Omega-TI Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Does anyone have any experience with remanufactured ink cartridges in their inkjet printer? I'm getting tired of dumping mass amounts of money into my printer, so I looked on eBay and found << THIS LINK >> what do you you think? The price seems great, four for less than the price I've been paying for one. But that old motto, "You only get what you pay for" comes to mind. Should I expect the ink to clog the printer? Will it run, are the colors just as bright? I fully expect it to void the warranty, but for the savings, I'm thinking, hmmmmm...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Have you looked online to see if there were reviews or complaints for remanufactured cartridges from this source? That's probably your best answer, as remanufactured cartridges are common enough that there will be a paper trail if there are problems. . . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted April 6, 2014 Author Share Posted April 6, 2014 Have you looked online to see if there were reviews or complaints for remanufactured cartridges from this source? That's probably your best answer, as remanufactured cartridges are common enough that there will be a paper trail if there are problems. . . That is a good idea, I'll see what I can turn up. Thanks. Hopefully someone here has some first-hand experience too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 In my professional experience, if it does not happen right away, third-party "re-manufactured" ink and toner cartridges will eventually ruin equipment. The majority of printer problems with which I have had to deal were the result of third-party re-mans: clotted heads, inconsistent coloring, streaks and lines (especially pronounced with laser printers as the toner sticks within the fuser/drum mechanism,) and so on. In most cases the original ink cartridges are refilled and the chip somehow reset. They will be less expensive than OEM or compatibles since these refillers do not have to build the actual cartridge, and they can use inks and toners with higher or lower density. The results of the refilling can be inconsistent, as well, so while a long run of cartridges may work adequately, there is one out there with your name on it which will ruin your printer. I had a customer printing posters and long banners on an Epson ESC printer. (They should have gone to a print shop but, oh well.) For one big project they had bought a bunch of reman inks and they would up spending a good bit of time adjusting the color compensation, and on their last poster they had batches of missing color. I think they wound up giving up on that one. I guess they wind up being like Windows Vista: you are either really really happy, or really really pissed off, with nothing between. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted April 6, 2014 Author Share Posted April 6, 2014 In my professional experience, if it does not happen right away, third-party "re-manufactured" ink and toner cartridges will eventually ruin equipment. I guess they wind up being like Windows Vista: you are either really really happy, or really really pissed off, with nothing between. Damn, I was afraid of that. I can easily spend more on ink in one month than the printer cost me brand new, I still have no clue which is the best way to go. It may be cheaper to buy a new printer if I get 'that cartridge with my name on it', or it may just be one big headache having to mess with inconsistent inks and results. I guess for now I'll pass. Thanks for your input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Hatter Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 I bought a couple of these cheap remanufactured ink carts for my HP printer a few years ago. What I found is that out of the 2 I purchased, 1 did not work at all, my printer kept giving me a message which said "this is not an HP ink cartridge", something to that effect. The other cart worked, but did not last very long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 (edited) I'm paying DKK 25 for compatible cartridges instead of DKK 159 for originals. Been running 6 sets down now. Moderate use. No problems whatsoever. I'm guessing self-tests eat cartridges for breakfast. Will possibly look into buying a laser sometime soon. Edited April 6, 2014 by sometimes99er Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted April 6, 2014 Author Share Posted April 6, 2014 I'm paying DKK 25 for compatible cartridges instead of DKK 159 for originals. Been running 6 sets down now. Moderate use. No problems whatsoever. I'm guessing self-tests eat cartridges for breakfast. Will possibly look into buying a laser sometime soon. I've been looking into that alternative too I'm figuring if I just use the Ink Jet for photos, cartridge labels, etc. I'd save a few bucks. This is what I've seen as a BEST BET so far: << CLICK HERE >> And the price for a toner cartridge that will do 1,200 copies (supposedly) seems reasonable << CLICK HERE >> This means, not counting paper, a guy could download and print off the whole TI-Writer manual for $2.61. Works for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lee Stewart Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 If you deal with a refiller that's been around awhile, who is local and whose shins you can kick, that's usually a good deal. I've been dealing with Cartridge World for years for my laser printers with very good results. I had a toner cartridge that started streaking long before its time was up and they replaced it with no questions asked. The quality has been very good. CW also does inkjet carts, but I have not used them for that because I've been relying on the lasers. ...lee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+acadiel Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I usually get my refills from Meritline. I have a Canon MX850 (probably about 6 years old). I usually order a bucket of refills at once from Meritline: http://www.meritline.com/showproduct.aspx?ProductID=29252&SEName=canon-cli-8-ink-compatible-with-new-chip-combo-5 Four sets sets me back $19.95 plus shipping (sometimes they have free shipping codes), and I've really only had maybe one in probably 50 go bad. For that price, I just tossed it and put another one in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Every now and then you'll come across a cartridge or tank (there is a difference here) that messes up your printer. Clogs the head, leaks, or has a chemistry that isn't compatible with the cheap plastic. Cartridges with sponges/blotters AND heads in them are the least reliable variants on the aftermarket. Cartridges that are tanks only are much more reliable. It has been my direct experience over 20 years that aftermarket ink is not as consistent (in many aspects) as factory ink. You get what you pay for. Laser printers are far more tolerant of lower quality aftermarket materials and toner. It's just the nature of the beast. My wife stocked up, actually took the truck, came home with a load of printers for $15.95 each. When the carts go bad we just dump the printer and open up a new one. I consider it ink with all the trimmings. