# Blood and Ink **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 12, 2016, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-and-ink/774504 "2016-12-12T08:31:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-and-ink/774504/1 "2016-12-12T08:31:12Z")
So I’m buying ink for my printer this morning; black and color cartridges. I go the the cashier and this conversation takes place: Me: Gotta get these home for my wife’s building maintenance reports. Cashier: Open your wallet. Me: Excuse me? Cashier: I’m going to need all your cash and probably hit the limits on several of the credit cards. Me: You’ve got to be kidding me? Cashier: Empty your pockets, I need to check for spare change. Me (now only dressed in my undershorts): Is that enough? Cashier: Probably, your credit score should get you some financing at a decent rate. Me: You’re bleeding me dry! Cashier: We’re exploring that option for the new year. So it hits me. The Red Cross puts out periodic pleas for blood donations. Perhaps they could “sweeten” the pot? Instead of juice and cookies; how about a swap for printer ink? If you print high volumes, maybe do plasma or apheresis platelet donation. Just a thought; how about it Red Cross? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-and-ink/774504/2 "2016-12-12T10:00:44Z")
It’s a fine idea, but don’t expect a 1:1 exchange - printer ink is much more expensive than blood. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-and-ink/774504/3 "2016-12-12T12:00:22Z")
Why stop with blood? How about organ donation, or your first-born son? ---
**Author:** ![ASGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@ASGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-and-ink/774504/4 "2016-12-12T15:33:36Z")
Day-um! I’ve been donating platelets for 35 years. I could probably get a full case of black ink by now! ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-and-ink/774504/5 "2016-12-12T16:17:17Z")
There is a reason that I do my printing at the library at ten cents a page. I just email my print jobs to myself, then open them on the library computer bank and hit Print. It’s a ten minute walk to the library. Once was all it took to discover that a cheap HP printer has about enough ink in it for maybe 30-40 pages. Then you discover that it wold be cheaper to buy a new printer, than a cartridge, but doing that only gets you 30-40 more pages. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-and-ink/774504/6 "2016-12-12T16:22:54Z")
this is why I’ve sworn off inkjet printers entirely. Honestly there should be criminal charges brought against these companies who design printers to deliberately waste ink. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-and-ink/774504/7 "2016-12-12T16:23:57Z")
Not to threadshit, but this is precisely why I’ve foresworn inkjets. Laser printers for me and mine. I’ll pay double or triple up-front and twice as much per refill but get quality reliable output for at least quadruple the number of pages. Because really. Screw that noise. Especially since we’re pretty infrequent printer users, so I’d realistically get maybe a single 3-page print job out of a cartridge before I go without using the printer for a couple of weeks and waste the rest of the cartridge not-quite-clearing clogged print nozzles. Life’s too short and already complicated enough without that kind of “penny wise, pound foolish” self-inflicted grief. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-and-ink/774504/8 "2016-12-12T18:00:13Z")
I was looking at an apartment that was above a Staples Store. The idea of being g that.close to a place to print stuff was a huge draw. (I didn’t get the place I chose to stay in son’s school catchment area instead.) ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-and-ink/774504/9 "2016-12-13T21:52:22Z")
Most inkjet manufacturers basically give away the printers and make their money on the ink. At one point Kodak went with the strategy of “pay a fair price for the printer and the ink for it will be much cheaper”. We bought one then and have saved boucoup bucks on ink over the last few years. I can get a 4 pack (2 color, 2 black) of XL cartridges for under $30. Makes me happy. ETA - I’m not sure if they still do this, it seems that I recall reading that consumers didn’t go for it and kept buying the cheaper printers instead (surprise!). ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-and-ink/774504/10 "2016-12-14T00:07:03Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Not to threadshit, but this is precisely why I’ve foresworn inkjets. > > Laser printers for me and mine. I’ll pay double or triple up-front and twice as much per refill but get quality reliable output for at least quadruple the number of pages. > > Because really. Screw that noise. Especially since we’re pretty infrequent printer users, so I’d realistically get maybe a single 3-page print job out of a cartridge before I go without using the printer for a couple of weeks and waste the rest of the cartridge not-quite-clearing clogged print nozzles. > > Life’s too short and already complicated enough without that kind of “penny wise, pound foolish” self-inflicted grief. Even Laser printer toner is too expensive. I print calendars every year, which ends up being 1,400 legal-sized page sides, with much more than the standard toner usage per side. It takes 1-1.5 sets of toners to print all the calendars. If I bought genuine HP toner, that would be nearly $600 worth of toner, which is absurd. Instead, I buy cheap after-market toners from ebay, and not only do they only cost 1/10 as much as the HP’s, the image quality is as good or better. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-and-ink/774504/11 "2016-12-14T15:23:46Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Even Laser printer toner is too expensive. > > I print calendars every year, which ends up being 1,400 legal-sized page sides, with much more than the standard toner usage per side. It takes 1-1.5 sets of toners to print all the calendars. If I bought genuine HP toner, that would be nearly $600 worth of toner, which is absurd. Instead, I buy cheap after-market toners from ebay, and not only do they only cost 1/10 as much as the HP’s, the image quality is as good or better. Have you looked into having that commercially done? It could potentially be even cheaper. I’m with the laser printer crowd; better quality and fewer (no) problems when the printer sits for a few months between print jobs. The only downside is that toner cartridges for mine are kind of pricey, but the upside is that I don’t print much, so the total cost per year is still really, really low. And small home laser printers are CHEAP now… no reason to go with an inkjet anymore. You can get little B&W ones for well under $100, and multi-colored ones for under 200. Hell, even my 5 year old Konica-Minolta magicolor 1600w was only like $150 back then, and it’s still plugging along without issue. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-and-ink/774504/12 "2016-12-14T16:31:45Z")
Maybe we could design a printer that prints in blood. Handy for certain types of contract work… ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-and-ink/774504/13 "2016-12-14T16:46:25Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Have you looked into having that commercially done? It could potentially be even cheaper. Yep. The first year I did it, I had the calendars commercially printed. They were beautiful, and larger than I can do (tabloid size vs. legal size), but they were also dramatically more expensive - over $11 each, vs. my ~$1ea. cost. And, I shopped around to get the best price I could find. Calendars are _expensive_ - the only ones that are even in the same ballpark are the flip-type with a single photo. Ours have 14 different full-page photos, and thumbnails on the back page showing where each image was taken.