Epson has improved their quality on higher-end models and you don't have these tiny little cartridges that you're replacing practically monthly and throwing away, increasing your plastic footprint. They now have larger refillable tanks that last longer. Still, that ink is much more expensive than laser toner. You can now get a DUPLEXING laser printer for about $120 or so that's WiFi enabled (I set one up for my dad early this year) that you can print from your phone or tablet, in addition from your laptop or PC.

The advantage of an inkjet over inexpensive lasers is color vs black and white. If you look honestly about how much color you really need, a B&W laser might suit your needs better and save you money. These inkjets appear inexpensive as their purchase cost is quite cheap, they get you on the cartridges, which are consumed very quickly and dry up and need replacement far too often. You'll save a lot of money with a laser and emailing your photos to the drug store to get them printed on better equipment.

There was a great comment in the Slashdot thread. Someone toured the Epson corporate office in some European country: HP laser printers everywhere. In the broken equipment room in the basement? Epson lasers. :-)

https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/28/epson_ends_laser_printers/

https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/22/11/28/1641237/epson-to-end-the-sale-and-distribution-of-laser-printer#comments

Comments

[mtbc]

Definitely agreed, best per-page cost and longevity from lasers! Especially for infrequent use. Color's rarely needed and printing services are commonplace.

[dewline]

I'm finding myself needing both, and I may end up reconnecting my Brother B+W laser printer alongside my Epson colour machine (which is getting heavier use lately because of "Family Photo Album" project in progress)...

[thewayne]

Yep, you've got a good use case going there. I've had a large format Canon ink printer sitting in its shipping carton for something around seven years, never unboxed it and I've been a photographer for over 45 years.

[disneydream06]

Sounds like a whole lotta UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hugs, Jon

[thewayne]

Pretty much sums it up, Jon. :-)

[silveradept]

Definitely sounds like someone trying to stay alive and deciding that perhaps they don't want to go the route of "let's DRM the cartridges so that nobody else can sell ink for something closer to the cost of its manufacture.

[acelightning73]

I have seen ads for printers which purported to contain a lifetime supply of ink/toner/whatever. I had a color inkjet printer for a while, which needed new cartridges about every week or so. It was fun making t-shirt transfers or window transparencies with the color printer. I also had a laser printer for over twenty years, and it was still working relatively well, although it was slow. We now have another laser printer, and it's giving warnings that we need more toner. The toner cartridges are expensive, and hard to get, but they do work. And the newer one is a lot faster.

[thewayne]

I have a Samsung B&W laser, bought it shortly before HP gobbled them up.  Still on the original ink.  It's been complaining for ages that it wants a new cartridge, but it still keeps printing.  I have a third-party cartridge just waiting for the day that it well and truly runs dry.  The printer cost approx $100 and that cartridge about a third that!