There is finally some data on the page yields of the new Kodak inkjet cartridges. Here is what we found.

Kodak contacted Quality Logic, a provider of leading edge quality assurance and quality control test tools for the imaging industry. Quality Logic partners with leading technology firms and standards organizations to develop their testing protocols.

With Kodak’s permission, Quality logic put their EASYSHARE 5300 printer to the test against the printers of 5 other manufacturers (Brother MFC-5460CN, Canon PIXMA MP160, PIXMA MP510, PIXMA MP600, PIXMA MP810, Epson Stylus CX6000, Stylus Photo RX580, HP PhotoSmart C3180, PhotoSmart C4180, PhotoSmart C5180, Lexmark X3470, X8350). Here is what the test included:

• Use of a standard suite of 5 pages printed in a controlled environment with printer default settings.
• Nine cartridges from each of the printers was tested. Cartridges were used until they ran out of ink.
• The cartridges used represented those available to consumers on the open market.
• A well defined “out of ink” criterion was developed to determine when they could deem the cartridge as out of ink.
• A minimum of 3 different cartridges were tested on 3 different printers.
• The printing environment was controlled.

What did they find out? Results were quite interesting, and the Kodak printers performed right in line with all the other printers it was tested against. Take look at the full results when you have a few minutes.

As a note of interest, the HP printers did not perform as well against the Kodak as all the Brother, Canon, Epson, and Lexmark printers did. We’re wondering if this has something to do with all the noise they are making with the re-pricing of their cartridges. Let Pacific Ink know what you think?

HP and Kodak have introduced plans to save you some money on printer cartridges, but the immediate savings they offer might just cost you more in the long run — Cheaper ink cartridges aren’t really that much cheaper.

How is this possible you ask? The cartridge you were paying $30 for now only costs $15. What a bargain!

Not really, make sure to check just how much ink is inside that $15 cartridge.

Less ink in your cartridge means a lower cartridge price, but it also means a higher, or at least the same, cost per page when you actually get down to printing. In some cases you can also expect to pay more for the printer that uses these cartridges. Now you are left with a higher price tag on your printer and going through printer cartridges a lot quicker than you used to. All this from an idea that initially sounded as thought it would save you some money. Sorry.

Late last month HP unveiled their new black and color ink cartridges (we had something to say about that) priced at $14.99 and $17.99. These prices were lower than their previous $19.99 and $24.99 price points. In February 2007 both Kodak and Canon unveiled their less expensive printer cartridges. Kodak, new to the printer cartridge market, priced their cartridges at $9.99 and $14.99. Canon priced theirs at $15.99 and $19.99 (down from $19.99 and $24.99).

Some analysis of these new cartridges showed they contained less ink than those purchased at the old, higher price. Our friends at LYRA Research did some comparisons. One comparison showed that the older, higher priced HP cartridge contained 11ml of ink. The new, lower priced cartridge contained just 4.5ml of ink. As a result, the price per printed page goes up to 7.5 cents from 4.4 cents.

The same was true for Canon. Their new black cartridge contains 11ml of ink while their old cartridge contained 16ml of ink. Price per page goes up to 6.7 cents from 5.6 cents. The new color cartridges contain 9ml of ink (versus 12ml in the old). You’ll now spend an additional 1.7 cents per page.

And, what about Kodak? At this point all we know is that their printers cost more. About $50 more than the comparable printers made by HP and Canon. They have yet to release the amount of ink within their cartridges.

Just make sure you watch what you are buying. The price may look good, but check the amount of ink in the cartridge. Here’s a shameless Pacific Ink plug: Our remanufactured cartridges are filled to capacity and are priced to save you money. Give them a try!

The Canon PIXMA iP4300 Photo Printer has been receiving great reviews at Amazon.com (4.75 starts out of 5). CNET gives it their Very Good rating (7.6 out of 10), and one single Yahoo! user has rated the printer 5 starts (out of 5).

Here is the Canon’s description of the iP4300:

PIXMA iP4300 is one fast, versatile photo printer. Thanks to its patented print head and 5-color ink system, you can quickly produce spectacular, long-lasting photos with borderless edges - from credit-card size up to 8.5″ x 11″ - along with bold, laser-quality text. The two paper trays let you hold both plain and photo paper, so you’re always ready to print text or photos. And for convenience, you can print 2 sided without manually flipping over the page!

