Inkjet Cartridges - Replace or Refill? - Comments

Bob,
I have to take issue with one statement in your report. You state that "it doesn't hurt to try". Unfortunately that isn't the case sometimes. In my case I bought knock-off ink carts for my HP1100. They were half the price and worked just great until one of them leaked. The result was a printer that no longer functioned and a $150 call to HP to get a replacement printer.

I just wanted to point out that this isn't necessarily a risk free activity.

Tony

Last year, I spent $200 in ink with the majority in black. Are low cost laser printers a smart investment? Have you completed a cost analysis comparing costs for a year of printing?

EDITOR'S NOTE: No I haven't, but it sounds like a laser would be a much better option for you. Look at the manufacturer websites for the average cost per printed page and you can make the call.

I have and used for several years a Epson 777. I got stung with the high price refills at retail stores once and then found two or three good places that sold refills much cheaper with good results on print, pics and also S&H. One sent some refills that didn't put out and after a call they said try all of them. I did and none worked so I sent them back and received a like quantity of refills plus they paid the S&H.
I now have a Canon MP 130 which uses cheaper refills and so far all goes well.

I have been refilling my HP45 and HP41 ink cartridges for a couple of years with no major messes and no printer or print quality problems. Using a supplier who provides high quality inks, easy-to-use tools and provides cartridge-specific instructions that a 10-year-old could follow is a key component of success in this endeavor.

Another important consideration is to refill only printer manufacturer's brand cartridges that were originally purchased new. Buying refurbished cartridges from a refiller presents a risk in that the purchaser has no idea how many times, or, how carefully that cartridge has been refilled. Also,
refilling cartridges before they run completely dry is important. Allowing the cartridge to run completely out of ink before refilling it, reduces the likelyhood that the cartridge will work properly even after it is carefully refilled. This is another unknown variable that you encounter by purchasing from a refiller.

Refilling is a safe bet only when refilling high quality cartridges with high quality inks under known and controlled conditions. If you are not willing to follow these guidelines, you are better off in the long run to allow the printer manufacturers to gouge you for the price of their brand name refills.

Chip resetters are available for those carteidges which have embedded chips. Try a Google search or perhaps visit VersionTracker.com.

How about listing all those printers having any limitation device, electronic or otherwise, which would prevent or limit one's ability to refill an ink cartridge. In order to make an intelligent selection, I would need to know this, BEFORE I buy my next printer! Thank you for an interesting article.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I would love to have such a list. If you can find a link, please post it here.

Refilling is the way to go. I have Lexmark 1150 & Epson R300 printers & have had no probs refilling with Island InkJet inks. HUGE savings as well. Rock on!

One thing to consider when purchasing a printer is the total cost of ownership. I bought Canon printers (an S750 for me and an iP1500 for my daughter) because the new cartridge is just an ink tank - the print head stays on the printer and lasts much longer. (The print head is expensive when it finally fails - it's often cheaper to replace the printer!)

Both genuine Canon and 3rd-party ink cartridges are therefore much cheaper than those for other makes, where the entire print head is changed. For instance, I get black cartridges for the S750 for the UK equivalent of $4.50.

Another consideration is the type of colour cartridge used in the printer. If it's a combined cartridge with 3 colours in it, you end up throwing away unused ink when one colour runs out, whereas printers which use separate cartridges for each colour avoid that issue.

As a small home-based business operator, my needs are mostly for black ink. After fiddling around refilling cartridges for my HP - not always successfuly - I purchased a small mono laser printer by Oki (the B4200 model) well over a year ago and have no regrets whatsoever. It cost less than $200. and cartridges are about $35.00. I am still on my original toner cartridge, which started flashing low-toner only a few weeks ago after a light to moderate load of printing since purchase. Speed-wise, it rivals the industrial Canon printer I use at my day job. I love my Oki.

An Epson Stylus C64 printer came with a package deal I purchased last year. Although I use almost exclusively black, the colored ink is used up each time I start up the machine. Replacement cartriges cost $45. I saw the printer advertised on the web for $43.50. Guess that shows where the profits are.
I opened up a used cartrige to try to figure out if I could use refill ink. It seems not. Also the chip seems to prohibit this.
Is there a manufacturer of affordable printers that does not use these safeguards? That allows the user to refill the color and black ink with a product of the customers choice,not the manufacturers?