And like a typical inkjet printer, the ink cartridges will cost a fortune, claim it is empty even if there is still ink inside, and dry out if you don't use it for a few weeks.

Besides the Massachusetts bit, I like how there are half a dozen Sherlock Holmes and an Elvis in a room lined with inkjet printed paintings waiting to be spanked by masked paramilitary. I dare anyone not to enjoy that.

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Well, honestly, I have yet to run out of toner, I was just being sarcastic.

I also 100% promote lasers over inkjets. When you run out of toner, the cartridge is pretty much empty. Also, if you're like me and print something once every 2 or 3 blue moons, toner is already dry, and stays completely useful 10x longer than ink.

There are a few types that can make metal. They both use a powdered metal and are fairly slow. It has to rake the powder across the top each time as it lowers the printed object. The one in this video is bonding the metal with heat via the laser. The other type I've seen uses a inkjet print head to spray a bonding agent, but then it needs to be fired like pottery to be finished.

The tank mods are added by retailers and print shops. You're right about how the system works -- the lines run from the big tanks and are inserted through a hole drilled into the carts small reservoir.

One issue with that is that most cartridges have a software page count that is used to tell you that the ink is running low / empty after a certain number of prints. So, along with the tank install, most shops will put in an aftermarket chip or PCB that resets or bypasses that counter.

For the other question, I think that Thailand still relies on printed documents more than in the US, but it is going down. I undoubtedly have a somewhat skewed opinion on things since I am a teacher, though. I teach 18 different classes of roughly 40 kids once a week, with a worksheet or some other printout being used nearly every week -- so I probably burn 700+ pages each week through my school's copy machines. Then I teach smaller private classes at home, with maybe 100 or so pages a week on my own printer(s). I have one inkjet with those tanks installed, 2 mono lasers, and 1 color laser... So yeah, I probably am a much heavier user of printed stuff than your average person.

Photos and graphics account for a small percentage of pages printed. The vast majority (I'd wager close to 80 or 90%) are businesses and governments printing documents.

Which still leaves a problem. He seems to have designed this for inkjets, and anyone doing a lot of printing almost certainly uses a laser printer.

Also yeah, the on screen readability isn't great. The answer is ultimately not to print at all.

I think I'd have to see it in actual printed form to judge the readability accurately.

BUT, in terms of readability on a display, like the 40" 1920x1080 LCD I'm watching on ... it is quite poor in my opinion. I have a feeling that it would work much better in ink on paper.

33% ink savings sounds pretty good, assuming that the readability on paper is better than a display. That being said, encouraging printer manufacturers to have a more sane approach to refillable ink/toner reservoirs would have a better/bigger impact.

Here in Thailand, where respect for patents / IP is low, (SE Asia is notorious for fake manufactured goods, pirated "soft" media, and hardware hacks / bypasses) I'd guess that around 90% of inkjet printers sold have a tank system glued onto the side with ink lines running into the cartridges from big CYMK reservoirs. I never buy new cartridges unless the print head gets damaged/worn out -- instead, I just buy cheap LARGE bottles of the different ink colors and refill the reservoirs. (Image link of such a setup HERE)

That kind of mod would be a gray or black-market item in the West, but here the laissez-faire attitude about such things has some positive effects. At least, for a consumer (like me), or someone concerned about the environmental impact of all the waste packaging for ink carts (like the dude in this video).

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> soon to be replaced by 3D printed lost wax casting

In 2026, the first molten metal inkjet with > 500 dpi spatial resolution is created. Metals are transported as tiny balls and then fused with high power photonics. No matter what is created, it ends up as a single crystal of metal.

>> ^Payback:

>> ^raverman:
Many printers now have the obsolescence blatantly built in to the ink cartridges.
To stop recycling and reuse, the cartridge is programmed to short circuit and fuse it's control chip if it passes a level approaching empty.
Other manufacturers do it at the driver level, when the cartridge is empty it sets a value to lock the printer unless a new branded cartridge is used.
DRM for digital media has a logical argument at least. But why is there not a class action law suit against this deliberate sabotage of a product after purchase?

With even colour laser printers (decent ones too) in the range of sub-$200 why would ANYONE buy an ink printer anyway? Laser toner doesn't dry out. As a matter of fact, the drier it is, the better.


Because they want to print photos. And because doing so with a laser printer requires specialist laser photo paper rather than the easily available inkjet photo paper.

I'm not trying to defend the ridiculous $30 for a printer, $90 for the ink crap that the inkjet printers have going, just saying why people would. I hate blanket statements like yours.

I despise Canon Pixma with a fervent, seething passion. I won't fall for their corporate art. They didn't invent paint + sound sculptures. Just using them to promote their crappy printers and brand.

The pixma inkjet printer typically has 5 cartridges, two of which are blacks. If just one runs out, including the extra black you're not using, it stops working altogether. When I say it stops working I don't mean it just stops printing, the fax machine and scanner become defunct as well.

And by "run out" I mean half the ink cartridge still has ink in it. And because of the microchip they place in them, you can't reinstall the same cartridge in the hopes of fooling it. And they run about $50 a pop. I don't want to go off on a rant here, but...

Neat trick. It seems the printer uses some kind of optical sensor to check the toner level.
Too bad most printers use an electronic chip in the cartridge that counts how much you've printed and just stop working after x number of pages or x mg of toner/ink, obviously the printer refuses to print anything if you just tape over the connectors on those.

The best advice for anyone looking for a new printer: find an old printer with replaceable print heads (for ink) or drum (laser). Printer technology hasn't advanced much in the last 10-15 years. Just make sure there are drivers available for it.

@Morganth: It's not that the printers have inadequate cooling and need the ink for cooling. Most inkjet printers work by heating tiny ink-filled tubes (there's usually over 100 in the print head), instantly vaporizing the ink, forming a bubble that shoots a tiny drop of ink out of the tube and then pulls more ink into the tube from the other side. If there's no ink to vaporize the tube could overheat or more probably whatever ink is left dries up and clogs up the print head. If you put a heatsink on the heating elements the printer just wouldn't work.