Epson EcoTank ET-2900 Cost to Run: Cheap Black Ink, a Color Rate One Rival Beats
The Epson EcoTank ET-2900 is an ink tank printer that prints, copies and scans over Wi-Fi, selling for $240. It costs $0.38 per 100 pages in black and $1.10 in color. Epson's EP-522-BK bottle, priced at $18, is the source of the black figure.
The EP-522-BK bottle behind that black rate is rated for 4,700 pages, refilled rather than swapped like a traditional cartridge.
One step down in cost to run, the ET-1910 sells for $160 but prints only, without copy or scan. One step up, the ET-4903 adds fax for $300. The ET-2900's $0.38 ties for 6th on black cost per page and its $1.10 ties for 10th on color cost per page among the 30 ink tank printers InkTax tracks, a match the ET-1910 and ET-4903 share on both figures, with five more machines completing the black tie.
Among ink tank printers, the Canon PIXMA G3270 holds the color running-cost floor at $0.97 per 100 pages, below the ET-2900's own color rate. It sells for $249, close to the ET-2900's sticker, and matches the ET-2900 on print, copy, scan, Wi-Fi and 11 ppm speed, with no auto-duplex on either.
HP's Smart Tank 5103, 6003 and 7001 all run $0.40 in black and $1.22 in color, essentially even with the ET-2900 in black and a shade higher in color. The 5103 costs $270 with no auto-duplex, like the ET-2900; the 6003 costs $370 and the 7001 $430, both adding auto-duplex the ET-2900 lacks.
For a shopper who never needs color, the HP LaserJet Pro 4006dw runs $2.23 per 100 pages in black toner, far above the ET-2900's own black rate. It costs $400, prints at 47 ppm against the ET-2900's 11 ppm, and adds Ethernet, a touchscreen and auto-duplex, dropping color, copy and scan entirely.