Refilled (remanufactured) ink jet cartridges...

[mrsilv04]

It appears that my ink jet printer is now sufficiently old enough that Wal*Mart is not stocking the cartridges for it anymore.

What luck have others had with these remanufactured cartridges that are sold all over places like eBay?

If the seller has a very high rating (99.5%) mainly selling remanufactured cartridges, is it a safe buy?

Sure, I could buy a new printer, but why replace a perfectly good printer that does everything that I need it to do?

 

[stranger706]

My wife and I have been having problems with print quality using reman cartridges. They're so cheap though its hard to resist. I got 5 of them a few months ago. After my stash is gone Im probably going to go back to HP cartridges.

 

[John_K]

Tried buying a reman one on Ebay, stopped working soon after installation.

Tried refilling one at Walgreens, they said "it failed our test so it's free, but try it anyway it might work." Real confidence inspiring (haven't tried it yet.)

I'm going back to genuine OEM cartridges.

John

 

[Mr Nice]

Just buy a new one.

 

[RoGuE]

I have always had bad luck with the refilled cartridges causing smeared words on the paper after it printed. Went back to New ones and never looked back.

 

[tomcat27]

If you are printing photos, dont do it, as the off-brand inks will fade quickly. if you are just doining general printing, take a chance. I ordered cartridges in the winter - bad move - theyh all froze during shippment and were leaking. Just a thought, if you go for a new printer, consider the Kodak printers - while the initial cost is a little higher, the replacement ink cartridges are much cheaper. you can get a full set (color and black) for $25

 

[MONKEYMAN]

Most of my printers are HP. It has been hit and miss buying re-manufactured and a hassle if you need to return/exchange them by mail. But, I have 7 HP inkjet printers. I found if I get a new HP cartridge and refill it myself I have no problems. Also, I just have 3 or so cartridges I rotate so that the printer ink status will not have to be fooled (which is a little bit of a hassle). I do not print in color. I find them harder to refill.

I did buy an HP 56 re-manufactured one at Ink Stop for $11.11 (60 % off). The store manager told me up front the ones from that vendor had about a 30% fail rate. The good thing is if it fails, you can just go back to the store since they have 100% guarantee. Ink Stop changed their vendor due to the poor quality of the last one.

 

[StevieC]

I have an HP printer that I used to carry with me on the road when visiting my restaurants and I would print reports on it daily. I always had my cartridges refilled by a place in a local mall.

They were able to refill the same cartridge for me on average about 10 times before the nozzles started giving up.

Now I have a Brother all-in-one that I just bought and I intend to do the same thing.

Refilling the cartridge saves my company about 30% and I like it because it saves the environment and teaches these printer companies not to be gangsters about their cartridge prices, plus I get to support a local guy working hard.

 

[Kruse]

If you print mostly black and white, get a cheap laser printer.

 

[Greggy_D]

Originally Posted By: Kruse
If you print mostly black and white, get a cheap laser printer.


This. I'll never ever go the inkjet route again.

 

[SrDriver]

I have a Samsung Color Laser printer that I paid just over $100.00 on sale at Office Max.

I have a Epson Ink Jet that prints on printable CD/DVDs too. For ink cartridges I order from the following web site and have for years.

Link To Web Site

I use their compatible cartridges.

 

[Mike Thompson]

Local Costco refills pretty cheap, take it in and they will do it while you wait. Anyone tried them? I've tried a couple refills from various places but lousy luck.
Mike

 

[StevieC]

I dunno if you have Island Inkjet in the states or Mr. Cartridge but this is who I use (whatever is closer at the time) and they work excellent without issue.

They use an oil based ink and not water based. Apparently this is better for the nozzles. Being a BITOG-er I wouldn't have anything but oil in my ink.

 

[brianl703]

Originally Posted By: Greggy_D

This. I'll never ever go the inkjet route again.


I bought my mom a laser printer (Samsung ML-2010, the ML-2510 is the current model) to replace the inkjet she had. I took the old inkjet and crushed it in a vise. A fitting end for that POS.

As far as DIY refilling inkjet cartridges, I never had any luck with that. The refilled cartridges did not work well at all, and in one case, leaked all over the place.

What I find odd is that many businesses are using inkjet printers for things (like printing invoices) for which lasers are far more suited. I don't know if it's that they don't know that lasers are available or that they think the free inkjet they got with the purchase of a PC is a great deal.

 

[StevieC]

Speaking of Laser... We have an all-in-one fax, laser, scanner, copier made by Sharp at the office that is networked and about 30 people print to all the time. (Probably thousands of pages a week) It does colour, stapling, binding, duplexing, and I think there is a "Get me a coffee $!#@" button as well.

It is one heck of a machine, and fast. It even lets you scan over the network...

We have had it in the office for the last 7 years and it just keeps on going... We call it Sherman on the network, for Sherman Tank!

It's probably too expensive to be home grade, but shows that the technology is there if a company wants to build such a device.