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMole Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 It should be pointed out that there is no reason why on-brand ink should be so expensive except for the fact that they sell the printers with next to no margin. It's a horrible business model that in the end will cost the consumer much more and we should feel like it's our duty as properly educated consumers to look for "aftermarket" solutions for ink. As with any consumable, there are inferior products out there and there are excellent products out there. As it becomes more and more mainstream to look elsewhere for printer cartridges there will develop a whole range of products in different quality segments for each type of buyer (just like with gas, or oil in a car), and you will have the experiences of so many others before you to lean upon when making a decision. Bottom line, it is not ok for manufacturers to charge insane margins on top of consumable goods that lock you into a specific vendor, take a stand and look elsewhere for those products. Oh, and as pointed out above: when you're looking at tanks only (Canon, Epson, ...) instead of cartridges with built-in printer heads (HP, Lexmark, ...) there's really very little chance of running into major problems. And with the remanufactured cartridges for HP and Lexmark type printers the worst that'll happen is that you get a bad cartridge (printer head completely worn out) and you wasted your money. tl;dr: go for it! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+acadiel Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 It pays if you use the tank only approach like I do to keep buying the same vendor; thus I've been using those Meritline brand ones for the past four or five years. Don't switch around because of the aforementioned quality issues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 Thanks for all your help and advice guys. I decided to give this guy a chance as he's apparently sold a TON of these and still has a 100% rating. I've been paying around $24.00 per color per tank and something had to give. The man was right, their business model sucks for the consumer when they bait you with the printer cheap, and then hose you on the ink. Hopefully this ink works out and they priced themselves right out of my wallet. I still miss the good old days of the TI Impact Printer (Epson MX80) where the ribbons were dirt cheap and one could print forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkeey Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 The whole reason I bought a cheap color laser printer 7 years ago was because I was sick and tired of dealing with ink catridges.. They would always dry up or clog up before I consumed the whole thing.. I am still on my original toners from 7 years ago. I don't print photos, so a laser does just fine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 The whole reason I bought a cheap color laser printer 7 years ago was because I was sick and tired of dealing with ink catridges.. They would always dry up or clog up before I consumed the whole thing.. I am still on my original toners from 7 years ago. I don't print photos, so a laser does just fine. Tell me about that! I went through a dry phase a little over a year ago and had not turned my HP for like three months... the ink dried up and my $300.00 Uber printer became a brick. I was so ticked off. I decided at that point to never buy another HP or spend more than $100.00 on a printer again. I'll probably get a cheap laser printer down the road as well, but for now I'll just see how these remanufactured cartridges work out. If these remanufactured cartridges do work out, I can see my monthly printing costs going down from between $125.00-$150.00 to an insanely low $8.00-$16.00! (If they are filled up properly.) [ I wish there was an icon for crossing my fingers. ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkeey Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 How many sheets do you print per month? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tursi Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Agree with OLD CS1, you're taking chances with the quality of refilled inks... but if you don't mind the risk, go for it. Like Slinkeey, I finally get fed up with Inkjets clogging on me... I bought an HP color laser 2 years ago for the cost of my last /good/ inkjet printer (about $450 - actually its an all-in-one unit). I love the output, and I only replaced the initial partial toner cartridges it came with about three months ago, I got dozens of full color sheets out of them. My last inkjet's demo cartridges gave me exactly /three/ full color pages. As lasers get cheaper, I expect the cost of toner to start doing what ink did, but for now it's a better buy and I love the quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I still have my old HP6L Laserjet which still pumps out the black&white nicely, though it is a bit dodgy if you feed it too many sheets. I use it mostly for printing source code and my wife uses it for her maps and work-related items. Its been two years and the toner cartridge has yet to run out. When I moved I bought a HP all-in-one inkjet (scanner, fax, printer). I use only genuine ink but learned quickly to set the printer driver to DRAFT mode. For what I print the quality difference is negligible, and it has roughly doubled the cartridge capacity best I can tell. I have had to buy a few carts since purchasing the device. I noticed the rubber rollers and plastic guides have started to dry and wear down, so we'll see how long I can keep this beast running. I doubt it will last as long as the HP6L! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkeey Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 I bought a Dell (Yeah I know.... ) Color Laser 3010cn for 350 bucks about 6 years ago. I am on sheet 1600, with the original toners. Black has been saying "replace soon" for about a year now sitting at 30% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unhuman Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 I've got a 21 year old HP LaserJet 4L that I use through a USB -> Parallel converter. I'm only on my 3rd toner (refills). I've also torn through several "disposable" inkjet printers. The current one is an HP 8500. It's much faster than the Laser and it's obviously color. But, for big / long print jobs the 4L is the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 I loved my old LaserJet 6L -- still running, so far as I know, in a Goodwill office.. I have a 4050dtn, for about eight years now, and it is a beast. My inkjet is an 8500 Pro Premium, which is a wireless AIO and uses tanks. The photos it prints are fantastic. The ADF tends to slip, though, but it is about five years old so I guess the rubber bits need to be refreshed/replaced. I bought a refresh kit for the 4050 since it kept eating pages. Turns out the duplexer had a sheet stuck in it at a strange angle. Pulled that out and it has worked perfectly since. I would like a faster laser printer, but I just cannot bring myself to get rid of this monster. Not yet, anyway. I like watching to lights dim a little when it idles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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