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"

>>ac29+Zm2
I looked it up and you are 100% correct. I now object to the existence of the term, as it clearly attempts to imply that legitimate activity is close to black market activity, but this is the correct use of the term as it exists. (Thank you for correcting me; it is far better to object to the right thing.)