zlacker

>>b112+(OP)
I have an epson eco-tank printer. I buy 3rd party bottles of ink once every 2-3 years. The upfront cost of the printer (multifunction model ET-4550) was high in 2015 ($500) but I've spent maybe $60-70 in ink to print (as of this morning) 19,536 pages (13,954 in color, 5,582 in B/W).

I can't see a good reason to keep buying printers that are locked into proprietary cartridges or toners.

>>Giorgi+Q6
Me too. Credit to Epson for taking this track. I wouldn't consider a cartridge printer again.

>>rustyf+z9
Sadly only applies to these high end ones; I got a cheap Epson one and found out after moving it to another country, that the cartridges are indeed vendor+region locked.

>>dgl+wb
Region locked ink?! That's a special kind of stupid.

>>hyperd+9g
They do it for the same reason as anything else: to charge different prices in different parts of the world and still stymie the gray market.

>>NoSorr+aB
Importing ink from another part of the world isn't gray market, it's a perfectly legitimate option that the vendor happens to not like.

>>yjftsj+zM
Its the definition of gray market: "the trade of a commodity through distribution channels that are not authorized by the original manufacturer"