Epson EcoTank ET-2980 Ink Cost Per Page: Tied for the Black Cost Floor
The Epson EcoTank ET-2980 is a tank-fed inkjet that prints, copies, and scans, with auto-duplex and Wi-Fi, selling for $330. Running costs are $0.29 per 100 pages in black and $1.08 in color, with the black figure keyed to the $25 EP-502-BK cartridge's 8,500-page yield.
The ET-2980 ties for 1st among the 30 ink tank printers InkTax tracks on black cost per page, one of four models at that mark — a group that includes the pricier EcoTank ET-4950 at $500. Across every type InkTax tracks, its black-and-white cost per page ranks 1st of 97 printers. The ET-4950 also adds fax, a touchscreen, and Ethernet, none of which the ET-2980 has.
The Canon PIXMA G3270 sells for $249, cheaper up front than the ET-2980, and posts the color running-cost floor among ink tank printers, at $0.97 per 100 pages against the Epson's $1.08. The Epson's black rate leads instead, $0.29 against $0.38, and it includes auto-duplex printing the Canon lacks.
The EcoTank ET-1910 is cheaper to buy at $160, but drops copy, scan, and auto-duplex outright, leaving only Wi-Fi and print in common, and it costs a notch more to run in black, at $0.38 per 100 pages.
The HP LaserJet Pro 4006dw is a mono-only alternative that prints without copy or scan, for $400, adding Ethernet and a touchscreen the ET-2980 doesn't have. It's far faster too, 47 ppm against the Epson's 15 ppm, but its toner costs $2.23 per 100 pages in black — well above the EcoTank's own rate.