Poor quality acetates on Epson SX535 Printer

[Geaney]

The traditional business model for consumer inkjets is that the user will replace the printer about every three years. In general if you printer last significantly longer than that you're lucky. The model assumes that your consumption of ink will generate the required minimum profit. No manufacturer makes any money on the printer itself. Since consumers tend to print less and less these days the model is breaking down and as you may have read, Lexmark just existed the consumer printer business. I doubt they will be the last. I believe Kodak have filed for Chapter 11 in the US so that's another source likely to disappear very soon.

Personally I'd prefer to pay a decent price for a decent printer and an appropriate price for the ink. Unfortunately your 'average' consumer will assume a printer for £120 is a better deal than one for £150 and doesn't consider the total cost of ownership.

I've currently got a HP Photosmart 51xx (an all rounder) and a baby Photosmart 470 just for printing photos. Both are about two years old and I've no complaints so far - other than the cost of the ink

It's not just printers either - I was chatting with a bloke who works for a large 'Nordic' mobile phone maker and he explained that their research shows the average punter replaces their phone every 18 months - so they design them to last that long!

Cheers, John