You knew it was true, but finally there’s a study confirming that inkjet printers are filthy, lying thieves.

According to the report, an independent lab evaluated how much ink was left in a cartridge when a printer reported that the cartridge was out of ink. Results varied by manufacturer and printer model, but on average more than half the ink was still in the cartridges when the printers said to throw them away.

Epson printers were the champs, using more than 80% of the ink before demanding replacement; HP, Canon, Brother, Lexmark all posted varying scores on the way down to the bottom position held by Kodak’s EasyShare 5300, which wasted 64% of the ink in its cartridges.

There are lots more variables – ink lost to cleaning processes, the cost per page for different printer models, etc. – but the study certainly confirms our fears about the printer industry, which seems to have given up any pretense of caring about sturdy construction or economical operation.

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