Well, after three years and several hundred dollars in genuine ink I jumped ship. For my hp7280 I got aftermarket 3rd party refillable cartridges! What I'm asking is if there are any hidden downside to using this? And are any of you using something similar?
I don't believe I have to worry about spillage and leakage, these are ink tanks, separate from the print head. And they don't have sponges inside either. I recall years ago trying to refill a 560 and 970 series cart and it became a big mess.
Bulk ink pricing seems to translate into $1 - $2 per refill, for all 6 carts together! So what's the hidden demon here?
For years Cartridge World has been refilling my Canon black for $10, which is half the cost of new carts. The ink is excellent and they stuff the carts with more ink than you get in the originals.
Bought a Kodak printer a year ago, the carts are only half full and not refillable, and have to replace the color at the same time as black, even though I don't use color. So I mothballed that printer and route all my print jobs to the Canon. Cartridge World told me next time I shop for a printer to bring in the model numbers and they will check the feasibility of refilling.
I just wish inkjet printers would improve in overall build quality and lower costing ink. I've even seen people purchase a new printer for 39.95 as opposed to spending $50 for a set of ink carts. Though that practice may come to a stop sooner or later. MFG's are more frequently shipping starter cartridges with new printers that are 1/4th full.
I sure as hell hope this aftermarket ink works, I just can't see spending 49.95 every few months anymore for the little amount of printing I do.
I've never had luck with either store-bought refurbs or DIY refill kits when it came to AIO cartridges. These totally suck. You seemingly have to get the exact amount absorbed into the sponge, and sometimes even certain amount of vacuum going too. Otherwise the cart either dries out or leaks all over. I've gone through about 5 or 6 printers (light personal home use), that were of that style - head and ink reservoir all-in-one cart.
This time I bet it will be different. This 7280 I got going, it uses individual ink tanks that are connected to a pump and recirculating system. There seem to be a number of advantages to a design like this. The system manages to prime and maintain ink at the print head without relying on conditions in the cartridges. Conditions that *you* need to get absolutely right when conducting refill operations.
With a tank/reservoir configuration you apparently don't need to worry about vacuum, or exact amount, or pressure or temperature. None of that. And with sponge AIO carts how the hell can you tell exactly how much is in the sponge in the first place? And if you run it dry, even once, the AIO cartridge will burn itself out from lack of cooling ink.
These little HP02 aftermarket carts/tanks I'm doing now have a tiny cover, take it off, pour in the ink, and you're done. So thus begins a long test. So far so good, no spillage or flow problems. But it's only been a day or two.
same as you, always stayed loyal having heard horror stories.
about 6 months ago i finally stopped buying genuine Brother refills and got the clear plastic cartridges from China ($9AUS for the 4 colurs, delivered).
splashed out and got good quality ink($20 per bottle for 250ml). works out real cheap.
had no spills or cartridge recognition issues.
only drama is the refill bung they supply to squirt the ink in to refill is the only air intake there is, so i have to pull out the bung every now and then (currently doing it once a week) to stop the things from vapour locking, otherwise the ink on the paper slowy fades away.
I sure as hell hope this aftermarket ink works, I just can't see spending 49.95 every few months anymore for the little amount of printing I do.
If your just looking to save $$$ on ink, TigerDirect sells refurb laserjet printers that make tons more copies on a cartridge than ink jet.
Black for $59 & color for $99. Prices may vary. But I am thinking of tossing my HP I got for $19.99 on black friday at Christmas last year, for a laserjet.
Prints are higher quality, the cartridges last wayyyyyy longer, & it's just cheaper!!!
HP ink is too costly, that and their software is rather undesirable. Earlier this year I replaced my HP all-in-one for one of those Kodak "print and prosper" all-in-one units and the ink cost less, and lasts longer when buying their cartridges that hold allot more ink.
I'm more concerned with the cost/value of the ink as opposed to how much I actually use. It's the principle of not getting ripped off and being flunky to corporate profit.
If I change those settings, then print quality goes down. That's ok for some things. Not for others. There's a fast draft mode with light ink usage where I can get the speed to about 4 seconds per page, thus being as fast as a laser printer. But I don't have that kind of need.
I'm just interested in avoiding paying HP 12.95 per color cart, or 22.95 for black. Seems that with bulk ink I can get a refill on any color for a dollar or two, tops. And that's very cost effective!
I also like the romance of the inkjet and its ability to mix multiple drops of ink into the same pixel, as well as varying the size. Laser printing is fine for b/w, but for color, it's not there yet, not for home usage.
Currently, now, for $20 I can get 8-10 refills per cart. Can't beat that! Not even with refurb toner!
The laser printer is for her. She can't be bothered with the mess and fuss of refilling, no matter how cost-effective. She wants a simple, reliable, printer that stays "out-of-the-way", meaning no occasional seemingly-nonsense maintenance prints to keep the ink flowing. Not me. If I can get this ink refill "stuff" to work out, then I'm happy with what I got. It's been about a week now and so far the printer hasn't leaked or streaked. So maybe, just maybe, these ink refills will work.
Lexmark has long had printers that refuse to print, if it detects their special dye is not present in the ink.
Locking customers into Lexmark ink only.
How is it working for you, using 3rd party ink (+ refillable cartridges, or refilling your HP ones?)
Does Lexmark detect the dye with a sensor? Or just an ID chip in the cartridge?
I'm using clear 3rd party hp02 tanks with 3rd party ink.
@Keatah -> Another trick: Control panel, printers, right-click your default printer/properties.
Change your printer to use draft mode, instead of high quality. Also, if it has it, less DPI.
By changing it here, you make it the default action.
So, by default, printer will print lots faster, & use a lot less ink.
Will this work for you?
I typically test page fits and general layouts with Fast/Draft mode. But I use the high quality, high DPI, settings almost always. I like the quality.