B
Barry Watzman
HP "02" cartridges (5 colors) sell for about $10-$12 each; the 6th
cartridge, black, is about twice that much.
HP sells a "photo value pack" for photo printing that consists of all 6
cartridges plus a quantity of 4x6 photo paper (I think it's 150 sheets)
for about $36. The claim is that the amount of ink in the cartridges is
matched to, on average, print pretty much exactly the number of 4x6
photo pages supplied (obviously, this depends to some degree on the
content of the images ... no one claims that it's exact).
My question is, has anyone done a comparison of the individual $10-$12
retail cartridges to the cartridges in the photo value pack? Ideally,
it would be nice to know the volume of ink in the retail cartridges vs.
the volume in the value pack cartridges. Alternatively, it might be
nice to have precise weights of an empty cartridge, an individual retail
cartridge and a photo value pack cartridge. I guess that this analysis
would have to be done separately for each of the 5 colors, plus black.
A "kicker" here is that the "chip" in the cartridges might be programmed
differently. That is, since the photo value pack comes with 150 sheets
of paper (I think), the cartridges might be programmed to stop printing
after 150 pages, the amount of ink left in them not withstanding.
I'm just wondering if there is an opportunity to save money buy using
the "photo value packs", even if one is not printing photos at all. The
full set of 6 cartridges in the photo value pack sells for about half of
what six individual cartridges would cost, not even considering the paper.
Are the cartridges really different?
[A more detailed analysis would note that OfficeMax and Staples both
give a $3 credit on empty cartridges returned for recycling. Even if
the ink volume in the photo value packs is indeed less, you would get
more $3 credits purchasing photo value packs, and the final cost might
still be cheaper even if the cost based on the "shelf price" was the
same or higher.]
cartridge, black, is about twice that much.
HP sells a "photo value pack" for photo printing that consists of all 6
cartridges plus a quantity of 4x6 photo paper (I think it's 150 sheets)
for about $36. The claim is that the amount of ink in the cartridges is
matched to, on average, print pretty much exactly the number of 4x6
photo pages supplied (obviously, this depends to some degree on the
content of the images ... no one claims that it's exact).
My question is, has anyone done a comparison of the individual $10-$12
retail cartridges to the cartridges in the photo value pack? Ideally,
it would be nice to know the volume of ink in the retail cartridges vs.
the volume in the value pack cartridges. Alternatively, it might be
nice to have precise weights of an empty cartridge, an individual retail
cartridge and a photo value pack cartridge. I guess that this analysis
would have to be done separately for each of the 5 colors, plus black.
A "kicker" here is that the "chip" in the cartridges might be programmed
differently. That is, since the photo value pack comes with 150 sheets
of paper (I think), the cartridges might be programmed to stop printing
after 150 pages, the amount of ink left in them not withstanding.
I'm just wondering if there is an opportunity to save money buy using
the "photo value packs", even if one is not printing photos at all. The
full set of 6 cartridges in the photo value pack sells for about half of
what six individual cartridges would cost, not even considering the paper.
Are the cartridges really different?
[A more detailed analysis would note that OfficeMax and Staples both
give a $3 credit on empty cartridges returned for recycling. Even if
the ink volume in the photo value packs is indeed less, you would get
more $3 credits purchasing photo value packs, and the final cost might
still be cheaper even if the cost based on the "shelf price" was the
same or higher.]