zlacker

Because you have a laser printer. A lot of people try to be cheap and buy inkjets, and those things will fail if they sit without use for a month. And if the ink won't dry, the machine will claim it has, and force you to buy new ink -- which will cost more than the sale on the printer was originally.

>>yencab+(OP)
True of most inkjets, but tank-type inkjets have water-based ink which is supposed to be more resistant to drying. The tanks are also "dumb": no sensors to check the level, or check that you are using approved ink.

How well does it work in practice? Well on my Epson ET4500 I get a few clogged jets every two or three months, but running a cleaning cycle has always cleared them. A bottle full of black Epson ink costs about £7.50 and seems to last about 1000-1500 pages. Colour has the same price, but I don't use enough colour to estimate low long it lasts. There seem to be several alternative ink suppliers.

This isn't a universal recommendation, just a response to your specific points. There is a premium for the tank models, so whether they are worth it depends on the amount that you print.