UPDATE: Epson have updated their policies regarding these printers since the making of this video, and now offer a service to replace the inkpads. epson.com/Support/wa00369

Basically going from one scam to another. Well done, printer industry.

I don't understand how every single thing is getting better like laptops, phones, every other gadget and yet we still have to buy these crappy printers that are still just as awful as they were 2 decades ago!!

As far as I can tell, the ink waste pad does not have a sensor. Instead, the system calculates how much ink has been dumped into the pad. When this counter runs out, it ascertains that the pad is full and throws a fit. It will not print again until this counter is reset through their proprietary software. I was a long-time Canon printer user and have spent a ton on replacement ink cartridges. In 2021, I replaced it with an Epson EcoTank (L3150). Two years later, I'm on my 2nd black ink bottle but still on the first batch of colored inks. It has a user-serviceable ink waste pad and I was told that the service center does the reseting for free, or at most, for a little money. Suffice to say, I've never stressed on printer ink since. We just print what we need and never worry about it.

Ive just binged a load of 'inkjet vs laserjet' videos. This one is the best. Basically i found out why I don't need a printer. So much cheaper to outsource for my casual needs. Thankyou

I linked this video to my mom before watching it, since she was wondering about "Smart Tank Printers", and you came to the same conclusion that I originally tried to tell her years ago: Color Laser Printer!

Thanks a lot. I am thoroughly convinced that the inkjet printer and ink market is definitely corrupt.

There is a trick that all inkjet printers can benefit from. Print a full color page once a week to prevent the head from clogging. Most of the latest models have a replaceable ink sponge - the early models didn't. Inform yourself before you buy.

Good points, I didn't know about the ink sponge but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I like how you kept things in perspective even though it's a negative review. These printers may be low-end for a business but they are definitely a step up for the average home user. I've had an Epson ET-4760 for 3-4 years now and still have over half the ink left. My kids use it more than anybody, but when I do need it for something important it's ready to go and isn't going to run out of ink halfway through the job. That alone is worth a few extra bucks to me, letting my kids print as much as they want AND not running out of ink. We threw away 4 or 5 cheap non-functioning printers when we finally brought this tank home, that's $90-$100 a piece not counting the hundreds I've spent on cartridges. I suspect that even if one bought this for a startup business, it would more than pay for itself over the course of it's lifetime. If your business didn't make money with this thing then it's probably not the printer's fault, and if you did make money and still aren't happy with it, then it's time to invest in better equipment. That's my take on it, every tool has it's place and you should be using the right one for the job.

With regards to the sponges, even non tank printers have them and once triggered you have to have them replaced but you have to take them to a service center, assuming you have one in your town.

I noticed the sheer lack of features for the price for these tank printers; no duplex printing, no auto feeding, and slower print speeds. No nice LCD screens except for the very expensive models.

I have the Epson ET3600 and I’ve been happy with it. I don’t use it much I just print the bills and oddments. I turn off the printer when I’m not using it so it doesn’t go through a cleaning cycle. My friends don’t have printers and visit me to print and scan. Over a few years, I have just now topped up the tanks with last of the ink.

if you use printer alot and on a regular basis, those Eco tanks are absolutely worth it, it's better than anything else I have used in the past, this included a handful of color and black and white Laser printers, and a few ink jets. they are a bit more expensive compared with your cartridge printers, but we have used the provided ink for 2 years and still have another year of ink left. I have the ET 8550 and it prints beautiful A3 photos as well as documents.

if you buy it brand new and cut the reject used ink hose and fit it in a bottle outside of the printer before the first use, does it trigger the ''shut down'' mecanisim or it work perfectly ?

thank you so much can provide the best options for printing quality and eco efficiency please

I question the lack of ethics of the design engineers who make these things. Just make refillable ink cartridges that can be cleaned.

i have an epson wf2750 that i want to convert to sublimatioon and i can't find the cartridges for that, i did buy the ink thinking of getting a eco tank printer but after listening to you i have had second thoughtss soooo can you help me find the cartridges for sublimation? do you know if a cannon can be used to sublimate? i heard they don't get hot enough something to do with Pieta?

