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Buying Guide: Printers: Their Prices Are Insane
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- Printers: Their Prices Are Insane
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Although you can get a printer essentially for free today, spend a few more bucks to get the Canon Pixma iP1600.
Back in the mid-eighties, a hyperexpressive character called Crazy Eddie hawked electronics on late-night TV. Along with inventing Christmas in July and touting his unbalanced mental state, he'd frequently bellow: "Our prices are so low, we're practically giving it all away!"
Nowadays, the big three ink jet–printer vendors seem to be channeling the spirit of Crazy Eddie. Canon, HP, and Lexmark each offer ink jet printers for less than $50—with some as low as $30. But what's really crazy is that the ink jet cartridges included in each box cost nearly as much as the printer itself. It's as if you get a free printer with every set of cartridges you buy.
Two of the printers I found, the Lexmark Z611 and the HP Deskjet 3740, come with just a color cartridge, even though both will need a black one to print text. The Canon unit comes with both cartridges in the box—a plus for most users.
The Z611 cost just $30 at Target and was for sale for as low as $24 at shop.pcmag.com. The lowest price I found for a replacement color cartridge was $23 at CompUSA. The HP Deskjet 3740 was a bit more expensive: $29 at CompUSA and $27 at shop.pcmag.com. The color cartridge was a bit cheaper—just $22 at Best Buy, CompUSA, and Circuit City. Black cartridges for both cost around $22.
The new Canon Pixma iP1600 costs a bit more, probably because it includes both black and color cartridges. Circuit City and CompUSA both promised a Pixma for $50, while $45 was the best online price I could find. Replacing the bundled cartridges will set you back $45 everywhere I checked.
Aren't these prices insane? Subtract the cost of the cartridges and the Lexmark printer costs a buck; the Canon and HP models, a fiver each. —Continue Reading