Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for April 04, 2021

Just buy a new printer, which comes with the ink. It’s cheaper than buying ink cartridges.

You need to toner down, Pig.

I try to tell my wife, just print the page you want.

But, nooo…

Next time use your printer as an airplane and save money.

dreadful

Ink cartridges are way too expensive.

I do have a color ink-jet printer, but seldom use it: We print on the laser printer.

Technically, the trip would’ve cost $59 more if he didn’t find the discount. Now it only costs $34 more.

They give the printers away to sell the ink…hmmm!

Just print it in black & white!

My printer has the option of printing only the pages I want to print and the choice of “color” or “black & white!”

let’s just say i’m glad my printer’s unused in years.

I seem to remember experts saying that the computer revolution would create a paperless society. Didn’t quite work out, did it?

It would be nice if someone would invent a cheaply refillable cartridge.

My Epson 1439 has a “Continuous Ink Supply System”. No cartridges, I refill the tanks about once a year.

By gouging the consumer on ink, the printer companies are filling up the world with e-waste by seducing users into frequent printer replacements at artificially reduced prices in order to get the cheaper ink. Then the price goes up every year. My HP ink prices have almost doubled since I bought my printer. The CEOs should all be rounded up and fed to sharks.

Press cancel!

I use a laser printer, black and white only, but all I need! When I had the color printer the cartridges never seemed to last!

You don’t really need to print out the electronic ticket. Just write down the flight information and have the boarding pass printed at the airport. Or you could download the boarding pass to your phone.

Generic ink on Amazon. Been using it for years.

Print the tickets? Don’t cha has an app for paperless tickets?

Just don’t print. Digital ticket. Don’t you have smartfon?

Pig forget the ticket , do you have your “Real” ID so you may get on the plane ;-)

Printer ink is expensive because it’s made from baby’s tears.

Haven’t owned a printer in a few years now. Just don’t print things up. Most tickets are complexly digital these days, so no big deal.

When you have them by the printer cartridges, their hearts and Minds will follow.

Don’t most airlines have apps for smart phones that will show your ticket/boarding pass information, and not require printing? The last time I took a plane that was how it worked. No worry about ink/toner or even having a printer!

a cheap black and white laser printer

Happy Easter!

I’m disappointed that there’s no strained pun today. He could have tried killing himself with cyan-ide

I had to print out some medical documents for a neighbor just the other day. When I went to test my printer, (HP1300), it jammed and has apparently died. Solved the problem by just using the neighbor’s printer hooked to my laptop (He only has a tablet), and got all the copies we needed.

My Brother laser printer only does black and white, but that is all I ever need. Around 5000 pages for every $60 toner.

I switched to a B&W laser-jet about 20 years ago. The first one lasted 18 years. It was on its second cartridge, but I replaced it because it didn’t have any network connectivity and we needed that when we moved.

AND THIS CARTOON IS IN COLOR!!! THE HORROR!

I usually print to PDF, and when I need actual paper (which is rare), I use the printer dialog box to only print the critical pages. I am not even halfway through a ream of paper that I bought 5 years ago.

Be rid of those ink jet printers. Get a laser the initial cost is a bit higher but so much cheaper in the long run. Plus it is the most reliable printer I’ve ever had.

I quit the printer game a long time ago. Now if I need a hard copy ( rarely ) I just copy to a flash drive and take it to the library where all copies under $2 is free. No more $80 cartridges to buy.

I dont own a printer. Makes it simple. I rarley find the need for one

I bought a black and white laser printer two years ago, and at the same time I also bought a couple of on-sale toner cartridges. The printer came with a small-capacity toner cartridge already installed… a "taster cartridge if you will. I am still using the taster cartridge!

Most airlines are switching to digital. Just have the barcode sent via text or screenshot it on your phone and you’re set.

I bought software ‘InkSaver’ but it has been discontined. It worked great which is why it was bought out and put on the shelf so we couldn’t use it anymore.

I saw a youtube video made by a guy that used to be a salesperson for printers. He said it costs $.23 to make an ink cartridge.

Or simply get a laser printer which uses affordable toner

You can now buy printers with separate ink tanks and get inexpensive bottles of ink for it. Mine is an epson and the ink bottles are about $12. each

Tragically, the number one cause of personal bankruptcy is medical bills.

But hey, it’s important we not fundamentally reform the way healthcare is delivered and paid for here, because… ’Murica!

Mine does the same thing

And this, children, is why you always do a print preview so you can print only the pages you actually want.

I need more ink.

I’d print this, but it’d use all my ink to do it.

I bought a laser printer which costs pennies to use

Print to a PDF, then print only the page you want from that. In black and white.

So that’s what cyanosis is – now I know!

So how come a piece of plastic filled with ink cost $30.00, but a piece of plastic I need for my toilet to work cost $3.95?

I need my toilet more than I need my printer. And I get a new ink cartridge every five months, and a new toilet jiggle-hook every five years. So why is the one I need more and buy less frequently so much cheaper?

