WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 My paper! It's due in three hours! 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:18.000 And that's how we learned the hard way to never trust a fart. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:20.000 And print. 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:24.000 Wait a minute. It's present year. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:27.000 I don't even own a printer. And I'm not alone. 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:32.000 Since 2008, the printer market has been steadily shrinking. 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:36.000 But while we don't need them, nearly as often as our ancestors did, 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.000 they are still legitimately useful when they work properly. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:45.000 You can cut down on screen time and eye fatigue by printing out documents for markup. 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:49.000 You can make notes and cue cards that work without a battery. 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:52.000 And you can even use them for classic pranks. 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:55.000 AMD is going to announce a new chip. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:58.000 And this chip, trust me, this chip is good. 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:06.000 But the question is, has the printer industry finally figured out how to be less terrible? 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:11.000 Or are they still treating ink like it's Chanel number five infused with scorpion venom? 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:17.000 What about the units themselves? Do you need to spend $400 to get reasonable quality? 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:21.000 What if you bought something secondhand for $4 or $40? 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:26.000 Could it still print out this segue to our sponsor? 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:40.000 These days, sealed ink cartridges are out and refillable tanks are in, 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:46.000 especially if you print a lot. And that's for something like the Epson EcoTank ET4850 comes in. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:51.000 It's about $400 brand new packed with features and sips ink straight from the bottle, 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:54.000 saving on both cost and on plastic waste. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:57.000 Now, this was my first time using a tank style printer. 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:00.000 So I wasn't really sure what to expect in terms of setup, 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:07.000 but it ended up being very simple. Squeeze the ink into the tanks, plug it into whatever type of computer you've got and print. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:12.000 As for refills, it seems like the industry has yielded somewhat to customer demands 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:17.000 and 20 bucks is going to get you a big old bottle of genuine black Epson ink. 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:21.000 Drop for drop, it is still roughly a tenth the price of Chanel number five, 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:25.000 but that still puts the cost per sheet down to around a quarter of a cent. 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:30.000 We're going to have it linked down below. Of course, you also don't need to buy the stuff. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:33.000 Unlike HP, who has recently as a couple of months ago 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:37.000 was trying to force you to buy a subscription to print more than a few pages a month, 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:40.000 Epson does no genuine ink checks. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:43.000 The print quality is crisp, vibrant, and reasonably quick. 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:47.000 We averaged around seven pages per minute in our 600 DPI test run, 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:52.000 and you can connect to it however you want, including asking Alexa to print off a sheet of graph paper. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:55.000 It even includes a scanner with fax functionality. 00:02:55.000 --> 00:03:00.000 So at this point, you can build yourself a DIY continuous ink system, 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:05.000 but if your budget allows, a system like this is pretty much end game for most people's needs. 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:08.000 As for the competition, Canon has some really nice options as well, 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:13.000 even though we didn't get them for this video. And brother, they have their ink vestment tank line, 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:17.000 but seem to have lost the plot a little bit. It's kind of convoluted. 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:21.000 Now with that said, even a non-convoluted tank system is not for everyone. 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:26.000 A big caveat here is that ink tanks are full of, well, liquid ink, 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:33.000 and liquid has a tendency to dry out. So if you only print one document every few months, there's a solid chance 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:41.000 that you'll go to use it only to find out that one or more of your colors won't print 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:44.000 because Inky Goo has gummed up the print head. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:48.000 If this happens and the printer's self-cleaning cycle doesn't unstick everything, 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:52.000 you're going to have to either do the dirty job of manually cleaning it, 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:55.000 or you'll have to replace the print head or ink dampers altogether. 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:58.000 While Epson has made spare parts available, 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:02.000 they only have four distributors throughout America with very limited stock, 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:06.000 meaning once the thing hits end of life, it could be challenging to find those parts again. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:10.000 The other issue with these systems is the upfront price of $400. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:19.000 So without further ado, may I introduce my $40 model, the Pantum P2500W. 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:22.000 We found this monochrome laser printer on Craigslist, 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:26.000 but we could have picked up a similar open box model for a pretty similar price 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:31.000 from our local reliable supplier, Facebook marketplace, or wherever the case may be. 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:34.000 In terms of features, it's a printer. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:41.000 No scan, no fax, manual duplexing only, and it will not listen when you talk to it. 