#1: Cost effectiveness of CIS.. Author: Martin, Location: South Yorkshire, UKPosted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 11:07 pm — One of the big downsides when considering a Continuous Ink Feed system for your printer is the issue of up front cost, especially when generic/unbranded refills for Epson and Canon printers are so cheap.
Now, it's granted that a number of generic inks can (due to poor quality issues) cause printhead clogging and do serious damage to your printer but in most cases a lot of research can negate this hazzard by choosing a generic cartridge supplier with a good reputation.
So, this still leaves us with the "When is CIS a good move?"
Bottom line, it makes sense if you:
spend £100 ($160) or more on print cartridges
You want to print large volumes with a low cost per page.
Here's an example of when CIS makes good sense..
A UK school was spending over £1,000 a year in mixed quality generic cartridges for a total of nine, epson C20 and C42 printers. These were located throughout the school, in each classroom. Print speeds were slow, and printing was done infrequently resulting in half the printers requiring refurbishment or replacement due to printhead clogging. In many cases children were not encouraged to print their work and teachers were scared to change cartridges, resulting in yet more waste.
The solution was to purchase and centrally locate two Epson C84 printers and share them across the network. These were each fitted with a CIS kit using DuraBrite equivalent ink. Within one year the school ordered another C86 unit (with CIS) to cope with demand.
Benefits: No more printers were thrown out. Children and teachers were able to print out wall displays, work and photos whenever they wanted. Clogging issues were minimal (printers were constantly in use) and easily dealt with (quality inks)...
Cost benefits to the school over 2 years...
£300 - CIS kits
£520 - Bulk Ink (9.75 US pints)
£ 820 - Total (CIS costs)
£3,170 Equivalent in Epson Branded Cartridges (RRP)
£1,560 Equivalent in InkRite Generic Cartridges (RRP)
Result: The CIS system essentially quadrupled the effectiveness of the schools printing budget, reduced cost and provide a reliable printer system that the teachers now take for granted.