We have suffered first hand, we bought a Canon inktank printer and here is the kicker we were using it almost every day and still experienced clogs every few months! And we were also experiencing the dreaded 5B00 error meaning our waste ink sponge is full and needs to be replaced. Luckily we can temporarily bypass the error message and now we bought a new printer instead..

What would be your recommendation for an ink tank printer? I want to stay under 300. Thanks!

So glad I watched this, as I was thinking of getting an Epson Eco-Tank. I have a really old HP Deskjet that can use cartridges fast on big jobs, but I only use it occasionally. Usually I only need 1 - 5 sheets, but sometimes I need to print off an entire book of about 100 sheets. I resent the cost of the cartridges, but it looks like I am better sticking with it, given the infrequent use.

Short answer, based on ownership of a Canon Pixma G3200: absolutely, positively yes. Why is there no way to reset the ink spill counter? I replaced the absorber pads, but now I can't reset the counter to enable the printer to operate again. Major fail, very dissatisfied customer here.

Do the HP Ink Tank printers have the same issue with wasting ink on a sponge? And becoming non-user-repairable when the sponge is filled?

My current home printer is a Brother INKvestment MFC-J1215DW (a Walmart exclusive, very similar to the MFC-J1205), which cost me US$89.95 about 3 years ago. I've only had to replace the INKvestment oversized ink cartridges (Brother's alternative to the bottles used with other brands of tank printers) twice in that time, most recently about a month ago. Do your criticisms of tank printers also apply to the Brother INKvestment range?

Thank you so much for your v. informative video. I bought a canon pixima ink tank yesterday and haven’t opened it, LUCKY I found you! I will be returning it tomorrow and buying a colour laser instead. Thank you so much. I’m subscribing to give you support for your support. Thankyou🙏

I have a pixma cannon inktank. Paid $120, ink is $20 for all 4 colours. Printed 7000 pages already, no hassles. Have only had to top up once so far.

In my experience, Epson tank printers have this issue but Canon tank printers don't. The heads on Canon printers don't clog up as much as Epson, and when they do, just one cleaning cycle fixes the problem, whereas Epson printers can require 3 to 10 cleaning cycles. Canon's ink tank printers also have user-replaceable ink sponges and print heads.

Amazing and insightful video, thanks so much!

What about the canon ones that allow you to remove the printer head and or remove the maintenance cartridges ?

Can someone suggest me which one of the two is a better choice? I am confused between brother dcp-t520w & epson l3250. I need colour printing or would have gone with the laser printer instead. TIA

Very informative and honest content. Had Canon G4000 which was expensive when I bought it, thinking this is the best cheapest solution for my casual printing. I found myself doing maintenance (flush the ink) to get decent printing. I eventually gave up after 6 years, and after paying service center a good amount of money for sponge replacement, and many DIY attempt.

Talking about document feeding. Whatever happened to chain paper (as we say in the Netherlands, but it's "continuous stationery paper" or " continuous form paper" elsewhere) ? That was the best paper feeding way ever. You could put a full box below your printer and you could seemingly forever feed your printer with paper.

I have a cannon G-3260. Should I replace the maintenance box before it goes back? Would that help?

I heard what you said about color laser printers but those have also consumables which are quite expensive: a drum, a toner , imaging kit , you name it. can you recommend an int tanker with easy home repair procedure.

Bear in mind that at least in the UK, a manufacturer's time limit on the warranty has no force in law. The product has to be free of defects when manufactured and if an inherent defect is present from the beginning, as opposed to fair wear and tear, you can claim a replacement for up to six years.

Hi from South Africa. We bought a Canon Pixma Ink Pot printer, which an out of colour ink. We ordered online, and now printer does not recognize it, sends message to purchase genuine ink only. This ink we got is generic, supposed to be compatible for our printer. Is there anything we can do with the ink, or do we need to look for the genuine product.

What are your thoughts on the Brother brand? I was told they are manufactured much more user servicable than the other big brands. Is that generally true?

