Nothing's Quite so Frustrating

Is there anything more frustrating than a computer printer?
I will grant you, dear Printer-Lover, that it is indeed amazing what the modern printer can do in terms of photos, printouts, color copies, etc. But there are times when I feel deeply scammed by the printer makers' strategy for selling ink. I've had two ink jet printers that lock down the entire device when one of the ink cartridges is low. Right now, in fact, there is an HP PSC 750 sitting on my desk which is capable of printing, copying, and scanning. But because the color ink got too low, I am unable to do anything with it. At all. Not scan, not print in black and white, which is the cartridge I just replaced. Now my hands are tied until I come up with the $35 for the color cartridge. Grrr!
I can only mutter threats and post a rant to my blog. I had planned to scan some nice artwork to post to please your eyes and provoke deep peace-inducing thoughts. Instead, I'm stirring up the anger I'm sure that you, too, have felt toward the makers of ink-jet scammers, I mean printers. Grrr again!
We have the same situation at home with the Epson Stylus Photo 820, whose black cartridges cost $26 and color cartridges cost $22. What's up with that? Don't tell me that it costs more to make a single color black ink cartridge than it does to make a five color cartridge. This printer, too will lock down and refuse to operate if either of the cartridges is out. We only paid $50 for the printer in the first place. It makes a heck of a lot more sense to go buy a new printer! Believe me it won't be an Epson. Grrr yet again!
Apparently, Kodak offers a printer with cheaper ink, but I don't know about its lock-down policy. I'm tempted to try it with $10 black ink refills and $15 color refills. Has anybody ever had a printer that did not do this?