Refilling Dell 720 trial cartridges

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This is my experience so far with the "Dell 720" printer and refills:

Facts:

- got printer in summer of '04 for free when I ordered a laptop
- didn't want the printer, had an old HP deskjet 540 that worked fine
- upgraded computer, no more parallel port, started using Dell 720
(USB)
- Dell 720 printer shipped with 1 color/1 black "trial" cartridges,
which are about 1/2 of normal cartridge
- print quality: excellent! Few paper jams, easy 2-sided printing,
draft mode goes about twice as far as "normal" mode. Also, photos look
great in full-color on special paper.
- BUT: ridiculous cartridge costs

What to do?

- ordered Korean "InkTec" brand refills (both color and b&w), each
about $15.00 for 4 servings each, from 4Inkjets (LD Products in
Paramount, CA). They had great ratings on resellerratings, and they're
close to where I live.
- refilled black "trial" cartridge per instructions. Caveats:
1. "Enlarging" the refilling hole (on the top of the cartridge)
requires a little bit of force--or a cordless drill. As soon as you get
through the top plastic part, you're good.
2. Use about 1/2 of the injector-vial of ink if your cartridge is
really empty. If you overfill, be prepared to blot for a little while,
but you should be o.k.
3. When you re-install the cartridge, tell it you have a new trial
cartridge.
- I haven't refilled the color cartridge yet--the procedure is slightly
different, but I'll report on that when the time comes.

Results:

- perfect! The ink quality is as good or better than Dell's ink. I ran
the re-adjustment/cleaning routine from the Dell printer menu, but that
was probably overkill.

My Advice:

- go for it!



Model numbers for the refills I bought on 4inkjets.com:

R10N0016 InkTec Refill Kit for 10N0016 1.00 1.00 0.00
Black also for Dell A920/720

R10N0026 InkTec Refill Kit for 10N0026 1.00 1.00 0.00
Color also for Dell A920/720