The estimated running cost of an Epon Wide Format Printer (after Epson's price increase of around 33% during the year 2008)
note: please keep in mind, these calulations can only be estimates!
In a print the ink coverage and desities can make a significant difference:
Printing an image with hardly any dark area's or an image with solid black in a complete print can make a massive diffference.
Cost of Epson ink in a 220ml cartridge: Our webprice around £ 61 per cartridge + VAT + Shipping.
This works out around £ 0.27 / ml
The ink cost of an A4 Print using an Epson 4880 + Epson ink / 220ml cartridge estimate: £ 0.27
The ink cost of an A3 Print using an Epson 4880 + Epson ink / 220ml cartridge estimate: £ 0.54
The ink cost of an A2 Print using an Epson 4880 + Epson ink / 220ml cartridge estimate: £ 1.08
The ink cost of an A1 Print using an Epson 4880 + Epson ink / 220ml cartridge estimate: £ 2.16
Epson's own estimate is more specified:
Epson 7800 220ml printing on Gloss Paper at 720 dpi / A1 size: £ 1.41 per print.
using a 110ml cartridge instead and the cost goes up to £ 1.70 per A1 print.
again, it's all depending on the type of image in the first place, printer and paper being used.
It seems that the ink for bigger printers is not only cheaper per ml, but these printers seem to be also more efficient.
The cost of a FujiFilm Gloss Paper:
The cost of Gloss paper A4 £ 0.44
The cost of Gloss paper A3 £0.88
The cost of Gloss paper A2 £ 1.76
The cost of Gloss paper A1 £ 3.52
The cost of a Hahnemuhle (Mould made) texttured Fine Art paper:
The cost of Gloss paper A4 £ 1
The cost of Gloss paper A3 £2
The cost of Gloss paper A2 £ 4
The cost of Gloss paper A1 £ 8
Of couse, these prices are all an rough indication, since our webprice might vary and certain gloss and fine art paper brands are cheaper than others.
The (estimated) running costs of an Epson Printer using either genuine Epson ink or a third Party Ink.
(These calculations are based on Prices before Epson raised their prices around 33% during the year 2008!)
An Epson 2400 A4 print using Epson ink will cost at least £ 0.83, but very often ink in cartridges is not fully being used, so the cost could rise to £ 1 per A4 print. (Calculations based on not more than 10ml used in each cartridge)
The ink cost of an A4 Print using an Epson 2400 + Epson ink estimate: £ 0.83
The ink cost of an A4 Print using an Epson 3800 + Epson ink estimate: £ 0.34
The ink cost of an A4 Print using an Epson 4880 + Epson ink / 220ml cartridge estimate: £ 0.20
The ink cost of an A4 Print using an Epson 4880 + Epson ink / 110ml cartridge estimate: £ 0.26
The ink cost of an A4 Print using an Epson 2400/ 3800/4880 using third party ink (like Lyson) in 125ml bottles: £ 0.20
The ink cost of an A4 Print using an Epson 2400/ 3800/4880 using third party ink (like Lyson) in 1 Ltr. bottles: £ 0.09
Here you can see that using an Epson 2400 + Epson ink is rediculous expensive.
I estimate that with making around 700 A4 prints on an Epson 3800, you would have earned back the extra cost of the printer 1382 A4 prints on an Epson 4880,
you would have earned back the extra cost of the printer
268 A4 prints on an Epson 2400 for earning back the CIS system for being able to a third party (Lyson) ink in this printer.
The CIS comes with 9 bottles of 60 ml each filled with ink, which gives you an estimated 540 A4 Prints as well. (1 ml per A4)
OK, it's very clear that a third party ink is the cheapest solution, however, printer heads need more printer head cleaning sessions and there is a slightly higher risk of printer head clogging, however, Lyson is backing up the ink with a warranty and is offering the repair the printer head if it's damaged by the ink clogging the printer head.
For a University, who is not having the funds to invest in the big Wide Format printers from Epson (4880 and above), using a third party ink system will save them a lot of money.
I do tend to recommend Professionals to buy the big Wide Format printers from Epson (using Epson ink) instead of using a small Epson 2400 with a CIS system purely out of 2 reliability considerations:
1. The bigger printers are better build and come with a 1 year onsite warranty.
2. We might have less clogging issues with Epson ink, although, Epson/HP/Canon are not 100% free from problems either.
Any product on the market could perform from time to time some minor problems.