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:45.000 It does have Wi-Fi, but only using 2.4 GHz, 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:49.000 and at the back you'll find power, USB Type-B, and a little cutout 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:52.000 suggesting that they were thinking of adding networking, but never did. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:55.000 Initial setup was a little tougher this time. 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:59.000 Windows 11 recognized it, but could only print out a garbled page. 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:05.000 But then when we tried it on Linux, it worked fine, and then after that we plugged it into our Windows 11 machine and it suddenly worked. 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:08.000 Why? We're not quite sure, but it works now. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:12.000 And while the print quality isn't perfect, it's a little streaky, 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:15.000 for text documents it is perfectly serviceable, 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:20.000 and it still shines when it comes to the big advantages of laser, like shelf stability. 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:25.000 Because toner is a dry powder, there's no urgency to keep the ink flowing. 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:28.000 It can sit idly for months, sometimes even years, 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:31.000 without degrading to the point of becoming unusable. 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:36.000 And when you do eventually decide to use your printer, you will almost certainly appreciate the speed. 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:39.000 In spite of being on the, uh, older side, 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:42.000 it advertises 22 pages per minute 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:45.000 and hit that number almost dead on during our longer print run. 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:50.000 This thing is so fast, it practically smokes by the 10th page. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:53.000 Wait, wait, that actually does look like smoke. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:58.000 But as it turns out, it's steamed. Laser printers work through heat, 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:01.000 and paper usually contains small amounts of moisture, 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:06.000 and, well, heat plus moisture makes steam. Add in a bit of toner or dust, and it can look a bit like smoke, 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:10.000 but don't worry about it. Now this is far from the only option. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:14.000 As I alluded to before, there are plenty of budget second-hand laser printers out there 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:18.000 from the likes of Samsung slash HP or from Brother. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:22.000 And as long as you verify that there's driver support for your operating system, 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:25.000 they tend to be extremely long-lasting machines. 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:29.000 I think my old Samsung unit has been in service for over 10 years, 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:34.000 and, like, still works like the day we got it. The reason we chose to highlight a Phantom model, though, 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:38.000 was because we thought it was a little more interesting than those other brands. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:41.000 Despite this printer being released over a decade ago, 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:44.000 most North Americans probably wouldn't recognize the brand. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:48.000 But their history is extremely interesting. Phantom's parent company, NineStar, 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:52.000 originally specialized in making bootleg lockout chips 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:57.000 for third-party ink and toner refills. In 2010, they launched the first Phantom product, 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:02.000 China's first domestic laser printer, followed by a global rollout over the next months. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:05.000 Then in 2016, they bought Lexmark, 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:09.000 and in 2023, they were added to the Band Imports list 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:13.000 by the US government on accusations of using forced labor. 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:15.000 But that ban is on paper only. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:20.000 No pun intended. Because pantom printers go by many, many different names 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:23.000 that don't seem to be on the ban list. 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:26.000 There's pantom Lexmark, G&G Image, Xerox, Great Wall, 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:29.000 Fuji Film, and Mustache. 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:34.000 The only real difference between most of these printers, though, is the chip used for toner or ink validation. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:38.000 Or, well, rather, they're the same chips, but they have different data written to them 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:41.000 in order to prevent you from brand-swapping. 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:44.000 After all, you can't just toss Lexmark ink in a Xerox printer, 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:49.000 that would be illegal. And I'm sure pantom would never dream of suggesting 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:53.000 that anybody refill their printer with third-party ink. 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:57.000 We would, though. At $50, the official toner refills would cost us 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:03.000 more than the printer did. Third-party, on the other hand, can be had for around $18. 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:08.000 That puts this printer at about $0.03 and $0.01 per page, respectively. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:13.000 Now, that might sound more expensive than Epson's 1.25 pages, and it is. 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:19.000 But the cost of ownership doesn't even out until you've printed 7,000 sheets on that tank system. 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:24.000 So if you've got $60 to your name and you absolutely need to print some documents, 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:29.000 this is gonna get the job done. But wait, what if you don't have $60? 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:34.000 Enter the Canon S200. 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:38.000 Listed on Craig's list for 10 Canadian shillings, 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:42.000 we talked them down to the Maple Leaf equivalent of four freedom bucks. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:45.000 It wasn't our first pick, 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:48.000 but buying a used printer comes with some risks, 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:51.000 and having your time wasted is definitely one of them. 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:55.000 We had dozens of other listings, either ghost us, sell the printer from under us, 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:58.000 or otherwise just refuse to sell us their printer. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:02.000 But hey, Canon released this bubblejet printer in February of 2002, 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:07.000 and apparently they didn't have much love for this particular model because two months later, 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:10.000 they released the PowerShot S200 digital camera. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:13.000 And I know I've said a lot about other brands' naming schemes, 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:16.000 but at least they mostly bother to use different letters 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:19.000 and numbers for their different products. 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:23.000 Despite the slight from Canon though, they did make several other printers 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:26.000 that used the same form factor, software, and even ink. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:30.000 So finding compatible cartridges all these years later 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:34.000 is still pretty easy. From our local reliable supplier, 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:39.000 a third-party combo pack of black and color ink was actually less than the price we paid for this printer, 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:44.000 even today. Unfortunately, bubblejets were notorious for clogging, 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:50.000 and as far as we can tell, this printer may have been sitting unused since as early as 2004. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:53.000 Even after buying new ink and making a quick attempt 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:56.000 to clean the printer, it's still just printing blank pages. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:59.000 Something we got in common, buddy. 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:03.000 There may be hope though. It just so happened that when we were starting this project 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:06.000 a few months ago, LGR posted a half-hour-long saga 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:09.000 trying to get a compatible printer working properly. 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:13.000 How'd that go, Clint? Never buy an old inkjet printer. 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:16.000 This is all a complete waste of time, 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:19.000 and everything is stupid. 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:22.000 Oh, well, too late. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:26.000 So we ordered a replacement printhead, and oh, wait, is this the one? 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:29.000 Oh, the script says it didn't arrive yet, because it hadn't when we reviewed this, 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:32.000 but I guess it has now. Are we just going to try it now? 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:34.000 Let's do it. 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:41.000 The troubles are just never going to work. Hey, this could be the first time. 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:44.000 How long have you been doing this? Give feedback on the trash. 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:46.000 It was a crash. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:54.000 Damn it! 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:00.000 All right, we'll have to find the conclusion tomorrow. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:03.000 Hey, you got it! 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:07.000 Wow! And all it took was installing the new printhead, 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:10.000 spending several hours trying to force some truly ancient drivers 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:14.000 onto Windows 11 and macOS, showing up late for the company softball game, 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:18.000 getting in solid six hours of sleep, and then first thing in the morning, 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:22.000 putting together a Linux test bench, adding the gluten print drivers, 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:25.000 connecting the printer, tracking down a random printer test page website. 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:29.000 Hey, voila. Not bad, actually. 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:33.000 I mean, not great, but not bad. Taking some of the joy out of this is the fact 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:36.000 that we are now at $34, including that new printhead, 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:40.000 plus the new ink that we bought earlier, plus paying people to do the troubleshooting 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:44.000 and whatever the test bench hardware cost, but I have this now. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:48.000 In fact, compared to our Epson, the colors are more vibrant, 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:52.000 and our text is more legible. There are a few additional drawbacks, though. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:55.000 It leaves big streaks in the print occasionally. 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:58.000 The yellow seems to pick up lots of tiny specks of cyan 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:03.000 and magenta for some reason, and the ink cartridges, while costing mere pocket change, 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:07.000 only hold enough ink for up to 170 pages of text, 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:12.000 so be prepared to swap them out frequently. Also, it's slow. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:16.000 The manual claims that in a text-only best-case scenario, 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:19.000 it can do five pages per minute. 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:23.000 And for full color, you could be looking at several minutes per page. 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:27.000 So if you're printing off a high-quality photo, make sure to bring some reading materials with you 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:31.000 to pass the time. What you could also do to pass the time is 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:35.000 check out this message from our sponsor. If you guys liked this video, 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:39.000 maybe you'll also enjoy the time we looked at a $95 3D printer. 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:43.000 How bad was it? Ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha! 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:45.000 Well, you just watch it.