Recommend a good 'cartridge-refill friendly' inkjet printer

[dazed_00]

I am looking for an inkjet printer (I would prefer a laser printer, but I need to print in color cheaply) that is 'cartridge refill-friendly'. The printer shouldn't have mechanisms (chipsets, software, etc.) that will 'expire' a cartridge if its age is past a certain date (if there is, there should be a way to work around it). I might have a CIS (Continous Ink System) installed on the printer depending on the budget, but at first might just refill the cartridges individually.

Also please advice if inkjet printers which have 1 cartridge for each individual colors are better than those that have 1 cartridge for all the colors (typically cheaper than the former) if I am going to be refilling the cartridge anyway.

Also, bonus points (but not required) if the printer has good Linux support.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

There is no refill/non-genuine ink friendly printer. The people who design printers put a lot of effort into making the ink/toner work properly with the printer. refilled/aftermarket options always cause problems that will cost you more money in the long run and your warranty will be void. refilled inks will cause your print head and ink system to block up and you will be doing head cleans all the time, which wastes ink and fills up the waste ink pads. Aftermarket toner dumps through your printer and remanufactured cartridges dont last as long and are more likely to fail. It is cheaper in the long run to buy the genuine product.

 

[dazed_00]

I do not mean to sound rude, but that sounds just like what the printer manufacturing companies will say. I am looking for a point of view from the average consumer. In my case, buying a new cartridge is just about as expensive as the printer itself. It is said that printer ink sold by printer companies is more expensive than human blood.

The printer companies operate on a 'Blades and Razors' aka 'Gilette' business model: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razor_and_blades_business_model#Generics

This means that they will sell the printer cheaply while making the cartridges as expensive as possible and putting chips that 'expire' a cartridge (so you'll have to buy a new, expensive one every now and then, this is also to prevent you from refilling it cheaply, although there are ways to 'reset' this). Buying a new cartridge is also not environmentally-friendly as the old cartridges (which can still be used) will now be thrown out.

It is definetely not cheaper in the long run, to buy the ink cartridges by the printer manufacturer companies. Also, once your warranty runs out, the printer companies will now charge a ridiculous amount to repair your printer if it gets damaged - refilled ink or not.

The average consumer like me, is tired of this sick, corrupt practice. That is why we refill our inks from cheaper sources.

Related links:
"Every time I run out of ink, I just buy a new printer."
http://i.imgur.com/KdNCV.jpg

"Relative prices of different liquids..."
http://12.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kubtk8AF9q1qzxzwwo1_500.jpg

"Why I believe printers are the spawn of Hell"
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/printers

 

[iam2thecrowe]

i dont sell printers, i fix them, i told you those things based on experience, i was actually trying to help you. Any printer repairer would back me up on this. You cant guarentee any cheap ink, that contains god knows what, will work properly with any given printer. The manufacturers of this cheap ink give no guarentees, it normally says on the box that they take no responsibility if it damages the printer. The nozzles of a print head are super fine and it doesnt take much to block them. The genuine cartridges/ink are made in static/dust free environments with no human contact to the product. cheap generic inks are made the cheapest way possible in backyards and they make more profit from it. cheap ink dries out quicker, has larger partacle sizes, isn't the same colour as the manufacturers cartridges and the cartridges allow air to get through. SOMETIMES they work ok, but no garantee. Yes inkjet printers are expensive to run, if you don't like it, get a laser printer.

heres independent reviews on ink cartridges

http://www.pcworld.com/article/111767/cheap_ink_probed.html

http://www.consumertipsreports.org/is_manufacturer_printer_ink_better_than_generic_printer_ink.html

 

[dgold]

I'm in the same boat. My wife is a real estate agent who's constantly printing contracts (B&W) and color brochures and listing presentations. We were going through ink like crazy in her HP Officejet 6500.

I bought a CIS from inkproducts.com and it's been working wonderfully. It's probably been 4 or 5 months and I just ordered some refill black ink from them, but haven't actually refilled the reservoir yet. I'm not endorsing this company, I don't know if their system is better or worse than others out there -- I chose them b/c they had good directions on their website.

She was buying XL black cartridges (they come in two sizes) almost every other week, and probably going through two or three color cartridges a month. So she was easily spending over $100/mo on ink.

So by now, without even having refilled the ink reservoirs, the system has already paid for itself. Should the print head or something else go bad, that I can't fix, We'll get her another 6500 (it's a really nice piece of equipment for our needs) for just over $100 (new) and use the CIS again.

