# Epson gifts the world with two printers that use a refillable ink reservoir. No more cartridges!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 3, 2014, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230 "2014-10-03T02:08:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/1 "2014-10-03T02:08:32Z")
So when will the US get these Epson printers in our stores? Meanwhile I predict sellers from Britain will be selling them on Ebay soon. We Americans should be able to get one. International shipping will be costly, but worth it to get rid of those money stealing ink cartridges. I already created and saved Ebay searchs for Epson L355 and L555. > **[Say goodbye to ink cartridges! Printer with refillable tank revealed](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2778082/End-ink-cartridge-Epson-unveils-printer-refillable-TANK-print-6-500-pages-needs-refilling.html)** > > Tokyo-based electronics company Epson has unveiled two new printers that have refillable tanks (shown) rather than ink cartridges. In place of costly cartridges they both have an ink reservoir. > [@](#): > > It is one of the irritations of modern life. But forking out for printer cartridges may soon be a thing of the past. > > Epson has launched a cartridge-free printer that uses a refillable ink tank. > > The machine is the first of its kind in Britain, and the printer manufacturer claims it will cost a fraction of the price to fill it with ink. > > The catch is that you will have to pay a lot more for the printer – but Epson says it will still work out cheaper in the longer term. Calculations suggest the saving could be more than £100 a year. > > Until now manufacturers have sold their printers on the cheap, relying on the exorbitant cost of the inkjet cartridges to make a profit. > [@](#): > > Both the L355 and L555 have print, copy and scanning functionality. > > The L555 also has fax, a 30-page Automatic Document Feeder and a two-line LCD screen. > > They both have Wi-Fi connectivity that can be used with Epson iPrint on smartphones or tablets. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/2 "2014-10-03T02:24:44Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > So when will the US get these Epson printers in our stores? Meanwhile I predict sellers from Britain will be selling them on Ebay soon. We Americans should be able to get one. International shipping will be costly, but worth it to get rid of those money stealing ink cartridges. > > I already created and saved Ebay searchs for Epson L355 and L555. > > [Epson unveils printer with refillable TANK that prints up to 6.5k pages | Daily Mail Online](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2778082/End-ink-cartridge-Epson-unveils-printer-refillable-TANK-print-6-500-pages-needs-refilling.html) Finally, someone built a printer like this. I want. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/3 "2014-10-03T02:27:13Z")
It’s only a 4-color printer, which means it’s not photo-quality. Too bad, because it’s a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/4 "2014-10-03T02:27:13Z")
Several Korea sellers have listings for the L355. But it has plug type C and won’t work in the US. [http://www.ebay.com/itm/Epson-L355-Inkjet-Color-All-in-one-Printer-copy-scan-WiFi-Ink-Tank-System-/271567064037?pt=COMP\_Printers&hash=item3f3aa88be5](http://www.ebay.com/itm/Epson-L355-Inkjet-Color-All-in-one-Printer-copy-scan-WiFi-Ink-Tank-System-/271567064037?pt=COMP_Printers&hash=item3f3aa88be5) ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/5 "2014-10-03T03:28:49Z")
Interesting given that - having used other brands for years - we bought an Epson home printer for the first time recently. The printer software seems primarily tasked with selling you ink. It’s like inviting a cartridge salesman into your home. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/6 "2014-10-03T15:39:50Z")
I already have this - before I bought my inkjet printer, I made sure there were third-party refillable cartridges for it. In cost is about 1/25th of prefilled cartridges. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/7 "2014-10-03T23:36:27Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Interesting given that - having used other brands for years - we bought an Epson home printer for the first time recently. The printer software seems primarily tasked with selling you ink. It’s like inviting a cartridge salesman into your home. +1 I cannot wait. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/8 "2014-10-05T01:57:40Z")
This has been around for years. At least 5 years ago, our horse show photographer had an ink-jet printer where the printhead was attached by flexible tubes to refillable ink tanks. He bought ink in liter bottles – said it saved him great amounts of money. I believe this was an after-market modification to the printer. But a very standard one, sold to people who used their printers a lot. He bought the kit designed for his printer and installed it himself (and he was a photographer, no computer tech background at all). Apparently Epson saw the success of these aftermarket kits, and decided to build that into some of their printers. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/9 "2014-10-05T02:06:36Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > It’s only a 4-color printer, which means it’s not photo-quality. > Too bad, because it’s a good idea. Huh? 4-color printing has been the standard for photo printing for decades. Virtually every professionally printed thing you read was produced by a four-color process. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/10 "2014-10-05T03:33:13Z")