Well, I once had an Inkjet Printer (HP) but was soon disappointed with it, making it so you had to buy their cartridges, so recently was thinking about an epson ET-4810 A4. Looking at and comparing the eco tanks, and luckily ran into your site. You really know your things to share with someone like me who doesn't. My thoughts have really been updated. If I need a copy of anything I will just go to the library or Walmart. Do you have any suggestions on home faxes, I can use any help you can provide. Thank you, James

On the face of your analysis, it would seem that the 2850 with Ecotank at $500 is too expensive compared to the 3100 cartridge at $99. First thing is that currently the 2850 or comparable epson tank printer is closer to $300 but is still a lot more expensive than the 3100. In actuality the 3100 is under priced based upon its performance value - ummm, wonder why? It's so you continue to buy these over priced ink cartridges which over the life ot the printer will have far exceeded what you would pay for the tank style and ink. This business model was introduced by HP... You know, you buy the printer new for not much more than a set of replacement ink cartridges. It's the same idea that a cell phone carrier will almost give you a top line smart phone for just obliging yourself to a minimum length contract that will cost you additionally the separate cost of the phone if you cancel. If you were only going to use the printer a limited amount of time, maybe the cheap printer would work out well for you but if you use it regularly it will turn out to be much more expensive replacing the cartridges. I am aware of the sponge issue but have seen this situation addressed without having to discard the printer and while the tank printers are not as ink efficient due to built in maintenance, they're still way cheaper than the cartridges. And a final comment, the 2850 model is not so much overpriced as the 3100 is under priced for as a hook, in fact, this business model could still work if they gave the printers away.

After many days of researching printers I have come to the sad, but realistic conclusion that there are no good, cost effective, consumer friendly printers in existence. I just need to print documents so I will be buying the absolute cheapest printer I can and when the ink runs out...or the printer dies, I will just throw it out and buy another one. I am done with all this ink garbage that has been going on for decades now.

As the owner of two EPSON Eco Tank Printers (A3 and A4I can say that I have run a significant number of colour prints through both my printers. They are inexpensive to run and the oldest of my printers (A4) has printed 1000's of sheets. I have purchased a service tank (just in case) but so far I haven't needed to replace the original.

Ecotank printers aren't new, Epson released them like 5 years ago. Ink tubes are in the inkjet market for 2 decades at least (HP2000C was one of the first) and pose no clogging risks in comparison with cartridges. Flush and purging is an inkjet feature since the inception of the technology itself. Cartridge-based printers are underpriced because the profit comes from the chipped cartridges. That doesn't make tank printers overpriced, just honestly priced. I can replace the ink absorbers on my Ecotank and reset the counter. Canon models offer the same option.

I' had both an Epson & a Cannon ink tank style printers. The biggest problem I've had with both is air backing up in the lines. And it's a pain to get it printing again.

If you are looking for a cheap priner buy the cartruges one and a kit to convert it into a inktank. And please buy generic color ink, is just the same thing for a fifth of a price and reuse the ink in the sponge as black one. There are many tutorials out there to make this modifications

I bought an eco tank in 2019 and have only just topped up the inks with no sign of any problems (so far)I wonder if you could squeeze out the sponge in situ leaving it still connected to the sensor before it became saturated therefore alleviating the problem.

What if I would only fill the ink at half instead of full - black & colors - would that reduce all the waste, sponges are less wet and that kind of alignment waste would be reduced?

SO GLAD I SAW THIS BEFORE I BOUGHT A EPSON ECOTANK! I was going to the store first thing in the morning to purchase one! I’ll definitely be investing in a brother laser printer now

Fascinating…thank you. What about the Brother Inkvestment?

I looked it up and a replacement waste pad for my ET-4850 is AUD12 and the licence key for software to reset the waste ink counter would be USD10. I watched videos of how easy it is to open and replace the waste pad. This "problem" is easily and cheaply solved.

I wonder if the plastic used for the transfer tubes is the most resistant to gas permeability? I suspect not, requiring more flushes or services/replacements too.. With DECADES of printer woes going back to dot matrix days I have very low expectations from printer companies.

Is it a problem with all ink tanks or just this brand ? What is your take on Brother ink tank printers, say dcp t820dw ?

