# 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:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Joker_and_the_Thief)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/21 "2014-10-06T00:02:03Z")
This is an awesome developement in inkjet printers, and should hopefully start to bring ink costs down significantly (I know this was possible before, but it was unsupported). On the other hand, first generation technology is always expensive, and it looks like this only becomes cheaper than the popular Brother HL2280DW laser printer at [8000 prints or so](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=130%2B.024x%3D285%2B.00478779x), which is a lot for a home user (assuming the Brother costs [$130](http://www.amazon.com/Brother-Printer-Wireless-Monochrome-HL2280DW/dp/B004QM8J8S/), has toner and wear and tear costs of [$.024 per page](http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-cheap-printer/), and the Epson costs $285, and has [per page](http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?From=USD&To=GBP) [costs of](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2778082/End-ink-cartridge-Epson-unveils-printer-refillable-TANK-print-6-500-pages-needs-refilling.html) [$.0047](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=.003+pounds+to+usd)). I know inkjets and lasers aren’t the same, but I just wanted to do some sort of comparison. Hopefully, second generation refillable reservoir inkjets will come down in price. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/22 "2014-10-06T00:20:53Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. Of course they can be approximated: You find the color in your gamut which is closest to the out-of-gamut color, and use that instead. Maybe it’s not as good an approximation as you’d like, but it is an approximation. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-gifts-the-world-with-two-printers-that-use-a-refillable-ink-reservoir-no-more-cartridges/700230/23 "2014-10-06T00:25:23Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > 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). Yeah, it’s called a “continuous ink system” and has been around for years, as you say, as an aftermarket modification. I haven’t tried one myself, yet, as I am very particular about the inks I use, but it seems some of these systems do come with inks that are comparable to the Ultrachrome inks I’m accustomed to in terms of color gamut and archivability. ---
**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 6, 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/700230/24 "2014-10-06T01:57:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Of course they can be approximated: You find the color in your gamut which is closest to the out-of-gamut color, and use that instead. Maybe it’s not as good an approximation as you’d like, but it is an approximation. Hi Mr. **Chronos**. Yes, anything can be an approximation of anything else, depending on how loose your standards are. My saying there were no good approximations meant (approximately): _There are dozens of distinct colors that most people would consider purer and more vibrant than the nearest color that can be produced in a common 3- or 4-color subtractive printing process._ The meaning of many of those words can be questioned – distinct, purer, vibrant, common – but I’ll let things stand there. [Previous 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=1)