Replaced my defective 10 year old Stylus Photo 700 with a brand new Stylus Photo PX720WD in January this year.

Now the black cartridge on the new machine is showing it needs replacement, whilst Cyan and light Cyan are at a quarter full with the rest of the cartridges at half full.

The printer came with standard cartridges installed and I have had the default print settings at "Text2 since new.

To my knowledge I've printed no more than 3 x A4 colour photos, 6 x A6 colour photos and less than 50 pages of text.

Usuage of ink seems a bit heavy given the following spec for cartridge life:-

Ink Cartridge Code

Colour

Page Yield

T0801 (standard life, this cartridge down to T0802-6)

Black

Approx. 330 pages

T0802

Cyan

Approx. 855 pages

T0803

Magenta

Approx. 435 pages

T0804

Yellow

Approx. 620 pages

TO805

Light Cyan

Approx. 330 pages

T0806

Light Magenta

Approx. 620 pages

T0802-6

Composite

Approx. 510 pages

Also available

Ink Cartridge Code

Colour

Page Yield

T0791 (long-Life, this cartridge and below)

Black

Approx. 520 pages

T0792

Cyan

Approx. 1345 pages

T0793

Magenta

Approx. 685 pages

T0794

Yellow

Approx. 975 pages

T0795

Light Cyan

Approx. 520 pages

T0796

Light Magenta

Approx. 975 pages

T0792-6

Composite

Approx. 805 pages

I have had words with Epson tech support (Below), but apart from setting it to draft, no other suggestions available:-

15:09:24 : Nick: Initial Question/Comment: Question 1:Is it possible to use standard and long-life cartridges in the Stylus Photo PX720WD at the same time ? Or do they have to be all standard or all long-life at any one point in time ?Question2:If there an ink saving mode. If so, how do you activa

15:09:29 : Jack ******** has joined this session!

15:09:29 : Connected with Jack ********. Your reference number for this chat session is *******.

15:09:34 : Jack ********: Thank you for contacting Epson’s UK Customer Interaction Centre. My name is Jack ********

15:09:34 : Jack ********: Hi Nick.

15:10:23 : Nick: Hello Jack.

15:10:44 : ********: You can use both large and medium capacity inks at the same time, they do not have to be the same capacity.

15:11:19 : Nick: Great !

15:12:04 : Jack ********: To save ink you can change the print quality to draft which will save on ink used.

15:12:27 : Nick: OK.

15:13:09 : Jack ********: Is there anything else I may help with?

15:14:27 : Jack ********: We have had no response from you. If you still require assistance, please confirm by entering text and pressing your enter key to send your response to us.

15:14:32 : Nick: Yes. One last question. Is it possible on this machine to activate it so that black print is produced using other colours ?

15:15:14 : Jack ********: As a rule, black will be a mix of primarily the black ink and a mixture of the other colours, if the black is low it will use more colour ink than black. You can also set the printer to print black ink only.

15:17:35 : Nick: The on-line manual says that you should be able to manually set-up the printer through the Epson manager menu to print black using other colours exclusively ? I tried looking for the menu page but couldn't find it . Do you know where it is in the menu structure ?

15:18:29 : Jack ********: This is a standard Nick, the printer as a colour printer will be printing black as a combination of all of the colours.

15:19:20 : Nick: I take it that's no-go on my idea then ?

15:20:04 : Jack ********: The printer will always use black to print black Nick, you cannot exclusively set this to colours only.

15:20:40 : Nick: Fine. That's all my questions answered.

15:20:54 : Jack ********: Thank you for using EPSON e-Talk. If you require further assistance please reconnect to http://www.epson.co.uk/contact-us. Lines are open 9am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm Saturday, 10am to 5pm Sunday

15:20:54 : Jack ******** has left this session!

15:20:54 : The session has ended!

Any ideas whether the usuage described above on my machine is normal - on the previous Photo 700 a single combined cartridge would last a year and cost £22-25. The separate catridges (x 6) on the new one cost £11 each !! Ouch !

Do the new machines do a jet cleaning routine each time they close down ? Seems like it from the time it takes to shut-off and the noises that are made. I suppose if this is the case, that type of procedure will penalise frequent, short-session use in terms of ink consumption, as well as filling-up the waste ink tank quickly.

Nick

Edited 29 April, 201115 yr by Clunkclick

The cartridges that come with the printer are probably not full capacity. The best way to keep costs down is to get compatible cartridges off Amazon or Ebay.

Secondly leave the printer on as switching off and on will recharge the print heads everytime using ink.

Thridly if you print a lot, get a laser printer or even a colour laser. You can pick up a Dell Colour laser for £133 - http://www.ijtdirect.co.uk/?sct=dell1320cn My friend has one and the cartridges last about 2000 pages and can be picked up for £4 each.

3 x A4 photos will use up quite a bit of ink i imagine, depending of your settings of course. My Epsom printer seems about average for it's ink usage (I use the small Cheetah cartridges). I noticed that with my earlier Lexmark printers, they seemed to come with a 'starter' ink cartridge and didn't lat very long, but my Epsom ones seemed to be pretty normal is capacity when I first used them.

new printer tend to be suppliede with very little ink in the cartridges - its a trick common to many manufactures to be able to sell the printer cheap then make money back on the cartridges.

The cartridges that come with the printer are probably not full capacity. The best way to keep costs down is to get compatible cartridges off Amazon or Ebay.

Secondly leave the printer on as switching off and on will recharge the print heads everytime using ink.

Thridly if you print a lot, get a laser printer or even a colour laser. You can pick up a Dell Colour laser for £133 - http://www.ijtdirect...?sct=dell1320cn My friend has one and the cartridges last about 2000 pages and can be picked up for £4 each.