Basically what I'm saying is, if the poster above is correct, that the CIS will kill the printer -- I don't care. I've already saved several hundred dollars before adding one drop of refill ink to the CIS. Also, the HP 620 cartridges, I read somewhere, contain about 5ml of ink. The CIS came new with 320ml already in it for $80. Do the math.

I did have to take the chips off the HP cartridges and put them on the CIS cartridges with the "special tool" provided -- fancy name for a 2¢ floss pick. The whole setup was easy - took me 15 minutes, I followed the directions, and she's been printing away since. The front panel reads all the cartridges as being empty -- so I guess they're "expired" as you say -- but it doesn't stop the printer from working very well.

Lastly, my wife does print color brochures on paper, but we do not print photographs on photo paper -- it's truly a business machine -- so I can't vouch for how well it can do pictures with the CIS.

 

[bobalazs]

I've got an old one, been using it for years, never regretted buying it.
It's a canon i250. The color and black ink refills costs about 2 us dollars in my country.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

I'm in the same boat. My wife is a real estate agent who's constantly printing contracts (B&W) and color brochures and listing presentations. We were going through ink like crazy in her HP Officejet 6500.

I bought a CIS from inkproducts.com and it's been working wonderfully. It's probably been 4 or 5 months and I just ordered some refill black ink from them, but haven't actually refilled the reservoir yet. I'm not endorsing this company, I don't know if their system is better or worse than others out there -- I chose them b/c they had good directions on their website.

She was buying XL black cartridges (they come in two sizes) almost every other week, and probably going through two or three color cartridges a month. So she was easily spending over $100/mo on ink.

So by now, without even having refilled the ink reservoirs, the system has already paid for itself. Should the print head or something else go bad, that I can't fix, We'll get her another 6500 (it's a really nice piece of equipment for our needs) for just over $100 (new) and use the CIS again.

Basically what I'm saying is, if the poster above is correct, that the CIS will kill the printer -- I don't care. I've already saved several hundred dollars before adding one drop of refill ink to the CIS. Also, the HP 620 cartridges, I read somewhere, contain about 5ml of ink. The CIS came new with 320ml already in it for $80. Do the math.

I did have to take the chips off the HP cartridges and put them on the CIS cartridges with the "special tool" provided -- fancy name for a 2¢ floss pick. The whole setup was easy - took me 15 minutes, I followed the directions, and she's been printing away since. The front panel reads all the cartridges as being empty -- so I guess they're "expired" as you say -- but it doesn't stop the printer from working very well.

Lastly, my wife does print color brochures on paper, but we do not print photographs on photo paper -- it's truly a business machine -- so I can't vouch for how well it can do pictures with the CIS.

good point. if your going to use refills/generic inks, make sure its a cheap printer that can be easily replaced. But for high volume printing, get a laser printer.

 

[dugg]

Buy a laser?
We invested in a brother colour laser (led), to evaluate cost effectiveness.
We have kept a spreadsheet of EVERY piece of paper put through the printer.
Original cartridges quote 1500 pages based on some international standard.
We got 7-800 pages, NOT printing photos. Thought ok, we’ll see what the new cartridges would do.
They quote 3000 pages. We got 8-900 pages, NOT PHOTOS.
The cartridges cost $100 ea, that’s 11c per page PER COLOUR..
Disappointed.
We are VERY happy to be reading this thread, it is a VERY important issue for us, thanks for all the contributions, maybe except for "Buy Genuine"..

 

[gwenaruis]

I would not trust the super cheap refills, but instead search for Archival quality inks. As a photographer, I need quality prints that last, and using a Canon Pixma Pro9000, the Canon ink is NOT cheap. For the same price as the combo pack with all 8 cartridges, I could get an entire kit of archival refillable ink, including pre-drilled cartridges for easier refills that have chips on them that automatically reset when refilled. There are also CIS that I've found for about the same cost ($150) but have not tried them. The brand I get is UltraGamut, but again, I do more photo printing than anything.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey

 

[dazed_00]

Best answer selected by dazed_00.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been reopen by Mousemonkey

 

[Guest]

I have been using reflled cartridges with my old HP.printer for years without prolems.I now have a new Epson (4 Cartridges)printer which is useless and costly.I've only been able to use Genuine cartidges and had nothing but troubles.So its going in the bin and I'm back to the old one.
Is this progress

 

[Doug Lassiter]

I have been refilling black inkjet (I just print text) cartridges for almost ten years. During that time, I have gone through about fifty reams of paper, and about three cartridges. Amazing but true. The print quality is excellent.

