Current Epson printers have a chip snapped onto the ink cartridges which the printer updates as it's used. Going by the number of nozzle firings, it calculates when it figures it's out of ink.
Some companies are getting rich selling devices to reprogram the chips and new replacement chips for people who refill their Epsons. Epson ink tanks are deliberately designed to make life hell for the refiller. :P On the printers which use the chipped ink tanks, installing a tank without the chip will make the printer self destruct. 3rd party ink companies have been trying to get a restraint of trade judgement against Epson over that. HP counters against the 3rd parties by having all their printers use cartridges with integrated printheads, which are near impossible to make a functionally equal duplicate of that doesn't infringe on a patent. Canon, Xerox and other companies whose printers use seperate printheads (which unlike Epsons, are replaceable) and ink tanks, don't care if 3rd parties make the ink tanks. They just put a disclaimer in the warranty about using non-approved ink. That's why I avoid Epson and HP printers. They want to rip you off on the inks by trying to ensure that you use only their overpriced cartridges that have multiple colors in one so when you run out of one color you have to waste a ton of ink. I much prefer the Canon system with each color in its own tank. Xerox has that too, but their driver support is lousy. I'm having to use the MS provided driver for my Docuprint M750 with XP. I need to get a USB card for my Off Topic Mac and see how it works over there. ;) --- Marten van de Kraats <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >Epson has never been a brand of printer I've liked. > :P > > Me neither. I've seen several epsons become useless > and beyond repair > because of dried up ink. Rumor has it that one needs > to use them a > lot to keep them in shape. They are supposed to > produce very good > colors though. I am thinking about getting a hp > deskjet for color > stuff and photos. I hope they are more trustworthy. ===== "Work it harder make it better do it faster makes us stronger. More than ever hour after our work is never over." Daft Punk __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/ -- Vintage Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Vintage Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml> The FAQ: <http://macfaq.org/> Send list messages to: <mailto:vintage.macs@;mail.maclaunch.com> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:vintage.macs-off@;mail.maclaunch.com> For digest mode, email: <mailto:vintage.macs-digest@;mail.maclaunch.com> Subscription questions: <mailto:listmom@;lowendmac.com> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/vintage.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
