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General discussion

If you use an inkjet printer, what do you use?

Apr 29, 2011 8:29AM PDT
If you use an inkjet printer, what do you use?

- Original manufacturer ink cartridges. (Why you choose to do so?)
- Remanufactured inkjet cartridges. (How has it worked out? Any recommendations?)
- Aftermarket third-party ink cartridges. (How has it worked out? Any recommendations?)
- Do-it-yourself ink cartridge refill kits. (How has it worked out? Any recommendations?)
- I get my cartridges refilled by reputable retail stores. (How has it worked out? Any recommendations?)
- Others. (What is it?)
- I don't use inkjet, laser printers all the way!

Note: This post was edited by its original author. on 04/29/2011 on 3:31 PM PT

Discussion is locked

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Both
Apr 29, 2011 11:14PM PDT

In the old days, HP was OK. Sine their 4000-series, quality (of especially software y W-Fi) went so low that I had to move to Canon, which is great.
An old Brother or HP laser do a good job for general printing.

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Some manufacturer, some refilled

I hate the printer I own. At work, we just get our cartridges refilled by Cartridge World (super cheap, and eco-friendly). The one I have at home is a Dell printer, the kind that refuse to print unless the built in page counter isn't at 0. So, unless I buy new ones, the ones from Cartridge World refuse to print, because the stupid printer thinks that the cartridge is empty. I wish printers could tell the difference between refilled and brand new.

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(NT) Was using re-manufactured ink jets. Got inconsistent color.
Apr 29, 2011 11:24PM PDT
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Using after market happily..
Apr 29, 2011 11:30PM PDT

I was also dismayed at the rip off prices for OEM ink cartridges and have used after market refills for years with rarely a problem. I do clean my HP-950 all in one every couple of years. Only issues I have had is when a cartridge does fail and just mail it back with the provided mailer and they give me a new one. No questions or hassle from them. I do shop where I get a 1 year warranty on the failure of the cartridge. I have only had 2 fail over 12 years out of maybe 25 or so cartridges. I figure the money I have saved over buying OEM I can buy many new printers when this one does finally die. As for cleaning I do clean the contacts inside the printer with a coffee filter ever time I change a cartridge. When I remove the cartrdiges a do a thorough cleaning I do take the tope off with a torque driver and get easier access to the guts to clean with damp paper towels. I do wear vinyl gloves. I also turn off the printer anytime its not being used which I was told is the safest park position. This has worked well for me so I feel no need to tweak what is working well.

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If you use an inkjet printer, what do you use?
Apr 30, 2011 12:09AM PDT

I have a fairly old Epson 800 which consumes enormous amounts of ink,about

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Refill or replace?
Apr 30, 2011 1:31AM PDT

It all depends on the printer. I can't always find replacement ink or toner to refill with. I've been refilling since it was called re-inking (ribbons). I just went with inksupply dot com because they had empty carts & the ink needed for one of my inkjets.
For my laser (KM 1600w), I can't find refill toner. I figure that if the refill companies aren't selling the toner itself, than it's not going to be as good as the original stuff. My old HP printer has always been hard to refill, but it can be done. I use that for greeting cards & things I don't care about replicating the artwork precisely on.
I've used cart doc & all of those companies for the chintzy printers at work & they seem fine (enough for reports & e-mails).

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Have found quality cartridge supplier
Apr 30, 2011 1:55AM PDT

I started out refilling my own cartridges and found that to be the cheapest by far. Then Canon did their chip thing and refilling got too complex. I use LD Products for Canon carts and have not had a bad experience in over a year (4 orders). For an MX860, the carts run $5-7, less if you buy more of each. They are at http://www.ldproducts.com/.

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Re-Mfg cartridges
Apr 30, 2011 3:17AM PDT

I have a Canon, an HP Photosmart 6150 and HP Officejet Pro 8500 and I use re-manufactured cartridges in all of them with 99% satisfaction. The 1% refers to when I print photos from my 6150 (seldom) and I use HP cartridges because occasionally the re-mfg. cartridges color may be off a wee bit. For everyday use though they are great and I've NEVER had a problem or malfunction. The economy factor is my first objective and they do save a lot of money for our home office. With these cartridges I can print cheaper than with my laser color printer.
I did search around for suppliers before I selected the one I use now. Some products were not as reliable so caveat emptor. I'm not shilling for the one I've used for 4-5 yrs but will recommend them if you ask.
Toddney

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reman injet cartridges
Apr 30, 2011 3:39AM PDT

I live in Langley B.C. Canada, use an HP Photosmart C5280. I've used SAVE ON CARTRIDGE in downtown Langley (Fraser Highway) to refill my cartridges for years. Andy is straight up enough to test each refill - if it's not up to doing a good job he'll tell the customer & let them make the decision. Highly recommended. TED

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Clones do not work
Apr 30, 2011 4:19AM PDT

I have tried using clones and refills ftom Costco, Walgreens and online and 95% of the time they will not work. It is not worth the aggravation and I have decided to use only originals. I have just switched to a Kodak E3250 that claims to use less ink. Jury still out.