> [@toofs](#): > > Finally, someone built a printer like this. I want. You don’t have to wait long, Amazon has the L355 I in stock. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/11 "2014-10-05T04:00:51Z")
The bigger question is this for a Dye printer or Pigment? One is easy, the other could get very interesting. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2014, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/12 "2014-10-05T04:04:47Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Huh? 4-color printing has been the standard for photo printing for decades. Virtually every professionally printed thing you read was produced by a four-color process. 4-color printing is fine for publication-quality work, but fine-art printing requires more inks - at least 6, and preferably more. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/13 "2014-10-05T04:30:28Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > It’s only a 4-color printer, which means it’s not photo-quality. > Too bad, because it’s a good idea. Eh, perfect for me - I have never needed photo quality printing for anything. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/14 "2014-10-05T05:28:38Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > 4-color printing is fine for publication-quality work, but fine-art printing requires more inks - at least 6, and preferably more. Red, Yellow, Blue, Black. What would the other 2 colors be? ---
**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:** [October 5, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/15 "2014-10-05T12:40:02Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > Red, Yellow, Blue, Black. What would the other 2 colors be? No- Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. Fine-art printers usually use a light cyan / light yellow / light magenta in addition to the primary inks, and some use light grey, too. There are also printers that add Red, Green, and Blue inks to the CYMK. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/16 "2014-10-05T15:22:52Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > No- Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. > > Fine-art printers usually use a light cyan / light yellow / light magenta in addition to the primary inks, and some use light grey, too. There are also printers that add Red, Green, and Blue inks to the CYMK. At one point I saw a orange and a purple ink in the mix. You can do ok with 4, but get better results with 6+. With the demise of the darkroom, I have also seen Lt Gray, gray, Lt black, black+ Photo black. In one printer. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/17 "2014-10-05T16:18:15Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > No- Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. > > Fine-art printers usually use a light cyan / light yellow / light magenta in addition to the primary inks, and some use light grey, too. There are also printers that add Red, Green, and Blue inks to the CYMK. Must’ve been a woman who came up with the names for [those colors](http://fedgeno.com/links/mens-colors-vs-womens-colors). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/18 "2014-10-05T16:59:35Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Several Korea sellers have listings for the L355. But it has plug type C and won’t work in the US. \ Do you know how long an extension cord you’d need to reach from Korea to the U.S.??? _Proprietary Electricity_,\*\* that’s\*\* where they get you! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/19 "2014-10-05T21:02:00Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Several Korea sellers have listings for the L355. But it has plug type C and won’t work in the US. > [http://www.ebay.com/itm/Epson-L355-Inkjet-Color-All-in-one-Printer-copy-scan-WiFi-Ink-Tank-System-/271567064037?pt=COMP\_Printers&hash=item3f3aa88be5](http://www.ebay.com/itm/Epson-L355-Inkjet-Color-All-in-one-Printer-copy-scan-WiFi-Ink-Tank-System-/271567064037?pt=COMP_Printers&hash=item3f3aa88be5) It’s rated for voltage 100-240V, it will work either with an adaptor or a change of plug. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/20 "2014-10-05T21:13:05Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > Must’ve been a woman who came up with the names for [those colors](http://fedgeno.com/links/mens-colors-vs-womens-colors). 😃 Magenta was named after a battle in the Italian city of Magenta, which derived its name from a Roman emperor. [Cyan](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cyan)comes from the Greek _kyanos_, which may come from Hittite. So, no good evidence of a feminine origin. Continous tone images, like a pre-digital photo print, can look good printed in 3 or 4 colors, but the available colors will be limited – there will be many colors (seen in nature and painting) that can’t even be approximated. Same thing with an 4-color offset printing press (which uses Cyan, Magenta, Yellow & Black ink) except the image will look grainier, than a photo print. Using an inkjet with 6 or more colors improves the printer’s “gamut.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230.md?page=2)