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Thread ID: 77670 2007-03-18 04:21:00 Monitor number of pages printed Lizard (2409) Press F1
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533945 2007-03-18 04:21:00 I seem to be going through print cartridges like there's no tomorrow, so I thought I would attempt to track the economy of the latest cartridges I've bought. But counting (and recording) each page as it comes out could get real tedious, so I thought there might be a simple, free/cheap program that could do this for me. It's just a single printer on a single computer, so no fancy network stuff needed. Just a program that counts how many pages have been printed between x and y dates. Anyone know of such a program?

Cheers

Lizard
Lizard (2409)
533946 2007-03-18 05:40:00 Most Laser printers have a page count built in. Not your usual inkjets though.....

Or you could look up the model here:

www.consumables.co.nz

Choose the cartridge you would normally use and view the last line of info - it tells you approx how many pages you get from it.

Handy that - I checked mine thus:

C4844A No 10 Compatible Black Cartridge
Product Details:
Approx 1400 pages @ 5% coverage.
pctek (84)
533947 2007-03-18 08:24:00 Thanks pctek - I'm not so much interested in how many pages it theoretically would print, but how many it actually prints.

At work, we use a billing program, but that's more advanced than what I need. I imagine it should be a relatively simple program, to just add up how many pages are sent to each successful job in the print queue.
Lizard (2409)
533948 2007-03-18 09:15:00 Inkjet or Laser? (we still don't know)

As above many laser "self test" printouts will give the number of pages printed.

Start with a new ream of paper. 500 sheets to a ream. I get through about 12-15 reams per printer cartridge (laser).
godfather (25)
533949 2007-03-18 09:15:00 You said you wanted to track the economy of it. Well thats near enough isn't it?
Its because all these cheap printers get you with the cartridges, thats how they make their money.
Now mine probably doesn't do exactly 1400, in fact a review I checked reckoned about 1200.
But thats good enough for me at $19.99 each (not from that site), its why I bought the thing. Instead of the nasty little 200 ppc one I had once.
pctek (84)
533950 2007-03-18 21:27:00 It's an inkjet - HP PSC 2575.

Sorry pctek - I know what you're saying but it's not what I'm after. It's the same as a car review - plenty of car reviews reckon on the fuel economy of a car, but the reality is often quite different.

I started out using genuine HP cartridges, but never kept track of how many pages it printed. Then I used a set of InkPost-refilled cartridges, and I reckon the economy is far less. I've now gone back to the genuine HP cartridges, but I want to have a benchmark to determine what the print economy is - having a rough estimate based on a review isn't enough.
Lizard (2409)
533951 2007-03-18 21:35:00 A quick google came up with this (shareme.com).

Try a search of your own if that's not suitable, eg "print page counter" or "printer page count"
Greg (193)
533952 2007-03-18 23:22:00 A quick google came up with this (shareme.com).

Try a search of your own if that's not suitable, eg "print page counter" or "printer page count"

Thanks Greg - I'll try that when I get home.

I did try a google search, but most of the results seemed to be network-focussed and far too complicated for my purposes.
Lizard (2409)
533953 2007-03-19 00:16:00 This ? (www.amplusnet.com)

But its not free. $69.95 :eek:
Speedy Gonzales (78)
533954 2007-03-19 01:43:00 To conserve your cartridges, I turn my printer off when not using it. It stops the ink drying out through the warmth of the printer. SolMiester (139)
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