Typically, the printer is an important piece of technology that remains perched in the office corner. Printers also tend to be almost as old as the office building – bought long time ago and left by that familiar corner. We change our computers, and almost every other device, but rarely the printer.
A few years ago, Epson designed a new set of printers specifically for markets like Kenya. Epson found that printer buyers were avoiding replacing their cartridges with genuine cartridges due to their high cost. Instead, they would inject low quality inks into the printer and reuse the cartridges.
Epson then designed the Ink Tank System, which as described in the name, is a container that holds ink, instead of the cartridge. Attached to the side of the printer, the Ink Tank System can be refilled directly from ink bottles, with a separate compartment holding each of the 4 ink colors.
In smaller printers, the move solves the issue of having to throw away cartridges every time they get depleted, a move that harmed the environment. There was also the old issue of having to deal with a cartridge where one of the inks needed replacement, but the other inks were still aplenty.
Another benefit of the Ink Tank System is that it brings down the cost of printing per page, making the L1300 an economical device to have.
One of the drawbacks I notice on the printer is lack of an Internet port or even WiFi. However, the L1300 is a workstation, high performance device that is targeted to professionals.
It takes in up to A3 sized paper, and can take even thicker papers that other printers cannot handle. This would be therefore be a good fit for use cases such as architectural plans and other high usage environments where quality is also required.
It seems, the printer is no longer just the machine at the corner.
