Someone took the time to start a class action lawsuit against printer Mfg. The short fills are no longer a hidden item. You'll see that it lists the fact that they are lower capacity.

Bought a Brother laser printer/scanner/copier/fax... and the details clearly show good for 1250 pages Est. The refill is good for 2500 pages.

By chance I got included in one against Epson, so I took the $20 and a $20 store credit. Lets see: Printer $99, rebate $20, store rebate Comp USA $20, store debit card $20. That makes the printer $39 plus taxes that I paid.

Class action $20 check, plus $20 store rebate (that I'll never use)

In theory the printer cost me -$1

I refill my own cartridges. It's sometimes a mess and sometimes easy, once I get the holes drilled and plugs made. A small phillips screw works well for multiple use.

Bought a bulk ink refill (tubes and vats and all that junk) for the Epson, that was expensive, but equals 5 refils at about $59 each, so in the end it cost $100 less.

If anyone wants a free printer, without any cartridges, I have an HP 722C, slightly used. You pay the shipping it's yours.

I print all my photos at stores now, because it's better and cheaper than paying for a printer, paper and ink.