Would it be cheaper to make 200 color copies on my all in one printer ($20 refill) or get it done somewhere?

Q: And if so, where is a good place to get it done? I have a Lexmark X3430 printer.

A: You are actually not going to get 200 copies out of one set of cartridges. (the lexmark OEM are only rated for 175 pages on draft mode at 5% coverage) A more realistic estimate is is about 80-90 pages per cartridge. Also even when only printing in black you will be using color as well, this is a hardwired function which cannot be overridden (if you run out of color the black will look faded and washed out). So that is at least 2 set of cartridges at $40 per set. The price tag for 200 copies is now actually sitting around a minimum $80-$120 If you are just doing black and white copies you are looking at about $0.07-0.10 per page. So 200 copies monochrome, going to cost you at most $20. IF you are looking at full color your cost per page jumps up to $.39-$.49 per page. Bringing your cost at most back up to around $80-$100. In terms of time, convenience and quality I would honestly go for the professional copy job. It is going to take a fraction of the time, and if you are only looking for black and white prints a fraction of the cost. Likewise the quality of you copies will be consistently good, whereas by using your home printer, especially with refilled cartridges you will have problems with fading, streaking and inconsistency in your print.

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