ink consumption for photosmart premium C309a

[barn221]

I've had the photosmart premium C309a less than 2 weeks and have printed a mere 110 pages of which only 7-8 have been color photos (about 3/4 page, from i-photo contact sheet option) and have had to replace the yellow ink already, plus the magenta and black are at 5% and cyan is at 50 %.  Love the quality (had an hp 6100 series printer before) but is this machine going to be an ink gobbler?  Do the XL cartridges really double the print volume and are combo packs in the colors available in XL (only black 564 XL seems available on hp supply web site)?

[DexterM · Accepted solution]

Hi, the ink cartridges that come with the printer in the box will run out much quicker than the normal cartridges. and also, the XL cartridges usually have 3 times more ink when compared to a regular size cartridge.

[barn221]

Thanks for the info:  I wondered about the cartridges that come in the box.  So, just a little ink to get you started?  Will try to find color combo pack in XL. 

[work2long]

Installed C309, printed one test 4x6 photo and tried to print a few pages from two of the computers attached to network.  After about 20 pages, the Cyan cartridge ran out.  Had to run to the store on the first day of ownership, to buy new cartridge so that I could install/test on 3rd network attached computer.  Yes, the starter cartridges probably help to prime the heads and flush out any manufacturing/shipping solvent.  But, couldn't they last more than a few hours? 

[DexterM]

20 pages and a 4x6 photo? Umm... yeah, that's how much the introductory cartridges are supposed to print. IMO, you cant really ask much more from an introductory cartridge.

The ink life of a cartridge is inversely proportional to your printer usage. The more you use the printer, the lesser time they last.

[aydu]

I just set up an HP AIO and did not notice that the cartridges indicated anything other than the normal stock number.  Apparently HP packs the "light" version of the cartridge with new printers but sells the "full" versions at retail, using the same cartridge identification number.

If so, I wonder how many people have returned their printers after finding out that the cartridges provided run out of ink too quickly? 

It might be in HP's interest to put some indication on the provided cartridges, letting consumers know that although the stock number is the same, the product they got is different than the retail version. 

It would certainly be in the user's interest to know this, as you can't see what is actually in the product.

As business moves past the "greed is good" phase that we are currently wallowing in, it might be a good idea for HP to actually give the purchaser of their equipment the real use experience out of the box.  The few pennies of extra ink provided by a full cartridge at start up would give the customer an accurate picture of their ink needs, and prevent their intitial experience with the printer being one of frustration.

Just a thought!!

[PeteC2]

The solution though well meant, was incorrect in this case.  Some HP printers indeed do come with "starter" or "complimentary" ink carts, but not the C309a.  If the included carts are not standard, then they will be clearly marked as such on the box!  The C309a comes with standard 564 carts.

However, there is a a sound reason that the initial carts will have a low yield:  It is stated in the user's manual, that some ink is used to initialize the print head the first time the printer is set up, and that this can affect the yeild of the initial ink carts.  The previous C7280 already had some head-priming lubricant in the head, even before installing the carts, I suspect that the C309a may not, and the amount of ink required to prime and initialize the print head is somewhat more.  At first, the ink usage surprised me as well!

If you are used to the printers with the ink jets in the cartridge, of course they do not require any ink usage for initial set up, like the built in heads do.

I will be keeping an eye on subsequent carts for my 309a, but I think that it is legit that the first carts will print fewer pages.

[dontubelieveit]

Would be interested in knowing what others are experiencing with ink consumption for continued use of the C390a?  The cartridges installed at setup lasted for eight printed pages.  The second purchase of XL cartridges barely performed any better....under one dozen of the same pages.  My operating system is MacOSX10.5.6  I have checked settings, updated drivers and absolutely nothing has made a difference.  The quality and appearance of this printer is exceptional - especially compared to the Epson Artisan 800, which I tried prior to this printer.  Ink consumption for both is unbelievable and extremely disappointing.  The printed pages were standard copies - not photos.

Any ideas to control the bleeding of these cartridges would be appreciated.             

[Bob_Headrick]

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dontubelieveit wrote:

Would be interested in knowing what others are experiencing with ink consumption for continued use of the C390a?  The cartridges installed at setup lasted for eight printed pages.  The second purchase of XL cartridges barely performed any better....under one dozen of the same pages.  My operating system is MacOSX10.5.6  I have checked settings, updated drivers and absolutely nothing has made a difference.  The quality and appearance of this printer is exceptional - especially compared to the Epson Artisan 800, which I tried prior to this printer.  Ink consumption for both is unbelievable and extremely disappointing.  The printed pages were standard copies - not photos.

Any ideas to control the bleeding of these cartridges would be appreciated.             

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I believe there is a bit of misinformation in this thread.  As far as I know the cartridges supplied with the printer are "standard", there are no "introductory" cartridges good for only a few prints.  You can see the expected (ISO Standard) page results here for the C309a.  Page yields in the ISO standard are based on continuous printing.  If you print a page or two, wait a while, print another page or two, etc., the page yield would be smaller due to servicing overhead but even in the worst cases the results presented here suggest some not-normal issue.

Some amount of ink will be used in the initial priming of the ink delivery system with the first cartridges, but I would be surprised if this is more than the equivalent of 1/3 of a cartridge.

If you are only getting twelve printed pages for the XL cartridges I would suggest something is wrong and you should call service (at 1-800-HPINVENt in the US, see here for contact information worldwide).  Even if this was full page 8.5x11 photos I would expect more like 50-100 full pages based on the photo yield information here.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, Microsoft MVP Printing/Imaging

[work2long]

Should have bought a laser All-in-One.

Have used A-i-O printers because I need Fax for medical communications (HIPAA folks avoid email).

I’d guess the 30sec priming for first page spits out enough ink equal to a dozen or more pages.

(HP’s outrageous claim of 33ppm certainly doesn’t include the 30sec first page “initialization” ink spitting.)

 

Even though it is illegal, I get a bunch of junk faxes, day and night.

Each junk “come on” wakes up the 309a which spits out a bunch of ink to print the junk garbage.

Wish I had bought a laser All-in-One. 

(Two prior HP AiO, incl HP710 were not as awful ink wasters.  Now, I guess I need to look beyond HP.)