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Do-it-yourself ink cartridge refill kits
Apr 30, 2011 5:29AM PDT

I have been using an HP Office jet Pro k550 for several years and refill my own cartridges. I buy the ink on-line in pints. The cartridges have a date incoded to prevent refill beyond that date but I override it in two ways:
1, If the printer prints a part of a page and stops, Pull out the cartridge with the flashing light above it and put it back, this will usually allow continued printing.
2. If printer stops and the yellow "resume" light is on and you get a message regarding cartridge date, press and hold the "power" button while pressing the "resume" button 3 times. This resets the cartridge date.

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printing hoax
Apr 30, 2011 12:03PM PDT
I am using the same lexmark printer for the last 10 years..the company has been cooperative for any problems (very few) but the ink seems to just flow away. I have tried to get the refills but the printer will not read them as filled , so will not print...there is no reason for the high cost of these inkjets but because the printer is so inexpensive and did not need to be replaced and considering the long time of use, I think I'm about even..and I know that lexmark has to make money somehow. msfig
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ocinkjet.com - Check them out!
Apr 30, 2011 12:26PM PDT

I use HP45 and HP78 cartridges in my 9 year old Photosmart 1115. Walgreens was unsuccessful in refilling my cartridges but I stumbled upon ocinkjet.com. I was hesitant, too, about what to expect but I have had excellent results with their product. I even had the cartridges for a little over a year before I installed them in my printer, but they fired right up and have been working fine for the past few months that they've been installed. I do not print photos on my printer so maybe they wouldn't be as vibrant as OEM cartridges, but for my purposes they meet or exceed my expectations and I can't see any difference in my text or drawings. For about 1/3 or 1/4 the cost of OEM cartridges I'm totally convinced this is the way to go (for me).

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i HAVE A kODAK ALL IN ONE
Apr 30, 2011 1:27PM PDT

I use Kodak larger size economy ink refills. I have owned every major brand: Multiple Epsons, Canon, Brother, and although I LOVED my Epson, who can afford OEM cartridges? I did not get a good result with the remans. Now I love my Kodak... It was a Christmas gift 2 years ago.... I got rid of a BRAND NEW EPSON. I love love love the Kodak because it does EXACTLY what they say it does and so does the INK Go Kodak!!!!

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Original manufacturer ink but find better deals.
May 1, 2011 3:17AM PDT

I have had problems in the past using non OEM ink in printers and I just cant get myself to use them again. I find if I look for bargains ahead of time on E-Bay, Amazon, New Egg and others I will get originals with good chips at about 1/2 the price. You just have to spend some time and stock up a little when a bargain comes around.

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My answer in saving on printer ink is DON'T PRINT SO MUCH.
May 2, 2011 9:43AM PDT

I use HP cartridges because I am very particular with my finished work, which is largely photography.HPOffice Jet Pro l7580 does beautiful work. However, I usually print to PDF files. When a hard copy is definitely needed, I print from the PDF file. Often those perfect copies live in the pdf format and never do get printed. From Acrobat they are easy to view, find, or email, using the Organizer in the Acrobat Professional program. (They can be viewed perfectly without opening the file). So then my answer in keeping ink costs down is "don't print so much!" Or be prudent in what is actually needed in hard copy.
Previously I had an Epson, which I ruined using refilled cartridges which leaked. I believe there is a big difference in refill service, even when done by the same franchise brand name.
Some of these answers are very useful, however.

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Trust
May 3, 2011 2:36AM PDT

Have an HP all in one printer and have read many post on refilled and such ink cartridges and fell it is better to stay with HP original ink cartridges.

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(NT) I use original Canon's as I found results are best
May 6, 2011 11:59AM PDT
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Original Canons work best for me
May 6, 2011 12:03PM PDT

Ive found that I they last a long time and the quality is high. I used after market and they jammed about halfway through a cartridge. They last a long time, and the print quality is also superior. I generally get them for 10 bucks delivered by mail. The color last me about 7 months per set and I go through a black one every couple of months. My printer is an all in one that is a few years old, but is somewhat slow but good quality. Ive also found the cheap printers suck ink as a general rule.

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Original manufacturer
May 22, 2011 8:13AM PDT

My family has three inkjet printers: two Canon MP600-series (they use the same cartridges) and an older HP Photosmart 2610. We also live in a small town where just about the only stores that carry printer supplies are Walmart and Radio Shack. We generally don't do a lot of printing, so even one printer wouldn't get all that much use; the three printers are more for convenience's sake than anything else.

If we did a lot of printing, I'd seriously consider a less expensive ink option; but since we don't go through a lot of ink, and because local purchase options are so limited, I just buy the manufacturers' ink and keep only one spare of each cartridge on hand.

Years ago I used both house-brand and refilled cartridges, and even bought a few refill kits. (Before that, I re-inked my dot-matrix ribbons.) Most of the time the cartridges worked just fine, although the print quality wasn't quite equal to what I got with the manufacturer's cartridges. But I did have a few cartridges that leaked, and two others that (I think) clogged the print heads of my HP printers. I'm sure quality has improved since those days, and I'd consider using either refilled or third-party ink cartridges again if I did that much printing. No more refill kits for me, though; I have better things to do with my time than set up to refill a batch of cartridges, do the actual refilling, and scrub ink off my skin afterward.