Supertank Inkjet Printers Buying Guide
Printing can be an expensive exercise when you have to produce printed copies regularly. The high cost often comes as a result of the bloated price of cartridges used in ordinary inkjet printers. Ink in such printers also runs out frequently making its replacement costly, tedious and sometimes messy.
Due to these challenges, manufacturers have developed innovative supertank printers that generate thousands of documents inexpensively. At Sam's Club, we have supertank printers from top manufacturers that are economical on ink and maintenance.
Brother, HP and Epson are three brands that stand out as some of the best printers we offer our customers. Below is a guide on how to select the right supertank printer for your needs. Let's get started.
What is a supertank printer?
Supertank printers are all-in-one printers with large ink reservoirs enough to serve you for about two years without a refill. The ink tank can be up to twenty or more times the size of ordinary ink cartridges.
By acquiring one, you save yourself the inconvenience that results from ink running out now and then. That's an inevitable challenge with a conventional inkjet printer. You may also want to buy a supertank printer if you desire high-quality print documents and pictures.
We at Sam's Club have an assortment of quality supertank printers that you can buy at members-only prices.
What is the Best Supertank Printer for Me?
You can determine the best supertank printer by assessing your needs. What is the size of your business, for example? How many printed copies do you need, say per month? Do you print photographs?
The good news is that our super printers produce high-quality copies. Your concern should revolve around the running costs and features.
EcoTank By Epson
Epson is arguably the first company to present its customers with printers with refillable onboard reservoirs. The Epson EcoTank product line offers multiple products ranging from Epson Expression ET series (et-2750 ecotank) to the Workforce Pro varieties for businesses.
For bulk printing, Epson has engineered large aluminum bags to replace ordinary toner and ink bottles. This installation is available on Epson Workforce Pro EcoTank printers.
With such a machine in your business, there is no need to have a laser printer. Epson WorkForce ET Pro WF-M5799 and WF-M5299, which are laser printer alternatives, can carry 40,000 pages of ink.
EcoTank printers can cost several times more than some of their competitors. They come with enough ink to print for two years on moderate per-month printing quotas. The machines can be economical in ink usage if you engage in large scale printing.
Brother's Inkvestment Tank
The Inkvestment Tank innovation by Brother is an integration of standard ink cartridges with internal tanks. The cartridges drain into the onboard reservoirs.
The printer can perform thousands of uninterrupted printouts. It records the number of copies to estimate the remaining pages worth of ink remaining. As a result, the machine's approximation of ink volume is more accurate than what you get from built-in controls found in many printers.
Additionally, the printer reports low ink levels and offers to order replacement ink online using its onboard app.
A set of ink tanks, according to Brother, can manage up to 300 copies per month where 60% are black and 40% color pages. If your printer works within this formula, the ink can run for one year.
HP Instant Ink
Instant Ink from HP is ink-level management and subscription program for users of HP supertank printers. You can take advantage of the package that corresponds to your printing requirements. Here are the subscriptions available today:
- Free Printing: 15 pages per month, free of charge
- Occasional Printing: 50 pages per month for $2.99, each additional 10 pages for $1
- Moderate Printing: 100 pages per month for $4.99, each additional 15 pages for $1
- Frequent Printing: 300 pages per month for $9.99, each additional 20 pages for $1
- Business Plan 1: 500 pages per month for $14.99, each additional 20 pages for $1
- Business Plan 2: 700 pages per month for $19.99,each additional 20 pages for $1
Instant Ink is a flat-rate plan for all printouts, whether color, black, partially or fully covered. You can scale up or down as your printing and copy making needs evolve. The printer monitors the ink levels and places orders when the tanks get low.
What are the Different Sizes of Supertank Printers?
SuperTank printers come in different forms and shapes. There are compact desktop types suitable for small office spaces as well as large machines capable of huge workloads in enterprises.
Most of them have two paper trays with a capacity of 500 sheets each. They can handle most paper sizes, including photograph paper and wide-format printouts. Depending on the model, supertank printers can hold enough ink to print between 6,500 and 16,000 pages.
What Are the Advantages of Supertank Printers?
Supertank machines beat ordinary printers for the following reasons:
- Economical for high-print businesses
- Easy to use at home and workplaces
- You can print on many types of paper
- Straightforward refilling process
- Refilling makes them environmentally friendly
- Long printing periods without ink deficits
What to Consider When Buying Supertank Printers
Supertank printers from top-ranking manufacturers exhibit superior performance. The copies are typically similar, though the quality of a low-end copier may vary from that of a state-of-the-art printer. When buying a supertank printer, make these three vital considerations.
- Cost of Ink: Ink cost per page start from 5 cents depending on your manufacturer
- Printer Support: Find a company known to support product users when they have issues
- Printing Volume: You want a machine that can handle your workload without breaking down
Features like Ethernet or Wi-Fi wireless printer connectivity may apply if they are valuable to you. For instance, when you want to print wireless color seamlessly from various devices, a wireless printing connection can be handy.
What Brands of Supertank Printers Does Sam's Club Sell?
Sam's Club sells supertank printers from Epson, HP and Brother.
FAQ - Supertank Printers
What is the difference between ink tank and cartridge printers?
Traditional color inkjet printers have cartridges (small containers) with print heads used to print on the paper. They usually have one color and one black ink cartridge. When the ink runs out, you buy a replacement cartridge.
Ink tank printers, on the other hand, don't have print heads. The printer has separate, refillable ink bottles for cyan, magenta, yellow and black.
Do I need a supertank printer for home use?
Yes. You can find many low-cost supertank printers designed for home and small offices.
What is the more economical printer for business use?
Ink tank printers are more expensive to acquire than comparable cartridge printers. However, they are highly economical for business use since refilling large reservoirs with years of ink is cheaper than frequent replacement of cartridges and print speed is improved. They deliver thousands of prints at a highly reduced cost per page.
Does ink tank printer dry out?
With an ink tank printer, your ink is safe from drying out.
