Tired of paying so much for printer ink? Well, here’s a list of ingredients that are used to make printer ink. If you are of the mind set, you can set up your own micro (ink) brew.

Water
Glycol
Pigments or dyes
Alcohols
Oils
Resins
Polymers

Most of these items make up the base of the liquid. The dye or pigment is what gives your printer ink its color. Mix all your ink ingredients together in a pot, with some heat, making sure to mix completely. Mixing will filter out the large particles and your ink will be ready to put in your printer cartridge. Make sure you test your colors before printing. You’ll want to make sure your cyans, magentas, and yellows are up to your specifications.

Okay, this is a pretty basic version of how to create printer ink, but it is actually how you would go about doing it. If your are HP or Canon, you’ll spend billions on machinery, formulations, and production. If you are you, you might not be so picky.

So, give it a try! Brew up a batch of ink, but make sure you let me know how it goes. Thanks!

If you live in select areas of Wisconsin (Merrill, Manitowoc, and La Crosse) you can now get your inkjet printer cartridges refilled at ACE Hardware stores. ACE has struck a deal with inkjet cartridge refill machine company INK-O-DEM to put the refill machines in their stores.

This is an interesting move for ACE, who seems to be putting franchises in within shopping centers located with in suburban communities. The smaller stores fit nicely in to the small scale retail shops in neighborhood strip malls. ACE has also taken to trying to be that all-in-one source for all things hardware related. Granted their prices are considerably higher than a Home Depot or Lowes, but I can be at ACE within 1-2 minutes. It will take me 10-15 to get to Home Depot. For small purchases, ACE is the place!

Okay, back to printer cartridges. The partnership with INK-O-DEM would be an example of their move to offer another service to keep those living around the strip mall coming in. Most neighborhood strip malls don’t have any kind of office supply store or electronics store. If I need printer cartridges I need to make the 10-15 minute drive to Staples or Best Buy, or wait 3-5 days if I order online. Now I make my 1-2 minute drive to ACE and get my cartridges refilled, maybe even get my knives sharpened while  am there!

Convenience is king, so this seems to be a smart move by ACE. But wait, maybe we should ask Walgreens or CostCo how they feel? They’ve used INK-O-DEM’s refill machines.

Refill services are sold as a “cash cow”. When you look at the plan on paper it seems to be a no branier. The big expense is the refill machine. Not sure what types of deals, leases, etc large companies like Walgreens, CostCo, or ACE get, but after you pay for that machine your only cost is to keep it filled with ink. When you are charging $9.99 – $14.99 to refill a cartridge that cost you pennies in ink, you are making some great margins. Maybe the corporate executives are not the best to ask. Let’s talk about what the customers are saying.

First, there are those that swear by these refill machines. They love the financial and environmental savings. The print quality works for them.

Second, there are those that think these machines are the scourge of the earth. Why?

1. The ink used by the refill machines is the not same ink that comes in the original cartridge. Some notice the difference and approve of the print quality.
2. Cartridges are designed to wear out. You can’t continually refill a cartridge. Because of the heating and cooling elements that make it function the cartridge will not print forever. You need to be prepared for this day.
3. Cartridges clog, especially when they run out of ink, but even when they are full. If you cartridge runs empty, you better get it filled right away. The longer you wait, the more likely it becomes that the print head will clog. When that happens you will need to buy a new cartridge.
4. Refill services are only available for HP, Lexmark, and Dell cartridges. If you have Epson, Canon, Brother, or any other cartridge brands you are out of luck.

If you are willing to take a chance, refill machines might just be the thing for  you. If you’ve got a low tolerance for risk (with your printer cartridges), stay away. What are your thoughts? Let me know. Thanks!

I came across the following customer question today.  It was prompted by something that the individual read online.

Does putting printer ink in the refrigerator give more ink?

The quick answer . . . NO!

The long answer . . . NO! Printer ink is supposed to stored at room temperature (check the packaging). Storing it in your refrigerator will have an adverse effect on the ink within the cartridge. Printer cartridges manufacturers formulate their ink to be stored at a certain temperature. Anything outside the manufacturers range will damage the ink. It’s not worth it for the price you paid for the cartridge.

Want to get more out of your ink cartridge? Store it at room temperature and an in upright position and make sure  you use it fairly soon after you buy it. They are not designed to be stored for long periods of time.

Where’s the strangest place you’ve heard you can store your ink cartridge? Let me know. Thanks!

In a world of having to get the latest and greatest electronic gadgets, one such gadget has failed to get the attention that iPads, iPhones, digital cameras, computers, and video cameras have received. It’s none other that the printer.

Huh? Take a minute and think about it. How often do we run out to buy the latest version of a new piece of technology, even though the one we have is still working just fine? You iPhone 3 worked perfectly, but you had to get the iPhone 4 because of its cool new features. There are not many of us that do this with our printers. Why not? Printer manufacturers are constantly releasing printers with more features than the previous generation had. I don’t hear many stories of folks dumping their printer to run out and get one that is Internet enabled and scans at a higher resolution. Why not? Here’s why not, because printers are a pain in the butt. The guys from the 1999 movie “Office Space” hit the nail on the head (or the printer with the bat) when they did what a lot of us feel like doing to our printer.

