Refilled Inkjet Cartridges Going Cheap

Reuters ^ | 08-03-03

[Brian S]

I have gone back to laser since most of my printing only requires black & white.

I do have a Lexmark inkjet and I vow to never again purchase any of their products.

[ex-Texan]

*BUMP* !

[Reagan is King]

My Epson printer died not long after using a 3rd party refill. I never had any problems using the Epson brand. The printer heads are clogged I suppose because if I run the cleaning utility 10 or 12 times before every printing it works, but that gets real old. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but it makes me concerned about the quality of ink that goes into the aftermarket brands.

Anybody have a similar problem, or good LONG TERM results with an aftermarket brand?

[Paleo Conservative]

Laser printed documents are much more durable than inkjet printed ones. Even if water or coffee is spilled on laser printed pages, they can be dried out. If a page printed with an inkjet gets wet, the ink will smear on the page. Dye based inks also fade rather quickly. For these reasons, I refuse to sign contracts printed on inkjets.

[altura]

Thanks for sharing your experience with refills.

I have two Epson printers currently hooked up, and I was seriously considering going to refills for the older one, as the Epson ones are sooooo expensive, but I don't want to ruin my printer.

Of course, if they worked, I could save enough in a few months to buy another printer.

[Gil4]

I have been refilling cartriges for about 3 years without a problem. Occasionally I have cartridge dry out (usually when I don refill it right away) and I have to replace it, but that's the only problem I have had. I bought a generic ink refilling kit and I buy the ink on ebay - supposedly canon ink, but I don't know or care if it's true because it works.

[sinkspur]

I've got an HP Office Jet, and had a similar experience to yours. Bought a remanufactured color cartridge, and it clogged two days before a proposal was to be presented, and I had to Fed Ex some documents from my headquarters. In addition, I couldn't get the nozzles clean.

The guy refunded my money for the cartridge, but it's just not worth the hassle.

[Dan(9698)]

>>>...I do have a Lexmark inkjet and I vow to never again purchase any of their products.

I have a Lexmark and have refilled my cartriges more than once.

One of the tricks is to refill before they are completely empty. That prevents a bubble from getting to the print head and causing problems.

After refilling, tell the printer it is a new cartrige. It accepts it as a new cartrige and everything works just fine.

[The Great RJ]

The ink jet printer manufacturers have created this mess by virtually giving away a printer while making the cost of new ink cartridges almost as much as the printer. Replacing both cartridges on my $180 printer costs me nearly $70. For cheaper printers it's almost even. It's almost like they want to make the printers disposable.

I am wary of refilled cartriges because of quality concerns and from recent articles in several computer magazines there apparently is a growing counterfeit market for ink cartriges--so even paying the full price may not be the best alternative. Aren't the patents on some of these cartrige technologies about up so cheaper 3rd party knock offs can come into the market?

[xp38]

I recently bought a printer and while checking out models one Lexmark which sold for around $60 had Black and Colour Cartridges and paper which totaled $90 in value if bought separately. Something is definitely wrong if you need some refills for your printer and its cheaper to buy a whole new printer.

[PLMerite]

That's been my experience. I saved enough money (the black carts were $4 apiece) that by the time the bad ink fatally clogged the jets I could buy a new printer.

[staytrue]

The printer companies followed the razor blade model and the cell phone model. You give away the razor and make money on the blades or you give away the phone and make money on the airtime.

Lexmark has started putting chips in the ink cartridges that keep count of your copies and when you refill the cartridge the thing still will not work.

My HP inkjet works very well on refilled cartridges though.

[templar]

Anybody have a similar problem, or good LONG TERM results with an aftermarket brand?

My lexmark X83 doesn't work well on refills. I've tried refilling them myself and buying refills, but neither works for long and the factory cartridges are actually cheaper to use and less frustrating in the long run (a refill always seems to know when my printing job is critically import and and that it's time to for it to fail).

[robertpaulsen]

TINSTAAFL. These same people are probably getting their drugs from Canada.

Manufacturers used to give away the razor because they made their money on the blades. If this keeps up, expect the price of printers to skyrocket.

Then listen to the complaints.

[Ben Hecks]

"Anybody have a similar problem, or good LONG TERM results with an aftermarket brand?"

I have two Epson 740 printers which have used refills from Ink4Art for over 3 years without a problem. Sometimes it's necessary to run the printhead cleaning utility several times (4-6) after installing a new cartridge. Also, I keep my printers turned off except when printing to reduce the possibility of it drying out and becoming clogged while sitting in the "ready" position.

[strela]

Anybody have a similar problem, or good LONG TERM results with an aftermarket brand?

I've never been able to successfully refill an ink cartridge. I had one open up inside the printer and spray ink all over my computer desk, and the other sprayed ink all over a section of carpet as I was refilling it.

[edger]

I am currently on my second Lexmark printer and have always refilled my own cartridges and have only had one color cartridge dryup because I was late refilling it.

I bought the second Lexmark because the printer was cheaper than new cartridges.

[Col Sanders]

What "free lunch"?  Using refill kits or remanufactured/refurbished ink cartridges is considered getting a "free lunch"?

Stupidest thing I've ever heard.

Yes, they tried the business model of the old "give the razor, charge for the blades"... Only problem is, we aren't talking about razors and blades, we are talking about printers and ink, and the prices are immensely different.  Paying five dollars for a razor, then paying ten for a pack of five blades is different than paying thirty dollars for a printer, only to have to pay $90 for ink refills when the "introductory" cartridges run out a week or two later.  If this had been the case with razors, then it would have only taken about a month before some enterprising person started making blades that fit those razors for half the price, and like the re-manufacturers and refill makers of today, he would have made a mint.  As it stands, it took a year or two in the razor industry before this happened.

You are correct about the price of printers going up if the printer manufacturers decide to give up on that business model.  You are also correct about that causing folks to complain.  Not only will they complain, they will cease buying printers, and that has the possibility of putting many of the printer manufacturers in the poor house.  This is the quandary that the printer companies face. The only way many of them will stay in business is if they get the "mafia" protection they are seeking from the government using force of arms to close out the re-manufacturers and refill makers thus protecting the poor business decisions of HP, Lexmark, Canon and others.

[RnMomof7]

Sticker shock is the only way to describe the shock of cartridges . Two weeks ago we bought a new printer because it was cheaper than the refills for my husbands old one

[strela]

I bought the second Lexmark because the printer was cheaper than new cartridges.

True. I only use the color cartridge in my HP once every 6 months or so, and have needed to replace two due to them drying up.