Digital BW, The Print

Radio-Canada aired a TV program last year about Epson's chipped ink
carts. They tested 30 empty 220ml cartridges supplied by photographers
in the Montreal area. Those carts with the less ink still had 21ml of
ink while some had more than 50ml of ink left in them. On average,
empty carts still contained 30ml of ink.

Epson's 220ml ink carts cost $112.00 at B&H in New York. An empty cart
with 50ml of ink left means trowing away $25.00 worth of ink. It also
means that a lot of ink ends up in landfills.

And if Epson prices the cartridges based on the usable volume of ink,
that means that 220ml of usable ink now cost a lot more. The test also
showed that the usable volume of ink varies greatly.

Epson Canada's response to one of the photographers involved in the
test is that it's normal for some ink to remain in an empty cartridge
to prevent air from entering the cartridge. However, Epson was unable
to say exactly how much ink must remain the the cartridge. Is it 10ml
or 50ml or more?

Epson Canada declined an on camera interview  with Radio-Canada, which
also reported that on March 25th, 2005 the Superior Court of
California authorized a class action against Epson.

Anyone have any information about the outcome of the class action in
California ?

Cheers,
André