Excellent video !!!! Thank you very much for the info.

I basically lucked out on a Brother J470DW which works with dirt cheap generic (not Brother) cartridges, I've had the machine for over 7 years, longer than I've had any other printer

I was about to buy one epson tank but u change my mind. thank you for review

For longevity preventing clogged is to print several times a week. Second preventing clogged is to use factory inks, using third party inks will 100% clogged the printer. It’s true about the sponge getting filled and printer will not work. To prevent this issue is to buy a ecotank printers that don’t use a sponge but one that has waste tank that is replaceable. Otherwise, in my opinion ecotank printers has worked for me for years and very little issues.

When I went to buy an ink cartridge for my Epson it was $80 at Walmart so instead for $10 I bought some black ink off of Amazon injected it myself and save $70

It depends on how you use them. What resolution are you printing the labels at? Cost per page you're better off using a color laser printer. Laser printers can sit months or more between prints without causing misprints or suffering from the same problems that an inkjet will suffer for that much time between prints. Laser printers can produce the same photo quality prints using the right kind of paper. The iColor Dye Sublimation printers would be better suited to your label printing needs. Not only does it print CMYKW for dye sublimation, florescent CMYKW, prints with metallic-looking gold and silver toner, prints with transparent toner as an overcoat / lamination layer to protect the other toner colors beneath it, transparent toner can also be used as a spot color by itself and on top of the other toner colors, plus the printer can use security toner that has a detection wand. Security toners allow you to make credentials, passes, tickets, etc that can be authenticated with the detection tool. For embellishing garments you can use a two-step process known as Direct to Film. Step one is printing the image. Step two is applying an adhesive sheet on top of the dye sublimated image. Then press it on your clam shell or swing away heat press to bind the image to the garment and activate the full color gamut of the image. iColor dye sub printers allow you to hot swap toners. Their printers have slots for 4 toner cartridges. With hot swap feature you can change between toners easily during the print job. There are also machinery for making laser printed labels with kiss cut functionality. That can wind and unwind to rolls of media at up to letter size I believe. Making it easier for you to make cheaper labels that can be used with semi-automatic to fully automatic label application machines. But if you still want to go with an inkjet printer for making your labels then use one that has pigment inks across all colors and waterfall inkjet printing capability. Pigmented inks are waterproof, fade resistant with a life span of up to 100 years before fading is seen by the naked eye, smudge proof. That Eco Tank you bought has dye based inks which have none of the features or benefits of pigment-based inks. Epson still makes those I believe. They used to market that as the DuraBright inks. Waterfall inkjet printers lay down ink faster than many high speed laser printers. These tend to be dye based printers. But I think Affinity is working on a slightly slower version that has pigmented inks. EcoTank printers from Epson is a response to CIS (Continuous Ink Supply). These are external ink tanks that run feed lines to dummy ink cartridges that always read full. There are chip puller tools that let you bypass the security chips of the manufacturer's cartridges to replace them with dummy chips. The chips on the ink cartridge doesn't link to non-existent internal sensors of the ink cartridges to determine how much ink really remains. At best they are programmed with the average number of printable pages. Possibly blind to whatever print resolutions you've been using since their initialization. So the CIS method uses little foam wedges to prop open the top of the printer allowing the external feed lines to run inside of the printer without getting pinched or snagged. Then a little riser is added to the sensor on the printer's lid to trick it into detecting a closed lid when it is pried a open a little bit. All of this was done to circumvent the ink scam you mentioned. Effectively turning a cheap decent quality printer into a continuous printing capable machine. You know how much ink is left just by looking at the external ink tanks. One per color. As the supply drops too low just unscrew the cap of the refill bottle to add more.

Thank you so much for this info!

Basicly they have a kill switch in them. I wonder if you can pull the spung out the back and just put your own spung there and it senses indefinitely that their spung is clean.

We had 2 x HP Pagewide Pro 477dw printers. We used non HP ink. One lasted 725,000 pages and the other 492,000 pages. The waste ink collector washed out in warm water every 200,000 pages. The printers cost £290 each and the ink worked out at about 1.4 pence per page. We would have 2 more but HP stopped making them :( I guess with non HP ink being so cheap they did not recover the true cost of making the printers?

