For printers with ink cartridges that are intended for private use, it is common that the hardware can be purchased cheaply. For around 50 euros you can get a multifunctional printer that prints, copies and scans. The cartridges are often small and therefore run out quickly. The result: Shortly after purchase, you will need to refill your cartridges. The cost of the cartridges is unpredictable over time.
For printers with ink tanks it is exactly the opposite: The hardware prices are significantly higher, even for a model for private use, than for a comparable cartridge printer. For example, you pay around 180 euros (RRP) for the HP Smart Tank 5105. It promises maintenance costs that are well under a cent for the printed A4 page. The question almost automatically arises as to when it is worth investing more in the hardware.
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Video tip: 4 questions and answers about HP Smart Tank printers
The included ink bottles are sufficient for several thousand pages
A clear difference to the cartridge printer is that the printer comes with ink tanks. Because every ink tank printer comes with an ink supply that can hold up to 6,000 or 8,000 pages1 is designed. The manufacturer assumes an ink supply of up to 3 years3.4 holds. The manufacturer’s information on the range of the ink bottles is usually based on the industry standard ISO/IEC 24711. The standard is a good reference point if you want to compare different printer models with each other.
3-year HP warranty for select HP Smart Tank printers
Purchase one of the eligible printers and complete registration within 60 of the purchase date. Registration requires information about your printer and your address details. You will receive your HP warranty confirmation email within six weeks of registration. All information about the extended HP warranty.
Even an entry-level device like the aforementioned HP Smart Tank 5105 comes with a generous supply of ink ex works. In this case there are three color ink bottles with 50 milliliters each and one black ink bottle with 135 milliliters. According to the ISO standard, this supply is up to 6000 colored and black and white A4 pages1 designed.
In contrast, with a cartridge printer there are usually only starter cartridges in the package that ensure commissioning. Especially in the entry-level segment, they are often printed blank after just a few dozen pages.
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) You will always find a generous supply of ink in the box of an ink tank printer. This also applies if the printer model is intended for use at home, such as the HP Smart Tank 5105.
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A closer look at the scope of delivery of a tank printer will bring you real added value. Because additional black ink bottles are often included. HP provides the Smart Tank models from the 7000 series and the Smart Tank Plus 555 and 570 multifunction printers with an extra bottle of black ink.
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What this means for you: The range automatically increases to a total of 12,000 ISO black and white or 8000 color pages2. Even if you can’t estimate exactly how many pages you’ll actually print, this supply will probably cover several years of use.
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Sample invoice based on repurchased bottles
To get an idea of how cheap the tank printer is in terms of page prices, simply calculate the costs based on the repurchased bottles. At HP, this calculation is particularly simple, as all tank printer models use the HP 31 ink series for color inks and 32XL for black inks.
Color printing is particularly expensive. Therefore, it can be used as an example to show how cheap an A4 color page is with a tank printer. You can get a color bottle of HP 31 from 13 euros. It achieves a range of 8000 ISO A4 pages per color2. In a four-color printing unit, three inks (cyan, magenta, yellow) are responsible for color mixing. That’s why in the example we come to around 39 euros for the color set. Now convert the amount into cents – this results in 3900 cents. Then divide the amount by the range of 8000 DIN or ISO pages2. As a result, an A4 color page costs just 0.49 cents.
Now use the same procedure for the monochrome page. With a bottle starting at around 15 euros and the manufacturer’s range of 6000 DIN or ISO pages1 A black and white page according to the ISO standard costs 0.25 cents.
In both cases the costs are well under a cent, which is unattainably low for both ink cartridge printers and laser devices. With such affordable page prices, you don’t have to worry about misprints or maintenance pages such as a test print before or after a nozzle flush. These super low ink costs also make photo printing with your own printer attractive.
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Cross-check page costs with cartridges of your choice
The calculation is even more clearly in favor of the ink tank printer if you offset the cartridges in your current printer model5. You proceed in the same way as with the page cost calculation for the ink tank printer and use the replacement cartridges as a basis. For your calculation, choose the variants with the highest content – you can usually recognize them by the addition “XL”.
Even with XL yields, you will only achieve several hundred, not several thousand A4 pages (as with the tank device) according to the ISO standard with one cartridge. That’s why you have to add up as many cartridges and their prices until you get close to the range of bottled ink.
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Result: Tank printer with included ink supply paid for itself
In order to achieve the delivery of bottled inks from the tank printer with the cartridge printer, you often spend several hundred euros on cartridges. Therefore, you will recoup the additional costs incurred for the tank device thanks to the ink supply included.