I work in retail and I wouldn't recommend using compatible ink's on printers still in manufacturers warranty as it will void it and the manufacturer will refuse to fix in most cases, as it's in their T&C's. Also you risk blocking the print head when using compatibles, especially on Epson's as their ink is finer than most manufacturers. Epson printers receive print head updates from Epson.

I work in retail and I wouldn't recommend using compatible ink's on printers still in manufacturers warranty as it will void it and the manufacturer will refuse to fix in most cases, as it's in their T&C's. Also you risk blocking the print head when using compatibles, especially on Epson's as their ink is finer than most manufacturers. Epson printers receive print head updates from Epson.

Thats exactly what happened to my penny pinching Dad and his Epsom printer :(

I work in retail and I wouldn't recommend using compatible ink's on printers still in manufacturers warranty as it will void it and the manufacturer will refuse to fix in most cases, as it's in their T&C's. Also you risk blocking the print head when using compatibles, especially on Epson's as their ink is finer than most manufacturers. Epson printers receive print head updates from Epson.

Well i just bought an EpsoN printer for someone and the original carts are £34 for a set or £12 for 3 sets from Amazon for the compats. Bearing in mind that the printer cost £40 and after 3 sets of cartridges you have saved the cost of 2 and a bit printers so why worry about the warranty.

I also know 2 people that actually work at Epson and they both use Compats in their printers

I work in retail and I wouldn't recommend using compatible ink's on printers still in manufacturers warranty as it will void it and the manufacturer will refuse to fix in most cases, as it's in their T&C's. Also you risk blocking the print head when using compatibles, especially on Epson's as their ink is finer than most manufacturers. Epson printers receive print head updates from Epson.

Are the heads not part of the cartridge as with other makes of printer on Epsons?

Have always been told by friends Epsons are ink hungry which is why I've always avoided.

And as has been said, although the cartridge has a number on it which specs say give x pages, no one supplies full cartridges with new printers. Either you find they weigh much less than should do, or have been weighted so they are heavier when empty than they should be.

Are the heads not part of the cartridge as with other makes of printer on Epsons?

Have always been told by friends Epsons are ink hungry which is why I've always avoided.

And as has been said, although the cartridge has a number on it which specs say give x pages, no one supplies full cartridges with new printers. Either you find they weigh much less than should do, or have been weighted so they are heavier when empty than they should be.

Different technology with Epson ie piezo-electric metering of ink, similar technology to the beating of the crystal in a Sieko watch which is part of their compant group.

Do not think Epsons are heavier ink users than any other and you can get individual color cartridges.

To be honest I stop bothering with ink jets years ago and use colour lasers through the house. Samsung make the CLP range which can be had for £100 sometimes, have 5 times more ink, run 5-10 times faster and print is very crisp.

There may be some use for ink jets in photo piture I suppose but for reports etc I gave ink jets the heave ho and have not looked back.

Companies make little to no money on the printers and hope to make money on cartridges, originals are about half the ink of max cartridges you can buy as replacements. The chip on the Epson cartridge records how much ink is left and reports it to the utility program you get with the printer.

Edited 1 May, 201115 yr by lol

Just tried the "Draft" mode. I shouldn't have bothered. It will cost me more in opticians charges than ink saved.

Problems just the same with the Lasers we use at work.

Appalling. You'd have though by now that there would be some clever software around which enhanced "Draft" mode just sufficently enough to fool the brain into thinking that all the characters were printed in "text" mode.

Nick

Edited 1 May, 201115 yr by Clunkclick

The cartridges that come with the printer are probably not full capacity.

Epson supply a FULL set of standard ink cartridges with all of their printers. However, the first set of cartridges are used to prime the ink heads and so the initial set will not last as long as subsequent ink.

Other manufacturers vary in how much ink they give you and how their printers work.

Using draft, or fast mode will save you ink but to get the best results e.g. high quality settings or not plain paper you will use more ink. If you do not use any inkjet on a regular basis (at least 1 print per week) the printer will have sealed the heads to stop them drying out and will probably have to clean or prime them before printing.

For infrequent printing or high volumes (more than 1,000 prints per month) laser printers are a better option.

The type of paper you use makes a difference to the quality of prints and amounts of ink used. Each manufacturer makes the chemicals in their ink to bond with the different paper types in specific ways. The best printer papers are made by Ilford (yes the company who make photographic film) who specify which printers (and ink types) they should be used with.

In the same way that mobile phone companies give you a "free" phone by signing up for a certain contract printer manufacturers make their money back in part by ink sales.

It's amazing the stuff you have to learn when you are selling printers for a major brand for 6 months

Are the heads not part of the cartridge as with other makes of printer on Epsons?

Most manufactures are now starting to have separate print heads as they move towards individual cartridges.

You can still get printers that have the print head incorporated in the printer cartridge but the printers tend cheaper and the inks cost more for how long they last.

There are two types of ink jet technology, thermal and piezo electric. Epson are the only manufacturer to use piezo electric (voltage controls the ink flow) whilst everyone else uses thermal technology (a heater controls the ink flow). The print heads can be part of the cartridge or separate and this is manufacturer and model dependant. For an in depth description of the tech of ink jets see this wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ink_jet_printer

Edited 4 May, 201115 yr by hertsnminds

I'm not entirely sure, but I think Epson have changed the ink base they use over the last 10 years. The 2001 vintage Stylus photo was always clogging-up, through, I suspect occasional and under-use. This, I think, was due to the base solvent used in the inks - an ammonia variant ? The current PX720 seesm to use Urea based solvent and doesn't seem to clogg-up so frequently. That said, the current machine seems to go through far more rigorous head and pipe flusjing and cleansing routine before it shuts down.

I did consider lasers, but as I needded colour the initial cost and cost of replacement bits put me off.

Nick