Features include:

• Exceptional Resolution: 3,584 precision nozzles create exceptional resolution—up to 9600 x 2400 color dpi (More nozzles = higher quality).
• Exceptional detail: Microscopic 1-picoliter sized ink droplets produce exceptionally detailed photos.
• Click-Connect-Print: Just capture an image with a PictBridge-ready digital camera/DV camcorder, then connect and print.
• Print 2 sided: Print 2 sided–and save paper.
• Long-lasting photos: Using select genuine Canon inks and photo papers, you can create beautiful photos that last up to 100 years.2
• Vivid color, bold text: Four dye-based inks plus a pigment-based black ink deliver superb photos and laser-quality text.
• Enhance Your Digital Photos: Easy-PhotoPrint 3.5 software makes it simple to enhance and print amazing-looking digital photos through your computer.
• Smart software, better results: Easy-WebPrint software gives Windows users the tools to properly print Web Pages in full color and without trimming off the right-hand margin.

So, what are the iP4300 users saying?

• Print head and 5 ink tanks installed very easily.
• Setup was easy enough, but the quick setup photos on the instructions took an extra look or two to figure out what they were showing.
• I printed out and 8×10 photo on Canon’s Photo Paper Plus Glossy and it looked perfect! No banding, incorrect colors or any flaws whatsoever.
• I would recommend it to anyone looking for a cheap printer which gives great results.
• The instructions for installation were clear and precise.
• My printer gives me top quality color photos as well as crisp black and white copy, and the speed of the printer is commensurate with my needs.
• The HP 8250xi has truer colors.
• The photo printing program is dedicated to a Canon printer ONLY. Once the choices have been made for which photos are to be printed, THATS IT. You cannot choose any other printer but the Canon.
• The duplex printing feature is worth the price of the printer.
• When the printer is used often (daily at least) the prints are very good. If the printer is left off for even a couple of days, what should be a red color begins as sort of a rust color.

Overall, it sounds as though Canon has produced another low priced, great printing printer. Users are happy with its price and performance.

Let us know what you think.

Anyone hear that big cheer?

You didn’t? How could you miss the celebration? We celebrated. Well, not really.

Epson has released their new Micro Piezo print heads. Let’s all take a moment to honor the old Micro Piezo and embrace the new.

Here are some tidbits from a Q&A between Lexmark executives and financial analysts.

The purpose of the conversation was to discuss company earnings. Executives also discussed future plans to help bring earnings back up — They have been a little low by shareholder standards as of late. Here are some topics covered.

Cartridge Return Program:
Lexmark recently expanded its cartridge return program (or Prebate program). The program, they claim, will offer more choices to consumers. It offers an immediate $4 discount on cartridges you are purchasing if you agree to send them back when they run out of ink. This is Lexmark’s attempt to prevent customers from getting their empty cartridges refilled elsewhere, or recycling them elsewhere. As a safeguard these cartridges come with a chip that will not allow the cartridge to print if it has been refilled rather than returned to Lexmark. Pretty sneaky, Lexmark!

Lexmark also mentioned the possibility of a two tiered cartridge pricing program. This is something they currently do with their laser toner cartridges. Customers have the choice of buying the more expensive “new” cartridge, or a lesser priced remanufactured cartridge that has been remanufactured from cartridges that have been returned through the return program.

Memjet Technology:
When asked about the new Memjet Printer Lexmark executives played down the technology and said they did not see such technology impacting their sales. They gave two reasons:

• The Memjet technology has yet to be commercialized, meaning it has not been prepared to be made available to the general public. Silverbrook Research, the maker of the Memjet, has not released any sort of time line as to when this might happen.
• Lexmark estimates that Memjet printers will be expensive, and not compete in the price category as Lexark does.

Interesting stuff.

Robin Raskin, a Yahoo! tech advisor, wrote an interesting article on Kodak inkjet printers and their claim to save consumers 50% on their printer cartridge costs.

You can read the full story, but here is the short of it.

Kodak has been selling inkjet cartridges at $10 (black) and $15 (color), about 50% less than other printer manufacturers are selling their black and color printer cartridges for. They also claimed that based on these prices a home printer user could produce 4×6 color photos at a cost of 14 cents each.

Popular Photography took these numbers and put them to the test. Their finding: To get the quality photo that Kodak claimed you would you needed to purchase their more expensive photo paper. This brought the price of each photo to 35 cents. Kodak quickly responded that their printers and inks were “created to serve the needs of households that print large quantities of black and white and color documents in addition to color photos.” The Kodak series of printers were not designed to be exclusively photo printers.

In the end, Raskin said she liked the printer, and felt she was saving money. Pacific Ink wants to know what you think?