Epson EcoTank ET-1910 Cost to Run: Cheap Black, Pricier Color
The Epson EcoTank ET-1910 is a print-only ink tank printer with Wi-Fi, priced at $160. It costs $0.38 per 100 pages in black and $1.10 per 100 pages in color to run. The black rate comes from an $18 bottle rated for 4,700 pages.
The nearest rival on running cost from outside Epson's lineup is HP's Smart Tank 5103, priced at $270. Its black rate, $0.40 per 100 pages, sits a shade above the ET-1910's $0.38, and its color rate runs higher still, at $1.22 against $1.10 per 100 pages. The HP also copies and scans, functions the print-only Epson lacks.
Canon's PIXMA G3270 holds the ink tank segment's color cost-per-page floor at $0.97 per 100 pages, below the Epson's own, and adds copy and scan for $249. Its black rate ties the ET-1910's, part of an eight-way tie for 6th of 30 ink tank printers InkTax tracks on black cost per page, that includes the Canon and six more models.
The ET-1910 ties for 10th among the 30 ink tank models InkTax tracks on color cost per page, a three-way tie with two Epson siblings: the ET-2900 ($240, adds copy and scan) and the ET-4903 ($300, adds copy, scan and fax). The ET-2980 ($330) copies and scans too, cutting the black rate to $0.29 per 100 pages — a solid lead over the Epson's own — and adds auto-duplex, at 15 ppm.
For a reader who never prints color, HP's LaserJet Pro 4006dw is a mono laser priced at $400, printing only in black at $2.23 per 100 pages, well above the Epson's own. It adds auto-duplex, a touchscreen and Ethernet the Epson lacks, and prints far faster: 47 ppm against the ET-1910's 11 ppm.