So what’s the deal? Why does something so central to our every day life get so little respect?

Printers are frustrating. They jam, run out of ink, frequently drop their connection to your computer, melt stickers and labels, and cause the edges of your pages to wrinkle and bend.

Ask the printer manufacturers and they are quick to say that the problem is not really the printer. It is the people using the printer. They blame rough handling, mistreatment, and improper maintenance for the problems. They also say people are far more likely to try to fix a printer problem by themselves than they are to try to fix any other type of technology. Because they don’t know what they are doing they can cause further damage.

No way! How can you mistreat and be to rough on a piece of machinery that once placed really does not get moved again. They only time the printer really gets touched is when paper needs to be replaced or you are fixing an issue that came about from out of the blue. Cameras, phones, and computers get a lot more “abuse”. They stand up to the wear and tear. Of course we are going to try to fix our own printer problems. What do the manufacturer’s customer service representatives tell us to do when we call them about a problem? They want us to handle the printer. Are we just supposed to call the $90 per hour technician without trying? I’ve had a few that end up on the phone with the manufacturer. Yikes!

So what’s the real deal? Are printers designed to break? Are they the ultimate example of throw away electronics? HP has claimed that its inkjet printers failed 25% less in 2009 than in 2006, and that laser printers have improved by 20%. Unfortunately, they won’t say how often these machines are still a source of troubles. Lexmark fields about 10,000 electronic feedback forms per month, but won’t say now many of these focus on printer problems. My guess i a pretty large number. Lexmark does not do much else in the way of electronics.

Why do we put up with printers? We can buy them for less than $100.00, but then continually have to feed them printer ink and paper. If your $100 printer breaks, you are easily going to spend what you paid for it in repair costs. Given these expenses, its no wonder we just head to the store an buy a new one at the first sign of any problem.

Do you think your printer was made to be thrown away. Let me know. Thanks!

I am compelled to do a follow up on yesterday’s post (HP And Yahoo Want To Use Your Printer). After I finished writing a few more thoughts popped in to my head.

For the purpose of this post, we are going to call all advertising SPAM. It is all the same, they only difference is if you want it or not. Most of the time you don’t want it, but you do tolerate it.

In what ways do we receive SPAM?

1. By mail (to our residential or business addresses)

2. Fax

3. Telephone

4. Email

5. Mobile device

6. Television

7. Inkjet or laser printer (coming soon)

Despite any laws that have ever been enacted, SPAM is still a huge part of our lives. A law is either circumvented or a new way to deliver SPAM is created. The original SPAM receptacle is our mail box. Think of how much junk mail you get each day. Look at the other items listed above, how much SPAM do you get via those mediums each day?

Now comes the ePrintenabled printer. The latest and greatest SPAM delivery source. Think the laws that govern fax SPAMMING apply. Don’t be so sure. It scares me to think what I might see on my printer’s paper tray one day.

That aside, let’s assume HP has great intentions and wants to use this technology in the best possible way. They want to be able to deliver the information you want, directly to you. Think of it like a newspaper subscription (except who wants to print their own newspaper each day). Advertising creates a lot of revenue for these companies. Targeted advertising creates a ton of revenue for these companies. Think of the revenues Yahoo! and HP will generate by putting a page, with targeted advertising, on your printer’s paper tray every day. Millions? Billions?

Think of the revenues HP will generate while you print out these advertisements. You are providing the printer ink and the paper.

Let me know what you think about this. Thanks!

In mid June I wrote about a new line of HP printers (Very  Cool HP Printer) that have their own email address. This enables users to print, from anywhere in the world, just by sending an email to their printer.  While this technology is very practical, it does raise two concerns.

1) The printer becoming a target for SPAM

2) Any scheduled delivery services offered by HP or partnering companies

The issue of SPAM might be a big one or it might not. There are U.S. laws that prohibit unsolicited ads from being sent by fax. Some presume that the same laws would cover unsolicited ads being sent to a ePrintenabled printer. But, and this is a big but, there are also laws that apply to the SPAM you receive via email. Has the amount of SPAM email been reduced? Remember, your printer will have an email address. It is a very real possibility that your printer would very soon be printing out SPAM and you’d be assuming the cost associated with the printing (ink and paper).

The second question is just a legitimized version of SPAM. If HP, or a partner company such as Yahoo!, can get you to “opt in”, they can deliver advertisements to your printer without any legal ramifications. When you opt in, it is no longer considered SPAM. It’s now legit! Keep in mind, you won’t be getting straight advertisements. You’ll be opting in to a service that delivers news and other information you wish to receive. The printed page will include advertisements along with the information you request.

Advertising, be it SPAM or not, is not the major issue here. The issue is that HP (to their credit as a business) has found a way to sell more ink cartridges. Unfortunately, in my opinion, it is a very wasteful way to sell more ink cartridges.

