Printer Ink cartridges?

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Originally Posted By: greenjp
Originally Posted By: daman
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I take my HP cartridges to Cartridge World and swap them out for refills. I've been doing so for about 3 years now. They give you a little card they stamp and when they've stamped it 9 times you get one free refill. The prices are a lot better than buying new cartridges. So far so good.

How much is a swap out?

Can't be less than the ~$1 per that these things go for on ebay, and you don't even have to leave your house. I'm telling you folks, if you're just a home user you've got almost nothing to lose by trying the knock offs.

Right but if when the cartridge arrives and your printer don't recognize it your SOL.
 
I have, in the past, purchased "expired" HP cartridges. My printer gets very little use so I end up replacing them about once a year whether I use the ink or not. So far, they have performed well. Of course, there's always risk involved because you don't know about the conditions in which they were stored.
 
Originally Posted By: daman
Originally Posted By: greenjp
Can't be less than the ~$1 per that these things go for on ebay, and you don't even have to leave your house. I'm telling you folks, if you're just a home user you've got almost nothing to lose by trying the knock offs.

Right but if when the cartridge arrives and your printer don't recognize it your SOL.

Worst case you might be out $11, and that's if eBay's buyer protection doesn't pick up the tab. If they work, you're ahead by nearly $150 or 14x (using my HP02 example). In this case I think SOL is being faced with paying retail for OEM cartridges!
 
5 pack Canon carts: $80
5 pack outlaw carts: $11

You'll have to have a lot of bad carts for that math to equal out.
 
2 words for anyone that prints infrequently

Brother Laser.

Starter cartridge lasted 2.5 reams

11$ aftermarket toner is on 1 year and counting.

If I need color for that once a year event I take it somewhere and print it.
 
Quote:
2 words for anyone that prints infrequently
Brother Laser.
Starter cartridge lasted 2.5 reams
11$ aftermarket toner is on 1 year and counting.
If I need color for that once a year event I take it somewhere and print it.


This is exactly what I said in an earlier response.
But get the Combination Unit that Prints, Scans & Copies.
 
I get my printer cartridges and ink free.

I've been scrounging used cartridges and refilling them for years now. Yeah, I have to tinker with them a bit, but I get them going. A clogged print head can be steam cleaned over a teapot kettle and I've learned a bunch of other tricks. For example, sometimes you have to clean the contacts with an eraser. At some point the cartridge dies and you just start over.

The ink comes from "empty" cartridges. I just scored a bunch of 940s, they're my favorite. Cut the label, pop them open and remove the innards, pierce the bag inside and drain the ink. Sometimes it's just a few drops and sometimes you get lucky and the cartridge is "juicy". Hey, it's good quality ink.

One problem is you can't do this with the newer chipped cartridges. My printers all use older non-chipped cartridges so I'm OK for now. The only problem is it's getting harder to find these older cartridges, so someday the game will be over.

Every 3 or 4 months I have to give our printers a good once-over. Cleaning, refilling, tinkering with them. Yeah, it's a bit messy and time consuming, but I find it rewarding. It's sort of like a hobby. I'll do it 'till I get tired of it.

Keeping the printers going is another interesting challenge. They're designed to be disposable, so they're not easy to work on. Every few years they need a deep cleaning. The mechanisms inside get gunked-up with ink, and then even a good cartridge can't properly print. This is the point when most printers get tossed in the trash. I hate to see an otherwise working machine get thrown away. So I'll get in there and clean out the gunk. Again, I find it rewarding. It's interesting how they're put together.
 
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Originally Posted By: Subdued
I left the inkjet money grab years ago. Laser all the way.

Considering the new inkjets are cheaper than color laser it really all boils down to: do you print weekly or not.
 
Originally Posted By: Subdued
I left the inkjet money grab years ago. Laser all the way.


My Officejet Pro 8500a has a cost per page significantly lower than the Color Laserjet 2605dn it replaced.

The CLJ had 4 (CMYK) >$100 cartridges good for about 2.5k pages each.
The 8500 has 4 (CMYK) < $40 cartridges good for 1500-2.5k pages each.

To get lower cost inkjet you have to stop at the consumer models and step up to the "office" models.

That being said, for the Inkjet I use either Costco refills ($10/ea; takes an hour) or the genuine HP OEM. The printer has developed a "hate affair" with the Costcos so I'm back to OEM.
 
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I don't want to breathe toner particles, so I'm using a monochrome Epson Workforce WF M1030 inkjet printer. Haven't found a way to refill and reset the single cartridge, so I buy inexpensive third party cartridges.

hotwheels
 
Originally Posted By: daman
Right now I need to have a color printer.(kids)


You may want to look into refillable external bulk ink tanks that are available for many models of printers.

hotwheels
 
Originally Posted By: hotwheels
Originally Posted By: daman
Right now I need to have a color printer.(kids)


You may want to look into refillable external bulk ink tanks that are available for many models of printers.

hotwheels

I seen that but past experience with refills is they never lasted long and with these new chip cartridges it probably has a higher failure rate yet.
 
Originally Posted By: daman
Right now I need to have a color printer.(kids)


Samsung makes some inexpensive colour laser options.
 
Originally Posted By: daman
Originally Posted By: hotwheels
Originally Posted By: daman
Right now I need to have a color printer.(kids)


You may want to look into refillable external bulk ink tanks that are available for many models of printers.

hotwheels

I seen that but past experience with refills is they never lasted long and with these new chip cartridges it probably has a higher failure rate yet.


I used to buy ink in pint-size containers and refill my original cartridges without issues. I did need a chip resetter for the cartridges, but that came with the refill kit that also contained the necessary syringe, needle, and silicone plugs.

hotwheels
 
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