“Leo Tolstoy, wordy fellow that he was, used a lot of ink. He was also on the frugal side, eventually renouncing his fabulous inheritance, trying to free his serfs and opting to stay in his kid sister’s convent. So you’ve got to wonder,” writes SmartMoney columnist Anne Kadet “what kind of ink-jet printer would he use?”

To test the question, Kadet looks at some ink-jet printers that promise lower per page costs than their rivals, which “sell printers at a loss and make huge profits on the ink.” To test the new Kodak ESP 5 and its $10 black cartridge, Kadet tried printing Tolstoy’s War and Peace, but she only got “up to page 317, where Rostov hears that the czar has been hit with a cannonball.” The cost? Three cents a page.