I rarely use my printer, but when I do, I'm often discouraged to find my ink cartridges have dried out.

Is there any way to get them going again - like applying water to the heads?

I can just about buy a new printer for what it cost me to buy cartridges, and to make matters worse, I have to have a color cartridge in order to get the black one to work!

How about a cheap printer that works with just one cartridge - or a particular brand that does not dry out?

All inkjet printers dry out--try a laser printer instead; they never dry out.

You say nothing about the printer make/model you're using. Most ink jet printers have utility programs as part of the software that will clean the print heads, both lightly and more severely. Have you run a head cleaning utility on your printer?

There are also plenty of sources for compatible ink cartridges--you don't have to pay a lot for a name brand cartridge.

You can find a bunch of cheap (under $100) laser printers here:
http://www.geeks.com/products.asp?cat=PRN

Jeff/CompGuy