In many cases, you even make a significant plus: outputs of several thousand pages are significantly more expensive, especially for cartridge printers that are intended for use at home and in the home office, than the one-off investment in the tank device that comes with the inks has on board.
HP Smart Tank models at a glance
| HP Smart Tank | 5105 | Plus 555 | Plus 570 | 7005 | 7305 | 7605 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Features | Print, scan, copy | Print, scan, copy | Print, scan, copy, ADF without fax | Print, scan, copy | Print, scan, copy, ADF without fax | Print, scan, copy, ADF with fax |
| ISO printing speed B/W | 12 A4 pages/min. | 11 A4 pages/min. | 11 A4 pages/min. | 15 A4 pages/min. | 15 A4 pages/min. | 15 A4 pages/min. |
| ISO print speed color | 5 A4 pages/min. | 5 A4 pages/min. | 5 A4 pages/min. | 9 A4 pages/min. | 9 A4 pages/min. | 9 A4 pages/min. |
| Aut. Duplex printing | no | no | no | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Print resolution | 4800x1200dpi | 4800x1200dpi | 4800x1200dpi | 4800x1200dpi | 4800x1200dpi | 4800x1200dpi |
| Scan resolution | 1200ppi | 1200ppi | 1200ppi | 1200ppi | 1200ppi | 1200ppi |
| Text range (ISO) included | 6000 pages | 12000 pages | 12000 pages | 12000 pages | 12000 pages | 12000 pages |
| Color range (ISO) included | 6000 pages | 8000 pages | 8000 pages | 8000 pages | 8000 pages | 8000 pages |
| display | No | Line of text | Monochrome touch display | Line of text | Line of text | Monochrome touch display |
| Max. paper capacity | 100 sheets | 100 sheets | 100 sheets | 250 sheets | 250 sheets | 250 sheets |
| Buy here | on Amazon | on Amazon | on Amazon | on Amazon | on Amazon | on Amazon |
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Footnotes/Notes
- Average values for black and composite colors per bottle (cyan/magenta/yellow): Black and composite ink average results per bottle (cyan/magenta/yellow) based on HP testing method and continuous printing of test pages per ISO/IEC 24712. Not based on ISO/IEC 24711 testing method. For printing 6,000 and 8,000 respectively Color test pages require an additional black ink bottle. Actual yield may vary significantly depending on the content of the printed pages and other factors. Some of the ink in the included ink bottles is used to start up the printer. For more information, visit hp.com/learnaboutsupplies.
- Average values for black and composite colors per bottle (cyan/magenta/yellow): Black and composite ink average results per bottle (cyan/magenta/yellow) based on HP testing method and continuous printing of test pages in accordance with ISO/IEC 24712. Not based on test method in ISO/IEC 24711. For printing 8,000 test pages in Color requires an additional black ink bottle. Actual yield may vary significantly depending on the content of the printed pages and other factors. Some of the ink in the included ink bottles is used to start up the printer. For more information, visit hp.com/learnaboutsupplies.
- Smart Tank 500/7000 Series: Based on a volume of 200 pages per month for HP Smart Tank customers. Actual yield may vary significantly depending on the content of the printed pages and other factors. Average yield is based on ISO/IEC 24711 or HP testing method and continuous printing in standard mode. Some of the ink in the included ink bottles is used to start up the printer. For more details, visit www.hp.com/go/learnaboutsupplies.
- Smart Tank 5100 Series: Based on a volume of 150 pages per month for HP Smart Tank customers. Actual yield may vary significantly depending on the content of the printed pages and other factors. Average yield is based on ISO/IEC 24711 or HP testing method and continuous printing in standard mode. Some of the ink in the included ink bottles is used to start up the printer. For more information, visit: www.hp.com/go/learnaboutsupplies.
- HP ink bottles compared to HP printer cartridges: Cost per page based on expected black and composite color (cyan/magenta/yellow) yields per HP testing method and continuous printing of test pages per ISO/IEC 24712. Not based on ISO/IEC 24711 testing method. Actual yield may vary Content of printed pages and other factors vary significantly. Some of the ink in the included ink bottles is used to start up the printer. For more information about levels and range, visit hp.com/go/learnaboutsupplies.
- 3-year HP warranty for selected HP Smart Tank printers: Applies to end users who register within 60 days of purchase at: hp.com/de/tank-warranty