That being said, here are some suggestions. Be sure you get a printer for which the cartridges are not chipped. If they are chipped, the refilled cartridges will always read empty. I've had excellent luck with (well, two) Canon printers. They aren't chipped. It used to be pretty scattered about what ink to get. But I've had excellent luck with what they call Durafirm. Not really sure what it is, but it works. I use about 5cc per month, and it costs about $20 per half liter. That's a REAL CHEAP refill!

I have NEVER had problems with a printer that I can trace to a refill. I've had two printers just die. No sweat.

The refill job is not a big deal. Go into the bathroom, and put some old newspaper on the counter. Pull ink into the syringe, and squirt in the refill hole (which you've probably already drilled in the cartridge). Some cartridges will dribble a bit on the jet side until the hole is capped, some will not. Then you're done. You may have an ink spot on your hand, and perhaps a smudge on the newsprint.

After doing this you may or may not have to do a cleaning cycle on the printer. If the cartridge wasn't empty when you filled it, you probably won't have to.

So my recommendation is very strong. Do it yourself!!

 

[robaer]

I have been refilling black inkjet (I just print text) cartridges for almost ten years. During that time, I have gone through about fifty reams of paper, and about three cartridges. Amazing but true. The print quality is excellent.

....

So my recommendation is very strong. Do it yourself!!

I would love to refill my own but I discovered my HP1500 multi printer is chipped to not allow refills... I had a cartridge refilled with quality ink and it tells me "incompatible cartridge" after insert. I tried differentl methods found online to trick the printer into carrying on anyway but it does not allow me to print at all until I go buy a new $70 cartridge from them.

I am furious and looking for a different brand that is not going to firmware me to use only their new cartridges. I imagine your canons (like my prior HP printers) are older and not chipped but wonder if newer Canons will exhibit the same behaviour as my newer HP... curious if there is a vendor out there that is more "refill friendly" than HP with their newer printers and cartridges.

 

[Jwal_50]

I would love to refill my own but I discovered my HP1500 multi printer is chipped to not allow refills... I had a cartridge refilled with quality ink and it tells me "incompatible cartridge" after insert. I tried differentl methods found online to trick the printer into carrying on anyway but it does not allow me to print at all until I go buy a new $70 cartridge from them.

I am furious and looking for a different brand that is not going to firmware me to use only their new cartridges. I imagine your canons (like my prior HP printers) are older and not chipped but wonder if newer Canons will exhibit the same behaviour as my newer HP... curious if there is a vendor out there that is more "refill friendly" than HP with their newer printers and cartridges.

I've had Canon MP Printers over the years and never had trouble refilling them, the cartridge would last for about a year and I refill every week. Not so with the new ones however (now have MG2160) which do not refill more than a couple of times before the jets clog up constantly. My ink supplier at Cartridge World said that Canon are making the jets finer now, and she has had so much trouble with them she won't stock Canon Printers anymore. And so I'm looking for options.

 

[sshhmmuueell]

brother inkjets don't have chips and i easily refill them from ebay refillerables

 

[Shane Smith]

I registered just to reply to this. I followed this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56p2vGLwgoY and I've NEVER had the first problem with it. It's been about 16 months. The printer is a little pricey, but it paid for itself twice over in the first 6 months.

 

[Idonno]

Get an Epson inkjet printer with at least 6 separate ink cartridges for quality prints.
The reason I recommend Epson is that Epson's printhead remains part of the printer and most others have disposable printheads that are part of the ink carts.

If you refill or use a CISS (continuous ink supply system) with an Epson inkjet printer you will be running the ink through Epson's printhead that was made to stay with the printer for life whereas with most other printers you will be using the printheads in the carts that aren't really designed for longevity the way Epson's printheads are.

Be sure you get a printer for which the cartridges are not chipped. If they are chipped, the refilled cartridges will always read empty.

This statement is not true unless you plan on refilling the OEM ink carts that come with your Epson printer and even then it can be over-come with a $15 chip re-setter.

Although instead of drilling out refilling and resetting your OEM ink carts you would be better off either buying refillable inkjet carts or a CISS (continuous ink supply system) both with built in automatic chip re-setters. I get mine here: http://www.inkxpro.com/Continuous-ink-system-ciss-Epson-printer-s/3.htm

All the printer company's out there will try to scare you into thinking that any ink besides theirs will ruin your printer. This is not true unless you buy crap ink and there are good ink suppliers out there. Some with even better ink than the ink sold by the printer manufacturers.

