A new printer that promises savings could fall short

Printer cartridges

Will a new style of printer help you save money on ink? That depends.

A Consumer Reports survey on printers found the number one complaint to be about the high cost of ink, so there was a lot of buzz when Epson introduced its EcoTank printer, which promises to save on ink.

But does it? Consumer Reports tested the claim.

At $480, the new Epson EcoTank ET-2550 printer is far more expensive than most. But the company says its refillable tanks will save you from the high cost of ink cartridges.

Consumer Reports put the EcoTank through the same tests other printers face to determine out how much it really costs for you to own.

Those tests are based on the average amount of printing people do in a month, according to a Consumer Reports survey. That’s 23 pages of text, 9 pages of graphics, and about 9 photos.

At the end of two years, the total cost of the printer and ink is $480 for the Epson EcoTank ET-2550, but only $348 for the $200 HP Officejet Pro 8620 or the $150 Canon Maxify MB5020.

So should you forget the Epson EcoTank?

If you do a lot of printing and plan to keep the printer for a while, Consumer Reports says it could save you money in the long run.

That’s because the cost of ink is different after five years. The total cost of the EcoTank is $542, the HP Officejet Pro is $588, and the Canon Maxify is $786.

If you don’t print a lot, Consumer Reports recommends buying the printer that’s cheaper up front. Both the HP and Canon printers are Consumer Reports Best Buys. The HP is fast at printing quality black text. The Canon is a very good option for printing photos.

Another option is Consumer Reports’ top-rated printer — the $140 Epson Expression Premium XP-620. It prints excellent quality photos and costs about $17 per month in ink.