Calculating printer costs

If you own an inkjet printer it won't be long before you realise that the cost of the printer is far less than the cost of consumables for it.

I have a great HP printer which has separate colour cartridges for 5 colours and black so I only change cartridges when I run out of a colour - it's more cost effective than replacing a composite cartridge which has multiple inks in it because you only replace a colour when you're out of it.

However, I'm always curious about what ink costs and how much my printer really costs to run. I found, courtesy of OfficeWatch.com this calculator from the American Consumer site which helps you calculate what your printer costs. You type in how many pages in black and white, colour and photos you print a week and it calculates the cost of your printer over 3, 5 and 7 years. It's an eye opener!