Costco will refill most for about $10

Just so you know as example an HP60 has 8 ml of ink, a litre of black was $25 CDN. We refilled one customers a dozen times before the head crapped out

If you do a lot of colour and don’t want a laser, try the new Epson that has bulk tanks. They tried that a few years back and pulled it.

Don’t put photo paper in a laser, the fuser bar will set fire to it. It took me most of the day to fix the Oki 3200 that I did that to.

I have a Brother that needed a new drum, Lot$$ at Staples, a three pack on eBay $25

If you cartridge with built in head plugs up, soak head in 50-50 warm water and windex. Don’t leave it on paper towel too long, the ink will leech through the head and drain it. Those HP are easy to fill with a syringe, the holes are underneath the label.

I bought for my wife’s home office a new HP b&w/color laser scanner/copier/printer with blue tooth capabilities, and God knows what else! I bought it last year just as all the Covid-19 lockdowns were going into place, so I got a really good deal on it.

I read the instructions, set it up, and left it alone. It works like a charm.

I was worried about the cost of replacing the carts when the time came, but lucked out with that, too. A friend of mine had purchased carts for his printer and then found out that they were the wrong ones, and couldn’t exchange them. They will fit my HP perfectly. I paid him $25 for the carts!

There’s a selection for printing in black and white.

CVS Air.

Will you be checking in your ticket and check-in receipts. They won’t fit in an approved carry-on bag. $25 per receipt.

I’ve got a brother color laser/scanner/fax . . . to replace the high capacity black and three color cartridges together it costs around $320, but they last me about 5 years between replacements.

Or get an Epson ET-2550.

Generic ink. $60 printer. You’ll get through several sets of cartridges before it fails.

Pop up ads in IRL. Someone inform Dante the Inferno has new level.

That’ll teach you. Pigs cannot fly. It just isn’t kosher. Also, that’s why I keep a printer status link on my home page.

What a coincidence. Yesterday I tried printing out a baseball schedule because I can’t find a pre-printed one this year. I hadn’t used my $30 Cannon printer in a few months, and now it doesn’t work at all. It won’t grab the paper, and when I push it in at the right time, it jams. I had to restart the printer so many times that both ink carts got used up. I finally had to go the positively ancient route and write down the first month’s schedule by hand.

A couple of years ago, I worked a place that still received junk faxes.

He’ll finally print out that boarding pass…

when pigs fly.

My mom showed me this cartoon when she was finished reading the funny papers. By the second panel, I guessed (wrongly) that it was going to end in a corny pun.

By the third panel, I started laughing out loud. By the penultimate panel, I was laughing so hard that I had tears in my eyes.

Thank you, Stephan, for such a funny comic! Have a blessed Easter.

Pig. It’s an electronic printer, you don’t have to print it. Just download it on your smartphone.

Um, actually, the number one cause is medical treatments…

…Printer ink is only number two.

It is so infuriating. Also, what is the deal that every single printer uses a specific cartridge style. One printer can require 2 different sizes of black cartridges. No one ever has all the colors in stock…or the sizes. The array of cartridges the office supply store ink aisle is long, every one of those packages has a list of their appropriate printers in a size so small it looks like the fine print in a squirrelly legal contract. Looking through them causes eye strain resulting in dizziness.

This is too close to home for me. Way too many websites don’t have printer friendly downloads.

There was a strip here years ago featuring Larry the Alligator starring as a superhero fighting HP printers. Can’t remember the details but I cut it out and taped it to my HP printer. I think Larry was foiled by the HP Printer.

Bought an old brother all-in-one at a garage sale- 10 bucks. The kind with 4 separate cartridges. Then bought refillable cartridges and 3rd party bulk ink online. (Don’t buy into the manufacturers’ hype that 3rd party ink will ruin print heads etc…total BS) We’ve had over ten years of trouble-free printing and saved a hundreds on ink. (probably thousands since my wife has made it her mission to print out the entire internet)

I just buy the refill kit. Comes out to $0.26/cartridge for a refill. Just do that, Stephen.

or get an ink tank printer (more expensive but will pay out on less ink costs) or a model with larger volume cartridges (like the one I ordered) or when doing a printout just choose which pages to print and which not. I have paid my printer in ink costs at least three times over in its service life.

“Think before you ink”, Pig. If you’d have selected exactly what to print, you’d have saved your bacon, or at least your money.

Happy Easter!

Try the Epson Eco Tank. It’s slow, but the ink is like a baby chick – cheap cheap cheap

Literally me every time i print something

I’m on HP’s monthly charge ink cartridge program. I am out of cartridges. It’s time to rethink this.

I was in the same boat as Pig.Pig needs to go to HP instant ink and sign up for the monthly service. I have, cut the cost of my ink by at least 50% and I have four extra cartages ready to go. I even get page roll over service.

When I need color, I just use crayons.

Welcome to “Be a Good Consumer”-think, Pig. They will drain you of money, then cast you off like a shucked corncob!

Yet, what you say about printer ink is so true!

I take it Pastis just experienced this.