Great review. I almost bought one until I saw a Canon MF753 laserjet color for $300. Any chance of a laser jet review, the good, bad of owning one?

Im looking for a new printer and came across your channel. T Y so much for this information. It was really helpful. And T Y so much for being so easy on the eyes.😉

Sadly I didn't see this video a year ago when I purchased our EcoTank. From almost day one with Epson ink we've had to clean the printhead. Now after seeing your video I know why we've had all the problems we've had.

It’s been just 3 years that I bought the Epson ink tank and now I am having printer head issues and having to buy a new one because of clogging. It was bought for kids use but we can’t be printing everyday or during holidays and breaks. The product needs to be practical.

Just got rid of an Epson tank printer that clogged after 3 years. I have a lot of ink in unopened bottles (#512). I bought a HP6001 smart tank. Does anyone know if the inks are so similar that I can use the epson ink to fill the hp printer?

There are also Continuous Ink Supply System (CISS) systems that you can retrofit to many Ink Jet printers. So you can buy a cheap Ink Jet printer and add one of these kits and get the features of the "tank" printers, with out the premium price.

Thank you so much for this. I was about to try one as I've got two dead injet printers, but now I'm informed. I'll keep searching for a color printer, as I have since my Amiga's thermal printer days. Some technology hasn't marched forward much at the consumer level.

You are correct to state one should stay alert. You can't decently print quality photographs on a laser printer, though. I think one should have a deeper look at the scam of printer cartridges, control chips, and deskjet printer good practices. Everything starts to fall apart once people messes with cheap photo paper and inks, or leaves their inkjet printer lie unused for months. I still feel a lot more at ease with a modern ecotank printer. You should also compare the technology of more recent *tank printers with older ones. What would you say about the ET-8500 and ET-8550?

I have learned to be content with a basic laser, solved all my inkjet cartridge and ink bleeding issues, very few things need need color anyway.

How about changing the sponge before it triggers the sensor?

I just replaced the ink sponge and, after an unsatisfying exchange with Epson (service centers are 300 and 700 km away from us, despite us being close to a major city), I found a $10 utility from a 3rd party in the UK that hacks the firmware to reset the ink counter. We print in batches, with long gaps between, and find we have to clean the printer often, even if it has been idle for only a day or two. This should be a user-servicable item, with a menu-driven reset. Epson has lost my respect.

So what type of Printer do you recommend for just home use?

Thank you for the heads up! I think we're going color laser instead.

I bought a Canon G6020 in July 2020 for $300.00. The copy/print count is now 16,950. It's a home printer just for my wife and I. So far there have not been any problems. I've used about 13 bottles of ink total. The ink is cheap enough so I only buy Canon ink rather than the the cheaper ink. I've had great success with Canon and have not used any other brand in a very long time. When I need another printer, I will look at the LED lasers primarily for printing speed. If I'm satisfied with my research, I'll get one. If not, I won't hesitate to buy another Canon MegaTank.

I have experience with only one of this type of printers, my mother's (€250) 6 liquid ink Canon PIXMA G650. It is 3 years old and very seldom used so the nozzles got clogged with dry ink. Purchased a €11 bottle of printerhead cleaner, got the printer heads out and flushed each channel, then did an ink flush and it is as good as new. Eventually the waste tank will fill up but it is €10 to OEM replace and has a chip that resets the counter. I still find it better value for money than many other printers I have had and will probably be buying one to replace my Epson 8 ink photo printer, just my 2 cents

Is there a way to refill cartridges with the manufacturer's ink bottles then reset the chip? Only print 2-3 pages once a week but the cartridges cost more than the bottles!

Thank you for this information.

So I have to ask, why not just put a tank in there instead of a sponge? User serviceable, easy solution. Or was extorsion the original goal?

I resetted my Epson L360 waste sponge/ink counter to remove the error warning and replace the sponge twice in span of 5 years, its still working now.

Sir here in the US they are $300 USD. 1 year has passed do you feel the same way?