If you go this route printing will be so cheap you won't even think of the cost in terms of ink anymore just the paper and the wear and tear of normal printer use. Good luck!

 

[Idonno]

A link to my tutorial.

[faq]After Market Inkjet Ink Supplies
I often see people asking about cheaper alternatives to buying OEM ink supplies and just as often they get incorrect responses, So hopefully I can clear a few thing up here. THE INKJET PRINTER MANUFACTURERS The makers of inkjet printers are... See full content[/faq]

 

[Mosthitman]

"Iam2thecrew" these lonely surfers are actually sent by such highly profit making companies like HP on local forums to discourage people. I do not want to be rude but they are actually black sheep who want to invest money in thousands from people for their few hundred pay.

Buy some printers which use hp 21 22 ink if you prefer HP. Otherwise epson cartridges are cheaper and if you are not using continous ink supply system CISS then they are best.

Main issue is software buy some good old driver or find it free on internet. Install it and use printer until you save around 300 dollars. It works fine use more or otherwise just repair it for 35 40 dollars or throw it.

Last thing beaware of such black sheep. They think people are cow and can pay anything to buy anything.

Peace and love from Brazil. Rest in hell you HP

 

[Bugrat]

We have been using the Epson Stylus NX410 for years. Don't get me wrong, some of the comments that they leak into the printer and cause the ink pads to fill I would very much agree with, but in the long run, it's been worth it. Printers are a lot cheaper than their ink. We printer regularly with work, college, and things like that and in the last eight years I would say we have gone through about three of these printers. In this time, we bought these plastic ink cartridges off Ebay that are made to be refilled. They are pretty good because I think it's a lot easier and more reliable to use those than try and reuse old ones. Anyway, you can also, off Ebay get big things of ink to refill it. We spent about $50 to get all the colors and we still have a lot left. We have done many refills over that time and some times it can be a pain, but in the long run, it's what I know I'll continue doing.
My suggestion to you is to just go on Ebay or a similar sight and just look up refill cartridges and then go from there in finding the right printer for you. Once you find the best ink cartridge, (which are getting better all the time) you can forget about buying the regular ink at all. They're easy to fill and way cheaper. Good luck!!!

 

[mikeavison]

I use Brother DCP-385C. The advantage of this and similar printers is that the ink tanks are stationary therefore they do not contain foam and are easier to fill. I actually got extended cartridges which stick out the front of the printer and you just squirt some more ink in them every year or so., very convenient and not messy.Even if you don't refill, compatible cartridges (LC1100) are very cheap. e.g. 10 cartridges from Amazon for £9.99

http://www.amazon.co.uk/compatible-cartridges-printers-DCP-145C-DCP-165C/dp/B002QO38AM#productDetails

 

[hsulli]

There is no refill/non-genuine ink friendly printer. The people who design printers put a lot of effort into making the ink/toner work properly with the printer. refilled/aftermarket options always cause problems that will cost you more money in the long run and your warranty will be void. refilled inks will cause your print head and ink system to block up and you will be doing head cleans all the time, which wastes ink and fills up the waste ink pads. Aftermarket toner dumps through your printer and remanufactured cartridges dont last as long and are more likely to fail. It is cheaper in the long run to buy the genuine product.

Posted Dec. 5, 2013: My HP Photosmart C4795 (wireless, all in one) has run for 4 years now without service needs and I've used non-EOM ink cartridges bought on Ebay. Can't say how much I print but the machine is seldom idle for longer than a couple days . The printer will not tell me how much ink I have left but it doesn't interfere with printing. I recently read that some newer printers are incorporating the print head on the cartridges now....yikes, those have gotta be pricey inks to buy. Careful shopping for printers folks!!

 

[tinteiros]

There is no refill/non-genuine ink friendly printer. The people who design printers put a lot of effort into making the ink/toner work properly with the printer. refilled/aftermarket options always cause problems that will cost you more money in the long run and your warranty will be void. refilled inks will cause your print head and ink system to block up and you will be doing head cleans all the time, which wastes ink and fills up the waste ink pads. Aftermarket toner dumps through your printer and remanufactured cartridges dont last as long and are more likely to fail. It is cheaper in the long run to buy the genuine product.

Do not agree with your ideias. I have HP Officejet J5780 all-in-one injet printer and Samsung 1910 laser for more than 4 years running with refilled cartridges. Work good and longer than original cartridges. Never serviced them. People should not buy into the comercially paid ideias that obviously have second intentions. I'be keeping on saving my money using reused cartridges even knowing that some people would me to expend my money on original cartridges.