No it's not true. Older inkjet type printers didn't used to have a separate black cartridge, they just used all the color inks at once which produced a fairly black print but not perfect. Maybe the sales person was thinking of this old technology. All four cartridges will need to be installed though for the printer to work even if you don't use color. Maybe this is what he meant.

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Kurt, I think that means that what the Salesman said WAS true? or am I missing something? B That is the biggest fool thing we have ever done. The Atomic bomb will never go off, and I speak as an expert in explosives. - Admiral William Leahy

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Oh boy OK in your honest opinion is this worth buying (sales $149 was $199)? BTW the same salesman quoted new cartridges as follow $33 for the three color & $22 for black cartridge. How long do you think it will last based on the scenario i gave above? i_XpUser

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A PC magazine here in the UK did a marvellous article on the cost of running different injets & it was quite revealing, needless to say I have bought the wrong one! Have you tried Googling inkjet costs? I got this: http://www.computeractive.co.uk/computeractive/features/2014003/true-cost-inkjet-printers. Rgds. Bob That is the biggest fool thing we have ever done. The Atomic bomb will never go off, and I speak as an expert in explosives. - Admiral William Leahy

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i think some us thought the original statement meant the salesman was saying that there was enough ink in the cartridge to last one year. Of course, a reply stated in depended on usage. Now it seems it meant the cartridge would 'dry up' in one year even if the ink had not all been used up. I have no idea if that is accurate but may well depend on the climate the user lives in. Like very hot or in the arctic. I do find that if i dont use mine for a few weeks, it has trouble printing properly and I have to use the head cleaning facility which uses up a certain amount of ink.

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I have a FIRST generation Epson inkjet that did dry up if not used enough. I believe the original issues were addressed to some degree.

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I hopped over to take a look on the NFC at the Staples (called Office Superstore) near where I live. The Superstore recently had a major facelift (it seems all Staples branches had or is about to have facelift). Inside this store is a cubicle measured about 20 feet by 20 feet and showing row after row of nothing but ink cartridges. You cannot enter the cubicle. You have to talk to one of the three salesperson, just to order items, to purchase, to ask questions, etc. My impression here is that because it is a store within a store, it has to be the biggest moneymaking merchandise not only for Staples but also for the manufacturers. I think I will tell her to forget about the MFC640CW and settle for a laser MFC smiliar to this. She can also buy flatbed scanner to scan the color inserts. There is one thing I noticed from the MFC specs. The standard memory for the Laser is 32MB while the color one is only 16MB. The advantage of the bigger RAM is that it helps to speed up the printing and faxing capabilities, and put into memory large Word document for printing. I am still using the legency Brother MFC 4800 and you know what I hardly remember when was the last time I replaced the laser toner. i_XpUser

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There was a time when Epsom print cartridges were time limited. They stopped working after a certain time, regardless of how much ink was left. There was a big outcry about this so I don't know if it still applies. I think the salesman definitely meant that you need colour cartridges installed even if you only ever intend to print in black. Most colour printer will go into maintenance mode automatically if it detects an empty or missing cartridge. There is no need to mix the colour to produce black if you have a black cartridge. >> so anything that is not solely black is achieved by mixing the colours to achieve the effect, just like a colour TV. >> This is not true either. A colour TV uses RGB (Red,Green,Blue) the same as a colour monitor. Black is achieved by the absence of any colours. White by an equal mixture of all colours. In printing, or any system that uses pigment as apposed to light, uses CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black). An approximation of black can be achieved by mixing the colours. White is achieved by the absence of any colour assuming you are using white paper. If all the person is interested in is scanning and printing of faxes, a colour printer is an expensive way of doing it. A cheap laser printer, a scanner and some decent FAX sofware might be a better option in the long run. Stuart

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Yes, I agree with you! No wonder why the inkjet printer manufacturers sell them so cheap. They even give it away free when you buy OEM PC (I guess they have some sort of deal with OEM System Builders & Retail chains). It is the ink cartridges that brings in big bucks. I recall reading articles about Epson, Canon & others manufacturers taking all business that sell refilled ink cartridges to Court! It is all about money! i_XpUser

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When you get a free Dell labeled printer you are forced to purchase the cartridges from Dell. No others will work.

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Buy a B&W laser!!!!

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"It is the ink cartridges that brings in big bucks." Same thing with razors and razor blades ;-)

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>> Same thing with razors and razor blades ;-)<< Aye, King C Gillette has a lot to answer for. It was he that invented the concept of producing a cheap tool that need expensive accessories to keep it working. Stuart

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I used to have an HP690c and the ink in that would dry a bit if not used for a month or so, usually printing a few nozzle check and cleaning pages would clear it. My partner had an Epson R40 and that would dry up if not used every week necessitating a lot of wasted ink & paper trying to get it cleared to do a decent print. Currently I have a brother mono laser for letters etc and an Epson CX5200 scanner/copier/inkjet printer. I have not had a problem with the ink drying in that even though months can pass before i need to print colour pics etc. It appears to pay to go for business class printers and if an inkjet one that has at least 4 cartridges (CYM&K)as they will use the black for black and not just combine the colours as in the cheaper 3 cartridge or even 1 cartridge with 3 compartments types, avoid the last like the plague as they are very expensive to run asusually you run out of one colour before the others are 1/2 empty meaning you get to throw away perfectly good ink YOU have paid for. It is often the case now that to replace 2 cartridges can cost more than a new printer - so much for recycling, you often see Lexmark printers in my local paper for sale cheap with the rider- needs new ink cartridge(s). HTH Woof Always proof-read carefully to see if you any words out.

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