Think about it. The big push over the last few years has been to “go paperless”. Everyone thought there would be no need to print anything. In actuality we ended up printing more, and we were in control of what we printed.  Now we get ePrintenabled printers and we are giving up some of that control to HP and Yahoo!. Granted we still have to opt in, but we all know how that goes. Look at all the email you receive from having opted in to something that looked really good at the time. For some reason we are quick to opt in, but very slow to opt out.

Now we are opted in and HP is printing on our printer every day. Who’s paying for the ink and paper HP is using? We are!

Think about it. For as cool as this technology sounds, how much is it going to cost you? Let me know what you think. Thanks!

I came across an article written by a former HP employee. It contains some “company secrets”. The kind that make the company look like they are working against the consumer. Keep in mind these have not been substantiated, so take them for what you think they are worth.

SECRET #1: HP printers have a built in page count. When the page count number is hit, the printer will no longer work. There is part of your printer, mostly the laser printers, called the image kit or drum kit. Replacement kits are very expensive and it is often cheaper to buy a new printer than it is to replace the image or drum kit.  In my experience, this “secret” is somewhat true. The printer does not have a page count, but the image kit does. It will only yield a certain number of pages (just like your cartridge only yields a certain number of pages). Additionally, these kits are very expensive (go online and check out prices).

SECRET #2: When calling HP for support you should just say “Agent” repeatedly. I have never tried to call HP support, but I can see this being true. It’s true for every other support center you try to reach. Companies are trying to reduce expenses by getting you to deal with their automated agents (the robotic voice that never understands what you are trying to say). I’ve tested the “say agent repeatedly” theory on calls I have made to service centers. It works every time, so I can see this being true for HP as well.

SECRET #3: If a set of cartridges costs more than the printer you want to buy, don’t buy the printer. According to the former employee, HP employees are under a mandate to spend no more than 30 minutes working with you on these types of printers.  Why? Because after 30 minutes you are costing HP money.

SECRET #4: HP printer cartridges have a warranty that is separate from your printer. Makes sense to me. If you have a problem with the cartridge you should first check with the store/company you purchased it from. If you can’t get any resolution there, you should contact HP (assuming you are using a HP brand cartridge). HP will probably tell you to deal with the company you purchased the cartridge from. That is why I suggested you go to that company first.

SECRET #5: An HP printer that has been on the market for six months, or more, has its tech support outsourced. This means that you may not be dealing directly with HP when you call for support. Not that surprising as most companies have outsourced their tech support from day 1 (not waiting for the six month mark). Why should HP be any different than anyone else.

SECRET #6: IF HP support has told you that you will receive a part by a certain date, make sure you follow up if you don’t get it on that date. No surprise here, this is just common sense. If you don’t get something by the date someone promised it to you, you need to start asking some questions. Is this really a secret?

SECRET #7: Using non-HP cartridges will void your printer warranty. The truth on this is . . . If a non-HP cartridge can be proven to have directly caused damage to your printer, your printer warranty will be voided. Can’t disagree with HP on this one. If using some else’s product damages your printer, why should HP be on the hook. The former HP employee says that the second an HP support rep finds out you are using a non-HP cartridge they are very hesitant to assist you. They  may even decline to help you at all.

SECRET #8: Your HP printer can’t always use 120lb paper. Most people think that any HP printer can use 120lb paper. This might not be true. Best way to be sure it to do some research on the printer you have, or want to buy. The specs provided online, or in the user manual, are accurate.

SECRET #9: If your printer is out of warranty, you should call HP anyway. That’s right, give them a call. Despite your warranty situation, they will still provide you with assistance. Be ready for limited assistance, and to be proactive, but they will help.

SECRET #10: If you threaten a lawsuit, HP reps are instructed to immediately terminate the call. Don’t get all crazy on the support rep you are working with, remember they are often a minimum wage employee trying to do the best job they can within the rules they have been given. Honestly, they just want to get you off the phone as quickly as possible. You can ask for a supervisor, but if you think a lawsuit is they way to go, calmly ask for contact information for their legal department. Once you have that you can pursue any legal actions you with to take.

So, what do you think of these “secrets”? I was a little under impressed. Let’s face it, no former HP employee is going to give the real inside story. The legal ramifications would be severe, non-disclosure agreement or not. Take a minute and let me know your thoughts. Thanks!

What’s up with our coupon codes this month? Well, we decided to make things a little more interesting. The coupon codes being used this month correspond with a event that happened in world history, be it big or small,  on the same day the code was released.

For those interested, here are the answers.

DOLLAR: July 6, 1785 – The dollar is unanimously chosen as the monetary unit for the United States.

HOLLYWOOD: July 13, 1923 – The Hollywood Sign is officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles.

OLYMPICS: July 20, 1968 – Special Olympics founded.

CABLE: July 27, 1866 – The Atlantic Cable is successfully completed, allowing transatlantic telegraph communication for the first time.

How many were you able to figure out before taking a peek at the answers?