Lower costs at no sacrifice in quality! With a refillable tank and ink bottle system in place instead of the more expensive ink cartridges, Ink Tank Printers (Continuous Ink Printer) have proven themselves one of the more affordable options in printing— both at home and at the office.
How do Ink Tank Printers work?
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Ink Tank Printers work pretty much how you would expect a regular Inkjet Printer would work. When it comes to utility and printing features, the Ink Tank Printer isn’t all that different. The difference between them lies in their technical aspects.
Continuous Ink System
Ink Tank Printers operate on a continuous ink supply system, where instead of relying on ink cartridges to print ink onto paper, they make use of an ink tank, hence the name. Imagine a car having replaceable gas cartridges as the norm. You’d have to take out the cartridge and replace it whenever it runs out, an incredible hassle. Plus, the cost of the cartridge itself is included in the total of what you pay every time.
Now, although a printer is much smaller than the car mentioned above, it’s a hassle all the same. The ink tank offers its user the same convenience a driver would have when needing to refill a gas tank; ink stations don’t exist for printers, but ink bottles do. Whenever your printer’s ink is running low, you just have to fill it up with the proper amount of ink from the bottle. It’s an easy process
You no longer have to deal with the cumbersome dismounting and installation of ink cartridges, and you would pay less for ink bottles than you do for ink cartridges, valuewise.
Benefits of an Ink Tank System
Aside from what was already mentioned— since the ink tank of an Ink Tank Printer doesn’t have an built-in print head, and works by delivering ink directly into the printer via an airtight tube; the ink will have difficulty drying up when not in use, which is a positive outcome for the consumer. And although the possibility of the ink drying up still exists, it won’t be as problematic as it is with regular Inkjet Printers.
Ink Tank Printers use ink bottles rather than brand name ink cartridges. Ink bottles stand to be more economical for mass printing uses. With a higher capacity for ink, they offer a better ratio of printing cost per page compared to ink cartridges.
Is the higher price tag worth it?
Comparing the prices, at first glance it would seem that a regular Inkjet Printer would cost less than an Continuous Ink Printer, and that holds true; but the lower operating costs of an Ink Tank Printer becomes more evident when it is used to regularly print a lot of documents.
Invest early, save more money in the long run.
Is an Ink Tank Printer suitable for home use?
While Ink Tank Printers thrive in office or business environments where they experience heavy usage— printing mass amounts of documents on a daily basis— Whether they are suited for your home office or not depends on how much work load you plan on utilizing them for.
If you plan on printing a few documents only once or twice a week, and leaving your printer idle for the rest of the time— It is suggested that you consider buying a Laser Printer, as it uses toner instead of ink, which won’t dry up if it isn’t used often.
Otherwise, the Ink Tank Printer is the ideal printer for daily printing. Or if you simply find it a hassle to deal with ink cartridges on an Inkjet Printer, then why not go for the ink tank?