Well at Buy.com, in the US the 900 goes for $285(US) and a set of carts goes for $45, thus here it's 6 sets of carts for the cost of the printer. An Epson 3000 costs about $1000 and a set of OEM carts costs about $200 (5 to 1 but the carts hold 110ml). For comparison my office's HP2500 costs about $10,000 and a set of carts goes for about $500, a ratio closer to 20 carts to 1 printer (but the HP carts hold a useable 370ml). Just because I have to buy these expendables I tried to break down the cost of inks by milliliter based on some web site info (all prices US and very approximate) - HP OEM for 2500 - $0.38/ml prefilled carts EPSON OEM for 1200 - $1.33/ml " EPSON OEM for 3000 - $0.45/ml " EPSON Lysonic for 3000 - $0.57/ml " EPSON 3000 dataproducts - $0.17/ml " MIS regular for 3000 - $0.03/ml (buy by the 128fl oz gallon) MIS regular for 1200 - $0.03/ml " MIS arch. cart for 1200 - $0.77/ml (figure 15ml/color) MIS archival for 1200 - $0.12/ml (24oz kit) Lysonic E for 1520 - $0.20/ml (500ml bulk) Xtreme Gamut for 9000 - $0.45/ml (WAG, includes cleaning carts and a roll of paper) This seems to indicate that if you can afford a professional printer you can get the inks at 1/3 the cost or less. As TomCat often pointed out if you go with bulk ink you can save a BUNDLE. However for the vast unwashed masses (those who do not dirty their hands by refilling) life is cleaner, but more expensive. I need a CIS!! > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-epson-inkjet@leben.com > [mailto:owner-epson-inkjet@leben.com]On Behalf Of Charles Knox > Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2000 6:52 AM > To: epson-inkjet@leben.com > Subject: Re: Obsolete 1200? > > snip >. I can't believe there are enough Epson refillers to make > a difference > >> to Epson, but you never know. Maybe their market research > tells them it's > >> a growing trend and they don't want to let that "ink cow" > get away :> > > > >I agree - they probably don't even think about refillers for > the consumer > >models (1200 and below). We are probably the 1%'ers of the > printer market. > > Don't you believe it! > > Refilling may not be all that big in the US, where OEM > cartridges can be > found at relatively low prices, but here in Australia it's > getting to be > quite an industry -- often a set of carts for one of the bottom end > printers costs as much as (or more than) the printer did (and > it came with > carts...) > > My newly acquired 900 (with 2 carts) would be equalled in > price by 4.7 sets > of OEM cartridges -- for the same money I can refill them > around 40 times > with refill kits, almost twice that using bulk ink. snip Not only keep quoted material to the minimum keep the subject accurate. - Please turn off HTML mail features. Keep quoted material short. Use accurate subject lines. http://www.leben.com/lists for instructions.