Wouldn't it be better if the ink supply system was more like a diesel fuel pump system with a loop that is constantly flowing when it is running? I think they are setup like that for a similar reason, constantly running diesel through the filter and preventing deposits building up.

i am using brother dcp t720 foo almost a year. can u please mention of its problems?

I used to have one. This happened to me! Now I actually know what it was. I eventually just threw it in the garbage 😅On top of things… the Epson workforce 800 series constantly fell off line!! I had 2 different ones at different times over the years. Thank you so much for this information 🎉

Could this be an Epson issue-or maybe specific for infrequent users? I have been using my Canon G7020 with mega tanks (paid less than $300) for about a couple of years now, and this has been the VERY best printer I have ever owned. I print both text and graphics daily, and I have yet to refill the tanks that came with the printer. With my former printers, I would have spent a fortune on ink cartridges and toners with the same use. The only complaint: The control panel looks like it’s from Y2K.

Thank you for this very informative video I am considering buying one of those Epson ink tank printers and after hearing about the sponge and that it's a limited life and can't even be replaced I'm probably not going to buy it

I just read an interview featuring the HP CEO and he stated at least twice that HP actually loses money making printers and is in the long haul ink cartridge subscription service space. They also have built in circuits in the printer heads that will legitimately brick your printer due to "security concerns" if you use non HP cartridges. The home printer market has been a money grab since the early 90s and I'm not surprised by this behavior. We really need to start reining in these corporations through market regulation and reform.

Where are the FTC and the class action lawsuits?

Have an Epson L850, a photo printer. When I don’t print anything for say 3-4 days, I need to flush the printer at least 7-10 times to get it right. In fact, I have spent more ink in flushing the printer than printing. Another scam. Now I will be purchasing a colour laser printer the price of which is equivalent to my Epson L850.

I owned canon g3000 wifi printer. It costs me aprox to buy a new one with in 4 years of service. I changed power plug to custom 3 pin plug and customised its ink wastage by using ink potty by taking its tubes. Now its just okay to work. But don't know how long it will go without hassle free. So for the time being I can take a deep breath. Thats it.🙂

The 2850 has a document feed and double sided printing. Just look at the image on the webpage you opened, you can't miss it. The price is now around $200. It is a fantastic deal and a really good printer.

Don't know how your video popped up on my feed. But, thank you. While I would love to visit...im in southern Ontario, canada. Lol I have an 'old' hp 1010 laser printer.which still works, but only on linux. Windows doesn't support it anymore. Thanks again for the video. My wife has a ep 2650. Ill be looking at the sponge soon. Cheers, jeffrey

So this is what the cavemen from the commercials have been up to!

I went to a color laser a year or two ago. Working great.

Advice, for canon, buy canon printer with E naming on it. It mean economic ink catridge that can print so much more than other canon's catridge printer

Excellent reviews Robin you are the best person I’ve listen to reviewing printers perhaps you print tel no. On screen for us. Stuart

The purging function and the sponge is not unique to ink tanks. This keeps the head from getting clogged to the point of ruining the whole printer. It's actually a great feature, and it makes even more sense if you can get the ink that much cheaper.

For me epson eco tank printer are the most reliable and efficient in the market. My L360 got 200,000 page printout. I replace wastepad and timing belt once then reset the counter. One bottle of 664 ink black can print 5000 pages. Ecotank are design to use everyday not for single use. If you print once in a while go for cartridges type so that if the heads clog you can replace cartridges and you good to go.

These Epson tank printers are less than half the price listed in this video, noticed the update on Epson's maintenance policy but nothing on any updated pricing. The ET-2850 is $189 on Amazon as I write this btw.

I bought the GX7020 Maxify Canon. I chose this model because it has a removable printhead. The Epson Ecotank has a fixed printhead. You should seriously consider looking at the tank printers who not use a sponge but a removable cartridge dedicated for cleaning ink.

Why are you showing the ink sponge from a cannon printer featured on someone else’s Chanel.

Had mine 3 years & still not replaced ink in it. My HP printer ink catriadges at £50 per time over3 years means £400. If I soend £200 on a printer with all ink Included for 3 years until now, how is tnat not cost effective?